Opening Microsoft Access Databases (.mdb)

There are several ways to open Microsoft Access databases (.mdb) in Database Tour:

1. Opening through FD interface. Select FD interface, click Microsoft Access, then fill all needed database parameters. You can also create a new MDB database here.

   Microsoft Access (.mdb) database connection parameters:

   (required parameters are highlighted)

   Parameter	Description	Value example
   Database	Path to the database file	C:\db\WorkLog.mdb
   System database	Path to the system database file
   ReadOnly	Specify whether to open the database in read-only mode	False
   String format	Defines text data representation. Possible values: Choose (default) - text data are represented according to their declared column types; Unicode - text data are represented in Unicode encoding; ANSI - text data are represented in ANSI encoding.	Unicode
   SQL command separator	Command separator in multi-command SQL scripts	;

2. Opening through connection string. Select ADO interface, then choose Connection string option and write a connection string. This way is very flexible and allows to specify many additional parameters in the connection string and override standard Database Tour connection behavior. It is recommended for advanced users. Here are basic connection strings (more examples and details can be found in the Internet):

   Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=c:\MyData\MyDatabaseFile.mdb;

   DSN=MyAccessDSN;

   DSN=MyAccessDSN;PWD=MyPassword;

   Provider=MSDASQL.1;Extended Properties="DBQ=c:\MyData\MyDatabaseFile.mdb;Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DriverId=25;"

3. Opening through ODBC DSN. Create (if it does not exist yet) an ODBC DSN of the corresponding type using Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator, and point it to the database. Then:

   - Select FD interface, click ODBC, then point the Data source parameter to the ODBC DSN by selecting it from the drop-down list.

   or

   - Select ADO or BDE interface, then choose ODBC data source option and then select the needed ODBC DSN from the drop-down list.

4. Opening by specifying file name. Select ADO interface, then choose File option and then browse for the needed file.

Notes

1. In most cases above, Microsoft Access ODBC Driver is used (explicitly or implicitly). So, it is recommended to have it installed; make sure to install the bit-version of the driver that matches the bit-version of the application (32 or 64).

Hints

• Each Database Tour edition has both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. You can install both and use them depending on what type of database you need to work with.
• You can invoke the ODBC Data Source Administrator directly from Database Tour when it was launched in administrator mode. In Connect / Open Data Source window, switch to ADO, then click ODBC Sources... button.

See also

• Examples of ADO Connection Strings