Connecting to MS Access

Prerequisite Software

No software is needed in order to access a MS Access database (mdb file). The necessary ODBC Driver is present in the standard Windows install.

If not, you can download the MS Access ODBC Driver from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54920

Furthermore, you do not need Microsoft Access in order to access an MS Access database with AQT. See Database-specific notes - MS Access for more on this.

Signing onto an MS Access Database

You have three methods of signing accessing an MS Access database:

• setting up an ODBC Datasource for the database
• setting up a Generic Datasource
• open the mdb file with AQT

The first method is useful if you are accessing a particular database on a frequent basis.

Setting up an ODBC Datasource for your Access Database

The general procedure for this is descibed in Configuring a Database Connection.

• select a Driver of Microsoft Access Driver
• you select your mdb file by clicking on the Select button (in the Database frame).

Once you have done this, the ODBC Datasource name for your Access database will appear in the list of databases in the AQT signon window.

Setting up and using a Generic Datasource

This sets up a datasource which you can use for accessing any mdb file.

To set this up, follow the steps in the previous section, however do not select a mdb file (leave this blank). It is recommended that you give this Datasource a name such as Access Databases.

To use this generic datsource:

• from the AQT signon window, sign onto the Access Databases datasource.
• you will be prompted with a signon dialog. Click on the Database button to select the mdb file.

Open the mdb file with AQT

To do this, right-click the mdb file, select Open With > Choose Program. Click on Browse to select AQT. You can check Always use the selected program to open this kind of file if you want to always open mdb files with AQT.

Opening an Accdb file

MS Access 2007 and later will (by default) create an accdb file, rather than an mdb file.

The standard MS Access ODBC Driver installed on your PC may not be able to open a file of this type, but only mdb files.

The solution is to install a more recent version of the MS Access ODBC Driver. This can be downloaded from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54920

Other Notes

• with MS Access you have the option of opening the database in Read Only mode. When in read only mode, the contents of the database cannot be changed. This option is a useful to prevent accidental changing of the data.
• if you have a table opened in design mode in Microsoft Access, you will not be able to view the table with AQT (Microsoft Access will have an exclusive lock on the table).