Access 2000 to 2003 Conversion

[JT]

Hi,

We are about to move to 2003 from 2000.

While the Access 2000 file format is compatible with 2003 I wanted to find
out if there are reasons we should try and convert all our databases to 2003?
Are we going to have any issues if we leave them in the 2000 format and just
use them in 2003?

Thanks,

 

[Brendan Reynolds]

The 2002/2003 format is supposed to be faster and more stable than the 2000
format. Microsoft's recommendation is that if everyone is using Access 2002
or 2003 you should use the new format. However, if the 2000 format is
working satisfactorily for you, there is certainly no need to rush into
anything. Take your time, convert one MDB at a time rather than all at once,
and always make sure you have a recent, reliable backup before converting
anything.
--
Brendan Reynolds (MVP)
http://brenreyn.blogspot.com

The spammers and script-kiddies have succeeded in making it impossible for
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being read. Follow-up questions should in general be posted to the
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a useable e-mail address at the URL above.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Jonathan

In addition to Brendan's comments, consider that you can "move" folks to a
new, Access 2003 front-end, keeping your data in an Access 2000 back-end for
the short-term.

Why? you might ask... If you can't convert everyone over simultaneously,
you will need to keep your underlying data accessible to the "older" version
until such time as those folks still using A2000 are updated. Access can
handle "looking back" at an earlier version of data, but once you convert
the data "forward" to a newer version, the older versions can't see it.

 

[Paul Mendrala]

Hello Jonathan,

Should you try to convert all your databases from Access 2000 to
Access 2003? There are a number of factors to consider:

1. Access 2000 is approximately half-way through its life cycle. Here
is what Microsoft says about Office 2000:

Office 2000 - Microsoft will continue to offer mainstream support for
Office 2000 through June 30, 2004. The Office 2000 extended support
period will last from July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2009. The latest
Office 2000 service pack is required for hotfix support.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;lifeOffice

2. If the databases were created with Access 97 and they were migrated
to Access 2000, there could be problems. This is due to the use of
old VBA syntax and the old DAO 2.5 / 3.5 Compatibility Library that is
obsolete.

3. If the databases were created with Access 2000 from scratch, then
you shouldn't have any issues. This is because the default object
library is ADO 2.1. Also, Access 2000 introduced the DAO 3.6 Library.
This library is shipped with Access 2000, Access XP, and Access 2003
so any applications built with this library should be completely
portable. However, the VBA syntax is someting to look into. There
could be some obsolete commands in Access 2000 thate are no longer
supported in Access 2003. For example, SendKeys were made obsolete in
Access XP. This information was retrieved from the Microsoft
Conversion White Papers.

To answer your question, are we going to have issues if we leave them
in Access 2000 format and just use them in Access 2003, the answer is
yes.

The reason is that when you open an Access 2000 file using Access
2003, you get the Open or Convert dialog box. If you open / enable
the database, you cannot modify any of the code in modules, forms,
reports, etc.

If you convert the database, you may very well get a compiled database
but there could be run-time errors that were introduced during the
conversion.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me
at the email address below.

Paul Mendrala
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

Paul: You're incorrect in the following. Access 2003 actually uses the
Access 2000 file format by default, so there are no Open or Convert issues
when opening an Access 2000 file (unlike going from Access 97 to Access
2000)

There are certain features of Access 2003 that will not be available to you
unless you convert to the Access 2002/2003 format. (Afraid I don't know what
they are off the top of my head). Other than that, I don't think there's any
compelling reason for one format over the other.

 

[Brendan Reynolds]

In addition to Doug's points ...

If an MDB was originally created in Access 97 and converted to 2000 it will
*not* be using the DAO 2.x/3.x Compatibility Library, as Access 97 used the
DAO 3.5x Object Library. Only databases originally created in Access 2 and
later converted to Access 95 or Access 97 used the Compatibility Library,
and if they have since been converted to Access 2000, then they are no
longer using the Compatibility Library, as there never was any 2.x/3.6
Compatibility Library. In order to convert them to Access 2000, the
Compatibility Library reference must have already been replaced with the DAO
3.6 reference, and any obsolete DAO 2.x syntax updated.

And SendKeys still works in Access 2003.

--
Brendan Reynolds (MVP)
http://brenreyn.blogspot.com

The spammers and script-kiddies have succeeded in making it impossible for
me to use a real e-mail address in public newsgroups. E-mail replies to
this post will be deleted without being read. Any e-mail claiming to be
from brenreyn at indigo dot ie that is not digitally signed by me with a
GlobalSign digital certificate is a forgery and should be deleted without
being read. Follow-up questions should in general be posted to the
newsgroup, but if you have a good reason to send me e-mail, you'll find
a useable e-mail address at the URL above.

 

[Paul Mendrala]

Doug,

Did you turn the Open / Convert dialog off? Because when I open an
Access 2000 database with Access 2003, I get the Open / Convert
dialog.

 

[Paul Mendrala]

Thank toy for the clarification with regard to the DAO 2.5 / 3.5 and
DAO 3.5.

The SendKeys information I have comes directtly from the Microsoft
Access 2002 Conversion White Papers.

SendKeys Statement and Macro Action
Because some menu items and the structure of the menu tree are
different in Microsoft Access 2002 from earlier versions, your
SendKeys statements in code or SendKeys actions in a macro may fail or
may not produce the desired action. Locate the new menu items in
Microsoft Access 2002 and modify your SendKeys code or macros to send
the correct keys. New features in Microsoft Access 2002 may make some
of your old SendKeys actions obsolete or unnecessary.

This snippet is from those white papers.

But if they work for you, that's great!

Paul

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

No, I didn't, because it doesn't happen.

As I said, the default database format for Access 2003 is Access 2000
format, so there is no conversion message. I suspect you're trying to open
an Access 97 database when you get the message.

 

[Brendan Reynolds]

Thank you for the clarification about SendKeys. Not quite the same thing as
'SendKeys was made obsolete', is it?

--
Brendan Reynolds (MVP)
http://brenreyn.blogspot.com

The spammers and script-kiddies have succeeded in making it impossible for
me to use a real e-mail address in public newsgroups. E-mail replies to
this post will be deleted without being read. Any e-mail claiming to be
from brenreyn at indigo dot ie that is not digitally signed by me with a
GlobalSign digital certificate is a forgery and should be deleted without
being read. Follow-up questions should in general be posted to the
newsgroup, but if you have a good reason to send me e-mail, you'll find
a useable e-mail address at the URL above.