Conversion from 2003 to 97

[murraystewart]

I have spent days building a database in access 2003 and the found it
needs to run on Access 97, I did the conversion but the form is not
opening with an error message "you loaded a form or report that has
control or properties that microsoft access does not recognize and
will ignore". have tried compacting and repairing and converting to
MDE but to no avail. Is there anyone out there who could take a look
at it. This is the first database I've ever built and it may be a
little ambitious as it is designed to link in with a Pocket PC
database built on Visual CE and sync data between. Its all working
fine except in 97.. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

The most simple suggestion is to at least spend some time working the system
on access 97.

You can't expect office 2007 to run on a old DOS machine from 1982.

When you say you can't make a mde, that not much to go on.

on the a97 machine, when viewing code...does it compile?

Can you go debug->compile in a97 and do you get any errors?

while there is a conversion from a2003 to a97, it not going
to convert any features or code that uses a2003 features.

so, you at the very least need to take the application in a97
format..and run it on the test machine. (and, debug-compile
to ensure that the code compiles).

I would think that spending a good part of the day running, and testing and
compiling the code should get you up and running on the a97 machine. I
converted rather large and complex systems from a97 to a2003, but I
certainly never went the other way. If I was developing an application of
any complexity, then it makes sense to use and develop for the target
system. And, that includes having your office patched to the same SR release
as the target machine. so, if they are running a97, patched to SR2b level,
you MUST develop at the same service pack release, or you effect devepong in
a different platform, and numbers of issues ranging from noticing errors,
performance problems, or just slightly different behaviours due to patch
levels fixing bugs must be taken into consideration.

It is very risky and difficult to develop on a different system, even the
SAME version of access, but on a different patch level should not be done.

 

[murraystewart]

Sorry Albert, my poor grammer the conversion runs fine and the MDE
conversion runs fine but I can only open the tables and queries in a97
the form returns the above error message . I am unsure of the debug
process in 97. Sorry for my ignorance.. I think it related somewhere
to converting between text and labels or some suchlike during the
construction..

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

Sorry Albert, my poor grammer the conversion runs fine and the MDE
conversion runs fine but I can only open the tables and queries in a97
the form returns the above error message . I am unsure of the debug
process in 97. Sorry for my ignorance.. I think it related somewhere
to converting between text and labels or some suchlike during the
construction..

Ah, ok..so, it does compile..and you can even make a mde. No worry, that
means
at least you tried a few things.

Hum, ok....

I would suggest you try a few more things:

a) create a blank new mdb on the a97 machine. Then simply import everything
into a new blank database you make on the a97 machine.

b) consider trying a de-compile. This means you have to make specific
shortcut on the machine, but it might do the trick for your (right after you
de=compile, exit the database, and re-enter. And if there is any start-up
code...do the shift key by-pass. Then I would do a compact and repair, and
then go into code..and do a debug-compile.

How to de-compile database is noted here:

http://www.mvps.org/access/bugs/bugs0008.htm

so, I would try both of the above, and see if either one helps.

I would have considered taking a look at the a97 database, but for the first
in many years, I don't have a pc, or even a test machine, or even virtual pc
with a copy of a97 running. I really did like a97..but, it been a while
since I worked with it.

 

[murraystewart]

I had tried the blank db idea before all seems to import ok but the
error message pops up on opening the form the 3 tables and one query
open but not the form.

Just tried the decompile but no luck still hangs on opening the
form????

Thanks for helping..

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

Well, then I would look if the form has any code in the on-open, or
on-load....

I would put in a extra "stop" command at the start of the code....

eg, make the first line of code (in whichever event runs first)


Then, when you launch the form, you can single step through the code....

It not sure (since I can't see your screen) if the form not loading due to
code, or some type of corruption, or things like uni-code in a label (a97
does not support uni-code, but office since a2000 has).

In fact, you might even launch the form with problems from a code
module..and single step through code that way....

Another trick would be to use the un-documented saveastext, and loadfromtext
features. so, you export your "bad" form to a text file. Delete the
form..and then re-load the form from that text file....

This un-documented feature is noted here:

http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/corruption/corruptobjects.htm

 

[John W. Vinson]

I had tried the blank db idea before all seems to import ok but the
error message pops up on opening the form the 3 tables and one query
open but not the form.

Perhaps you used a feature which exists in A200x but did not exist in A97. One
that springs to mind is Conditional Formatting - did you use that capability
on this form?

John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[murraystewart]

I'm not sure. But I may have changed the format in some fields and
after converting 97 did not recognise. I isolated the blocks one by
one then cut/paste each one then cocompacted and converted to 97 and
alls well.
thanks to all for helping..