Older versions of access format unrecognised

[Alex H]

Hi

i have created some very simple tables in Access 2003. I then needed to
provide versions of these tables for our students who are running Access
2000 and Access XP.
We are having some issues with ssome students who say they cant open the
files and are getting "Unrecognised Format" or even "Unknown Error" when
they try and open the files.

I have no problem in opening them on machines running relevant versions of
Office,

Anyone any ideas please?

Thanks

Alex

 

[Allen Browne]

Before you give the file to students, decompile it with the oldest version
(usually Access 2000).

To decompile, enter something like this at the command prompt while Access
is not running. It is all one line, and include the quotes:
"c:\Program Files\Microsoft office\office\msaccess.exe" /decompile
"c:\MyPath\MyDatabase.mdb"
Then compact the database. Then compile by opening a code window, and
choosing Compile from the Debug menu.

Each version uses a different binary for the compiled code. Decompiling
explicitly discards the later binary, leaving only the uncompiled text
version of the code. By compiling in the older version, you then have a
binary that is compatible across the later versions as well. In an ideal
world, this would all work transparently, but that's not where we live.

Other things that could help:
a) Use minimal references:
http://allenbrowne.com/ser-38.html

b) Make sure that Name AutoCorrect is off:
http://allenbrowne.com/bug-03.html