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Microsoft Access 97 and Long file name

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7 replies

by pmaur

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I have a customer who is working with Access 97 and wanted to move an .mdb file to another location. Once she moves the file it will not open. In reviewing this I believe she moved it via DOS which took the long file name and truncated it, but I cannot see to rename it to remove the reference to the DOS name. Is there a way to do this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

7 replies

by donq

1. Open a new (empty) database.
2. Import Tables as-is with truncated names.
3. Add missing Table Name letters.
4. Reverse the process replacing truncated tables.

OR

1. Import queries and check them in design view to see original table names then do the above??? Good Luck.

by lo

Not sure I am reading your question correctly and the 1st answer. If the problem is with opening the file with Access (File, Open, ...), you should be able to browse to wherever the file was moved to and open from there. If you are doing File, , you will get an error as the file is no longer there (get same/similar with Word and Excell).

If you are accessing the file from an application (accross a network or some, you will need to change the access string to be whatever / wherever the file is now located. If you want to get the long name back, you can find the file by doing a Win Explorer search (or DIR \*.* /s from DOS). I think the DOS File name is the first few characters + some ~ and such + a number. You can get probalby the exact name by creating a new database with the same long file name in another directory then looking at the DOS file name (forget how to do that, Win Explorer setting, DOS /? may give you switch) may be a different ending Number.

by mackem

The change of name will not effect the databse in any way, except in the way it was accessed.
How was your customer trying to open the database. If it was from a shortcut, then a new shortcut will be required for new location. If through another database then this database will require edits to any reference to database location. If it was a split database, then you will need to use linked table manager add in from the tools menu.

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