mdb file format?

[Dave Scott]

Is there a way to determine the database version (97, 2000, 2002, 2003) of an
Access file either by opening it or externally? I know you get a message
asking if you want to convert the file to a newer version the first time you
open it, but what about at some later point?

In a related area, other than better performance when using database files
matched to the version of Access (or Jet) you're using, is there any other
benefit of converting a database to a newer version?

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

There are 3rd party products that can do it. Check

AccVer http://www.aylott.com.au/software.htm
Total Access Startup http://www.fmsinc.com/products/startup
AccessOpener http://www.openaccess.co.za/BlackAndWhiteInc/AccessOpener.htm

The last site's willing to give you the source code if you sign a
non-disclosure agreement.

I doubt there's much difference between 2000, 2002 and 2003, since they all
use the same version of Jet.

 

[Sanjib Biswas]

Hi Doug,

In one of the news group, it was mentioned that if I want to open a MS
Access 95 version database using Jet driver then I should be using Jet 3.5
instead of 4.0 otherwise the lock file would remain even after disposing &
closing the connection. Any thoughts on this?

Regards
Sanjib

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

First I've heard of it.

Have you tried it? Has it made a difference?

(In actual fact, a database that was created using Access 95 would have been
created using Jet 3.0)

 

[Guest]

Access 95 uses Jet 3.0 files, the same as Access 97.

In Access, you should use DAO.36 (Jet 4.0) to access
Jet 3.0/Jet 3.5/Access 95/Access 97 files, because that is
the version loaded by Access 2000/2002/2003. There is
no problem with the LDB files, or with sharing the database.

Outside Access, in VB or VB.net, you should use
DAO.35/ Jet 3.5, because that is the faster and more
stable native engine for the Jet 3.0 file format. There
is no problem with the LDB files, or with sharing the
database.

Jet 2.5 (Access 2.0) should not be used in a multi-user situation
with Jet 4.0, but it's ok to use Jet 4.0 with Jet 2.5 files, as long
as Jet 2.5 is not in use at the same time. This is because of the
way Jet 4.0 and Jet 2.5 handle lock files.

Jet 3.0 (Access 95) should not be used at all, and should not
be used in a multi-user situation with Jet 3.5 or Jet 4.0, because
according to MS, file corruption may result if you use Jet 3.0
and Jet 3.5 at the same time. I never heard any specific reason:
I always assumed it was just bugs in Jet 3.0/Access 95.

It may be that Access 95/Jet 3.0 has the same incompatibility as
does Access 2.0/Jet 3.5 with Access 2000+. If so, Access 95/
Jet 3.0 should not be used at the same time as Access 2000+
/Jet 4.0. But moving to Jet 3.5 is not a solution.

In any case, Access 95 files are just Jet 3.0 files, the same
as Access 97 files, and should be opened using Jet 3.5 or
Jet 4.0 as appropriate, not Access 95/Jet 3.0, and certainly
not at the same time as Access 95/Jet 3.0

(david)