This article shows you how to customize the way that Microsoft Office Access 2007 starts by adding switches and parameters to the startup command. For example, you can have Office Access 2007 open a specific file or run a specific macro when it starts.

Command line switches are also called command-line options. Depending on what they do, some switches require parameters, and some do not.

If you want to use a switch and any associated parameters just one time, you can type the command string in the Run box (in Microsoft Windows, click the Start button, and then click Run). The command string consists of the command that starts the program — in this case, Msaccess.exe — followed by a combination of switches and parameters. If you want to use the same switch and associated parameters many times, you can create a desktop shortcut that always starts the program by using the same switch and parameters. This article discusses how to do both, and contains a table that lists all of the switches and parameters that are available in Office Access 2007.

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• Introducing commands, switches, and parameters

• Use a switch once by adding it to the Run command

• Make a switch available for reuse by creating a shortcut

• Available switches and parameters

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Introducing commands, switches, and parameters

Each time that you start Access by clicking the Access program icon or the program name on the Start menu, you are actually running the Msaccess.exe command, although you do not usually type the command or even see it.

You can change certain aspects of how the program starts by adding subcommands called switches to the Msaccess.exe command. A switch appears as a space after the main command, followed by a slash mark (/) and the name of the switch. The switch is sometimes followed by another space and then one or more specific instructions called parameters, which give the program further information about how to run the Msaccess.exe command. For example, the following command instructs Access to start and then open the specified file for read-only use:

msaccess.exe /ro "c:\My Folder\My Database.accdb"

In this example, the switch is /ro, and the parameter is "c:\My Folder\My Database.accdb". Note that the file path in this case is set in quotation marks because it contains spaces. When the file path does not contain spaces, quotation marks are not necessary.

In Office Access 2007, you can omit msaccess.exe and begin the command with the full file path, followed by switches and parameters. For example, you can type the above command as follows:

"c:\My Folder\My Database.accdb" /ro

 Note   For .accdb, .adp, or .mdb files, be sure that Access is not already running when you issue a command that does not include msaccess.exe. If Access is already running, no command-line switches will be passed. However, when you open an .accdr, an .mde, an .accde, or an .ade file, a new instance of Access is always started, so command-line switches will work normally.

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Use a switch once by adding it to the Run command

1. In Windows, click the Start button, and then click Run.
2. In the Run box, type msaccess.exe, or click Browse to locate it.
3. Type a space, and then type the switch and any parameters. You can have multiple switches and parameters in one command. For example, to open a specific database in read-only mode and then run a specific macro within that database, you would type:
   
   msaccess.exe /ro "c:\MyFolder\MyDatabase.accdb" /x MyMacro

The next time that you start Access without command line switches, the program starts according to its defaults. To make your customized startup available for repeated uses, see the following section.

  Notes  

• Switches and parameters are not case-sensitive. For example, /RO functions the same as /ro.
• Include one blank space before each switch and one before each parameter.

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Make a switch available for reuse by creating a shortcut

First, verify the location of the Msaccess.exe file on your computer. If you accepted the default folder locations when you installed Access, the Msaccess.exe file is typically located at:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\msaccess.exe

If you do not find the Msaccess.exe file at that location, search for the file and make a note of the full path.

1. Right-click the Windows desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut on the shortcut menu.
2. On the first page of the Create Shortcut Wizard, in the Type the location of the item box, type a quotation mark ("), enter the full path for the Msaccess.exe file (including the file name), and then type a quotation mark. (Alternatively, click Browse to locate and select the file. In this case, the quotation marks are added automatically.)
3. Following the closing quotation mark, type a space, and then type the switch and any parameters. If the parameter is a file path that includes spaces, it also must be enclosed in quotation marks. For example:

   "c:\program files\microsoft office\office12\msaccess.exe" /ro "c:\My Folder\My Database.accdb"

4. Click Next.
5. In the Type a name for this shortcut box, type a name for the shortcut, and then click Finish.

   The wizard creates the shortcut and places it on the desktop.

6. Whenever you want to start Access in this particular customized way, double-click the shortcut.

    Tip   To add the desktop shortcut to the Start menu, right-click the shortcut, and then click Pin to Start menu on the shortcut menu.

You can create a variety of shortcuts, each of which applies different switches and parameters to the program at startup.

  Notes  

• Switches and parameters are not case-sensitive. For example, /RO functions the same as /ro.
• Include one blank space before each switch and one before each parameter.

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Available switches and parameters

The following table lists all of the switches and parameters that are available in Office Access 2007.

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