Whether you should convert or enable a Microsoft Access file (Microsoft Access file: An Access database or Access project file. An Access database stores database objects and data in an .mdb file. A project file doesn't contain data and is used to connect to a Microsoft SQL Server database.) depends on which versions of Access users have upgraded to.

You can convert a Microsoft Access database (Microsoft Access database: A collection of data and objects (such as tables, queries, or forms) that is related to a particular topic or purpose. The Microsoft Jet database engine manages the data.) that was created in Access 2.0 or later to Access 2000 or Access 2002 - 2003 file format. Also, you can convert an Access project (Microsoft Access project: An Access file that connects to a Microsoft SQL Server database and is used to create client/server applications. A project file doesn't contain any data or data-definition-based objects such as tables and views.) from Access 2000 to Access 2002 -2003 file format.

The following changes might affect the conversion of an Access database:

• Code compatibility    Access 2000 or later does not support the Microsoft DAO (Data Access Objects (DAO): A data access interface that communicates with Microsoft Jet and ODBC-compliant data sources to connect to, retrieve, manipulate, and update data and the database structure.) 2.5/3.x compatibility library. If you attempt to convert an Access database in which the code contains older versions of DAO objects, methods, and properties that depend on the DAO 2.5/3.x compatibility library, you receive a message that there were compilation errors during the conversion of the database. Before you convert an Access database, update the code so that it does not depend on the DAO 2.5/3.x compatibility library. If you still receive a message that there were compilation errors during conversion, open the converted database in Access 2002 or later, remove the reference to the missing DAO 2.5/3.x compatibility library, and then set a reference to the Microsoft DAO 3.6 Object Library.

  If your Access database uses add-ins (add-in: A supplemental program that adds custom commands or custom features to Microsoft Office.) or library databases (library database: A collection of procedures and database objects that you can call from any application. In order to use the items in the library, you must first establish a reference from the current database to the library database.) created in a Access 97 or earlier, you must convert them as well. However, you can use an add-in or library database created in Access 2000 with a file in Access 2002 - 2003 format.

• DoMenuItem replaced with RunCommand    The DoMenuItem action is replaced in Microsoft Access 2000 or later with the RunCommand action; DoMenuItem is still supported for backwards compatibility. When you convert a database, the DoMenuItem action is automatically converted to the RunCommand action.

• Toolbars and menu bars    Access 2002 or later still supports menu bar macros for applications created with previous version of Access. In Access 2000 or later, menu bars and shortcut menus (as well as toolbars) are created and customized from the Customize dialog box. You can also use this dialog box to customize the built-in menu bar and toolbars.

  Microsoft Access 97 or later supports a new style of toolbars and menu bars. When you convert a Microsoft Access version 2.0 or 95 database to Microsoft Access 2000, any custom toolbars, as well as built-in toolbars, are automatically converted to the new style of toolbar. Custom menu bars, created with the Microsoft Access 95 Menu Builder or with macros that use AddMenu actions, are interpreted as the new-style menu bars when you open a converted Access database. However, they are not automatically converted, and you can't use the Customize dialog box to edit them until you have converted them.

Converting a security-enabled Microsoft Access project (Microsoft Access project: An Access file that connects to a Microsoft SQL Server database and is used to create client/server applications. A project file doesn't contain any data or data-definition-based objects such as tables and views.) from Access 2000 to Access 2002 - 2003 file format requires no additional action because security is maintained in the Microsoft SQL Server database (Microsoft SQL Server database: A database in Microsoft SQL Server, it consists of tables, views, indexes, stored procedures, functions, and triggers.) that the Access project is connected to. However, there are additional considerations when you convert a security-enabled Access database (Microsoft Access database: A collection of data and objects (such as tables, queries, or forms) that is related to a particular topic or purpose. The Microsoft Jet database engine manages the data.) from a previous version.

If all users of a previous-version security-enabled database will be upgrading to Microsoft Access 2000 or later, you should convert the Access database to Access 2000 file format. If all users have upgraded to Access 2002 or later, you can convert the Access database to Access 2002 - 2003 file format. If necessary, you can still use the corresponding workgroup information file without converting it. However, recreating the workgroup information file in Access 2002 or later is recommended.

If only some users of a security-enabled database will be upgrading to Access 2002 or later, you can share the database and workgroup information file across all versions of Microsoft Access currently in use.

Important  User-level security (user-level security: When using user-level security in an Access database, a database administrator or an object's owner can grant individual users or groups of users specific permissions to tables, queries, forms, reports, and macros.) in Microsoft Access 2000 or later does not help protect Visual Basic code in modules (module: A collection of declarations, statements, and procedures stored together as one named unit. There are two types of modules: standard modules and class modules.) or code behind forms and reports. Code in a security-enabled database that you have converted from Access 97 or earlier does not maintain security measures until you create a password for the Visual Basic project (project: The set of all code modules in a database, including standard modules and class modules. By default, the project has the same name as the database.).

Before converting a security-enabled Access database (Microsoft Access database: A collection of data and objects (such as tables, queries, or forms) that is related to a particular topic or purpose. The Microsoft Jet database engine manages the data.), make sure you're using the workgroup information file (workgroup information file: A file that Access reads at startup that contains information about the users in a workgroup. This information includes users' account names, their passwords, and the groups of which they are members.) that defines the user accounts used to access the database. The user account you use to log on during conversion must have the following permissions:

• Open/Run and Open Exclusive permissions for the database itself

• Administer permission on the MSysACES and MSysObjects system tables

• Modify Design permissions for all other tables in the database, or you must be the owner of all tables in the database

• Read Design permissions for all objects in the database

• In a replica (replica: A copy of a database that is a member of a replica set and can be synchronized with other replicas in the set. Changes to the data in a replicated table in one replica are sent and applied to the other replicas.), you can specify that a table, query or relationship in a replica is local so that it is stored only in that member of the replica set. However, in Access 2000 or later, you can no longer create local forms, reports, macros, modules, or command bars in a converted replica.
• You should synchronize a replica set before converting it.
• If your replica set contains partial replicas (partial replica: A database that contains only a subset of the records in a full replica. With a partial replica, you can set filters and identify relationships that define which subset of the records in the full replica should be present in the database.), you should synchronize the replica set before conversion and then recreate the partial replicas after conversion.

  Caution  Synchronizing partial replicas in Access 2000 file format with a Design Master (Design Master: The only member of the replica set in which you can make changes to the database structure that can be propagated to other replicas.) in Access 2002 - 2003 file format might result in the loss of database objects (database objects: An Access database contains objects such as tables, queries, forms, reports, pages, macros, and modules. An Access project contains objects such as forms, reports, pages, macros, and modules.) in the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) project (project: The set of all code modules in a database, including standard modules and class modules. By default, the project has the same name as the database.) of the Access database.

• If you convert a Design Master from Access 95 or 97 to Access 2000 or Access 2002 - 2003 file format, you can no longer synchronize with other Access 95 or 97 replicas. You must convert the Access 95 or 97 replicas to the appropriate file format (Access 2000 or later).

  A Design Master in Access 2000 or later can synchronize only with replicas in Access 2000 or Access 2002 - 2003 file format. The only way to convert Access 2000 replicas to Access 2002 - 2003 file format is by synchronizing them with a converted Design Master.

  Caution  If you convert a Design Master from Access 2000 to Access 2002 - 2003 file format and then synchronize with other replicas in Access 2000 file format, those replicas are converted to Access 2002 - 2003 file format, and you won't be able to open them in Access 2000.

You can convert a Microsoft Access database (Microsoft Access database: A collection of data and objects (such as tables, queries, or forms) that is related to a particular topic or purpose. The Microsoft Jet database engine manages the data.) in Access 2000 or Access 2002 - 2003 file format back to Access 97. You can also convert an Access database or an Access project (Microsoft Access project: An Access file that connects to a Microsoft SQL Server database and is used to create client/server applications. A project file doesn't contain any data or data-definition-based objects such as tables and views.) in Access 2002 - 2003 file format back to Access 2000 file format.

If Microsoft Access encounters errors while converting an Access file (Microsoft Access file: An Access database or Access project file. An Access database stores database objects and data in an .mdb file. A project file doesn't contain data and is used to connect to a Microsoft SQL Server database.), you can view a summary of these errors by opening the Conversion Errors table in the new Access file. The Conversion Errors table contains the following columns:

Object Type    The type of database object (database objects: An Access database contains objects such as tables, queries, forms, reports, pages, macros, and modules. An Access project contains objects such as forms, reports, pages, macros, and modules.) in which Access encountered an error, or "Database" if Access encountered an error that is not specific to a particular type of object.

Object Name    The name of the object in which Access encountered an error. If Access encounters a compilation error during conversion, however, the name of the module that contains the error is not specified.

Error Description    If necessary, you can press SHIFT+F2 to view the entire description of the error.

When you open a Microsoft Access version 2.0 database, an Access 95 database, or an Access 97 database in Access 2002 or later, the Convert/Open Database dialog box asks you to choose between converting and opening (enabling) the Access database. When an Access 2002 or later user enables the database, Access maintains the original format so that users of previous versions of Access can continue to use the database. For example, if a shared database is created in Access version 2.0, it can be used with Access version 2.0 and enabled in Access 2002 or later.

When you use an enabled Access database in Access 2002 or later, you can view database objects (database objects: An Access database contains objects such as tables, queries, forms, reports, pages, macros, and modules. An Access project contains objects such as forms, reports, pages, macros, and modules.) and add, delete, or modify records in Access 2002 or later, but you can't modify the design of objects. To modify the design of existing objects or to add new objects, you must open the file in the previous version of Access.

Size of an enabled Access database Your Microsoft Access database may increase in size when you enable it. If you have already enabled a database in a previous version of Access, and if you enable it again in Access 2002 or later, the size of the Visual Basic project (project: The set of all code modules in a database, including standard modules and class modules. By default, the project has the same name as the database.) will increase even more. In rare cases, you may have enabled a Access version 2.0 database in Access 95, enabled it again in Access 97, and enabled it again in Access 2000 or later; in this case, the Visual Basic project must store information in the format of each version.

Enabling a security-enabled Access database    If your Microsoft Access database has enabled security, you can make sure that it retains its security by recreating the workgroup information file in Access 2002 or later. If you cannot recreate the workgroup information file, you can use the Workgroup Administrator to join the security-enabled database's previous-version workgroup information file. However, it is recommended that you convert the workgroup information file to Access 2000 file format before you join it. In Access 2002 or later, you can use a workgroup information file that was created in a previous version; however you can't use a workgroup information file created in Access 2002 or later in Access 97 or earlier.

As long as you use the database with its original workgroup information, it retains all its security except permissions for the modules. In Access 2000 or later, you can't use user-level security (user-level security: When using user-level security in an Access database, a database administrator or an object's owner can grant individual users or groups of users specific permissions to tables, queries, forms, reports, and macros.) to help protect modules. However, you can help protect Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code with a password.

Code compatibility    Microsoft Access 2000 or later does not support the DAO (Data Access Objects (DAO): A data access interface that communicates with Microsoft Jet and ODBC-compliant data sources to connect to, retrieve, manipulate, and update data and the database structure.) 2.5/3.x compatibility library. If you attempt to enable an Access database in which the code contains older versions of DAO objects, methods, and properties that depend on the DAO 2.5/3.x compatibility library, you receive a message that there were compilation errors during the enabling of the database. Before you enable the Access database, update the code so that it does not depend on the DAO 2.5/3.x compatibility library.

New style of toolbars and menu bars    Microsoft Access 97 or later supports a new style of toolbars and menu bars. When you enable an Access 95 database in Access 2002 or later, custom toolbars are converted to the new style but the conversion isn't saved. Custom menu bars are interpreted as the new style menu bar, but the menu bar macros are not converted and continue to be supported.