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Note  The information in this topic applies only to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb).

In Microsoft Office Access 2003, you can view information on dependencies between 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.). Viewing a list of objects that use a specific object helps maintain a database over time and avoid errors related to missing record sources (record source: The underlying source of data for a form, report, or data access page. In an Access database, it could be a table, query, or SQL statement. In an Access project, it could be a table, view, SQL statement, or stored procedure.). For example, the Quarterly Orders query in the Sales database is no longer needed, but before deleting it, you might want to find out which other objects in the database use the query. Then, you could either modify the dependent objects to remove dependencies, or delete the dependent objects, before deleting the Quarterly Orders query. Viewing a complete list of dependent objects helps you save time and minimize errors.

In addition to viewing the list of objects that use the selected object, you can also view the objects that are being used by the selected object. For example, the following illustration shows the objects use the Quarterly Orders query, and also the tables and queries that the query uses.

You can click on the expand (+) icon next to an object to see dependency information for that object.

You can navigate through up to four levels.

Access 2003 generates dependency information by searching the name maps maintained by the Name AutoCorrect (Name AutoCorrect: A feature that automatically corrects common side effects that occur when you rename forms, reports, tables, queries, fields, or controls on forms and reports. However, Name AutoCorrect cannot repair all references to renamed objects.) feature. If tracking name AutoCorrect information is turned off, you cannot view dependency information.

Note  Tracking name AutoCorrect information must be enabled to view dependency information but performing name Autocorrect need not be enabled.

If any object is open, it must be saved and closed so that Access can generate accurate information.

The dependency information is generated only for tables (table: A database object that stores data in records (rows) and fields (columns). The data is usually about a particular category of things, such as employees or orders.), queries (query: A question about the data stored in your tables, or a request to perform an action on the data. A query can bring together data from multiple tables to serve as the source of data for a form, report, or data access page.), forms (form: An Access database object on which you place controls for taking actions or for entering, displaying, and editing data in fields.), and reports (report: An Access database object that prints information that is formatted and organized according to your specifications. Examples of reports are sales summaries, phone lists, and mailing labels.) in an Access database. It is not available for the following:

• data access pages (data access page: A Web page, published from Access, that has a connection to a database. In a data access page, you can view, add to, edit, and manipulate the data stored in the database. A page can also include data from other sources, such as Excel.), macro (macro: An action or a set of actions you can use to automate tasks. Macros are recorded in the Visual Basic for Applications programming language.), and 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.) in a database.
• objects not supported by the name AutoCorrect feature, such as action queries and SQL-specific queries, including union queries, data-definition queries, pass-through queries, and subqueries.
• Access projects.

Note  Nested queries are partially supported. Access can generate dependency information only for the outermost query. Also, the source tables and queries of a query's subdatasheet (subdatasheet: A datasheet that is nested within another datasheet and that contains data related or joined to the first datasheet.) and lookup fields (Lookup field: A field, used on a form or report in an Access database, that either displays a list of values retrieved from a table or query, or stores a static set of values.) are not listed as objects that the query depends on.

Dependency information is also not available if you don't have permissions to open an object in Design view (Design view: A window that shows the design of these database objects: tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, and data access pages. In Design view, you can create new database objects and modify the design of existing ones.).

For each type of object, the following table lists the types of objects it can depend on, and the nature of dependency.