Converting a Database to Another Version

Access 2002 and 2003 make it easy to interact with other versions of Access. Access 2002 and 2003 allow you to open, read, and update Access databases stored in the Access 2000 file format without converting the files to the Access 2002-2003 file format. Furthermore, Access 2002 and 2003 allow you to easily convert files stored in the Access 2002-2003 file format to either the Access 97 or the Access 2000 file format.

To convert an Access 2002 or 2003 database to a format that is compatible with an earlier version of Access, select Tools | Database Utilities | Convert Database | To Access 2000 File Format or select Tools | Database Utilities | Convert Database | To Access 97 File Format.

As mentioned earlier, you can use Access 2000 files in Access 2002 and Access 2003. If you want to convert an open database stored in the Access 2000 file format to the Access 2002-2003 file format, select Tools | Database Utilities | Convert Database | To Access 2002 File Format.

In versions of Access prior to Access 2002, when problems occur during the conversion process, users are left wondering exactly what has gone awry. Access 2002 and Access 2003 address this problem. If errors occur while converting from earlier versions of Access to the Access 2002-2003 file format, Access creates a table that lists each error. You can easily use the data in that table to handle the conversion problem gracefully.

Task: Compacting, Repairing, and Converting a Database into Another Version

To practice compacting, repairing, and converting a database to another version, let's start by compacting and repairing a database and then convert the database to Access 97: