Microsoft KB Archive/131629

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Err Msg: Syntax Error in DROP TABLE Statement

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Query for Windows, version 1.0
 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
 * Microsoft Excel for Windows NT, version 5.0

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SYMPTOMS
When you use version 2.0 of the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) drivers to delete database tables, you may receive the following error message:

Syntax error in DROP TABLE statement

CAUSE
The ODBC drivers listed below will return the above error message if the first character of a table's name is a number (for example, "1TABLE"):

Microsoft Btrieve Driver

Microsoft dBASE Driver

Microsoft FoxPro Driver

Microsoft Paradox Driver

Microsoft Text Driver These drivers are shipped with the Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers Kit.

RESOLUTION
This error is caused by the way the DROP TABLE statement is created in Microsoft Query. For example, if you are using the Microsoft dBASE ODBC version 2.0 driver to delete a table called "1TABLE.DBF" in the C:\TEST directory, the following SQL statement is created by Microsoft Query and used to drop the table:

  DROP TABLE c:\test\'1table.dbf' NOTE: This select statement will cause the same error if you use it in the SQLExecQuery function in a Visual Basic for Applications macro.

This will cause the error stated above, unless you replace the backslash immediately before the table name with a period as shown below:

  DROP TABLE c:\test.'1table.dbf'

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft ODBC Desktop Database Drivers Kit version 2.0. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.