Microsoft KB Archive/97773

= ACC: Export Table to Other Database Type Does Not Create Index =

Article ID: 97773

Article Last Modified on 1/18/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 1.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 1.1 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 2.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q97773



Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.



SYMPTOMS
When you export a Microsoft Access 7.0 or 97 table with a primary key field to any of the dBASE or Microsoft FoxPro formats, an index is created. This does not happen in Microsoft Access 1.x and 2.0. Exporting to a Paradox format does not create an index in any version of Microsoft Access.

In Microsoft Access 1.x and 2.0, if you import a supported foreign database table that has an index or a primary key, the resulting Microsoft Access table does not have a primary key defined.

However, Microsoft Access 7.0 and 97 have an option for field name prefixes or suffixes to indicate which field names should be indexed automatically on import. The default strings are: ID, key, code, and num. Memo and OLE Object fields are not indexed.



CAUSE
In Microsoft Access 1.x and 2.0, the import and export utility imports and exports only data, not the key or index definitions.



RESOLUTION
When you export a Microsoft Access table to an external database format, you must use the native application for that file type to define the index or key fields. Likewise, in versions 1.x and 2.0, after you import a foreign database into your Microsoft Access database, you must open the table in Design view and define the primary key field or fields. You must do this in Microsoft Access 7.0 and 97 only if the AutoIndex option found no matches.



STATUS
This behavior is by design.



MORE INFORMATION
The following database formats can be imported or exported by Microsoft Access. After a table is exported from Microsoft Access, use the native product for each file type to create indexes or key fields.

  FoxPro 2.x   Visual FoxPro 3.0 (Microsoft Access 7.0 and 97 only) Paradox 3.x  Paradox 4.x (Microsoft Access 2.0, 7.0, and 97 only) Paradox 5.0 (Microsoft Access 7.0 and 97 only) dBase III dBASE III + dBASE IV  dBASE for Windows version 5.0 (Microsoft Access 7.0 and 97 only) Btrieve (Microsoft Access 2.0 or earlier only) SQL Server

