Microsoft KB Archive/172711

= ACC: FileCopy Statement May Not Copy Open Files =

Article ID: 172711

Article Last Modified on 1/20/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q172711



Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.



SYMPTOMS
When you programmatically copy a file with the FileCopy statement in Visual Basic for Applications, you may receive the following error message:

Run-time error '70'

Permission denied

This article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to your version of the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access" manual.



CAUSE
The file is currently open, which prevents the FileCopy statement from copying the file.



RESOLUTION
Instead of using the FileCopy statement, use one of the following methods to programmatically copy the file.

WARNING: The following functions enable you to copy an open file. If the source file is changed while the copy operation is in process, the destination file may be incomplete or may become corrupted.

Method 1 - Calling the CopyFile function from the Windows API
One method to programmatically copy a file is to call the CopyFile function from the Microsoft Windows API. To call the CopyFile function from the Microsoft Windows API, follow these steps:

 Complete steps 1 through 4 from the "Steps to Reproduce Behavior" section later in this article.  Create a module and type the following lines in the Declarations section:

     Option Explicit Declare Function apiCopyFile Lib "kernel32" Alias "CopyFileA" _ (ByVal lpExistingFileName As String, _     ByVal lpNewFileName As String, _      ByVal bFailIfExists As Long) As Long   Type the following procedure:

Sub CopyFile(SourceFile As String, DestFile As String) '---     ' PURPOSE: Copy a file on disk from one location to another. ' ACCEPTS: The name of the source file and destination file. ' RETURNS: Nothing '---       Dim Result As Long If Dir(SourceFile) = "" Then MsgBox Chr(34) & SourceFile & Chr(34) & _ " is not valid file name." Else Result = apiCopyFile(SourceFile, DestFile, False) End If     End Sub  To test this procedure, type the following line in the Debug window, and then press ENTER:

CopyFile "", "C:\Northwind.mdb"

Note that Northwind.mdb is copied to the root folder of drive C, even though it is currently open in another instance of Microsoft Access.</ol>

Method 2 - Calling the MS-DOS Copy Command
Another method to programmatically copy a file is to call the MS-DOS Copy command from a Shell function in Visual Basic for Applications. To call the MS-DOS Copy command, follow these steps:

<ol> Complete steps 1 through 4 from the "Steps to Reproduce Behavior" section later in this article.</li>  Create a module and type the following line in the Declarations section if it is not already there:

<pre class="fixed_text">     Option Explicit </li>  If you are using Microsoft Windows 95, type the following procedure:

Sub CopyFile(SourceFile As String, DestFile As String) '---     ' PURPOSE: Copy a file on disk from one location to another. ' ACCEPTS: The name of the source file and destination file. ' RETURNS: Nothing '---        Dim CopyString As String If Dir(SourceFile) = "" Then MsgBox Chr(34) & SourceFile & Chr(34) & _ " is not a valid file name." Else SourceFile = Chr(34) & SourceFile & Chr(34) DestFile = Chr(34) & DestFile & Chr(34) CopyString = "COMMAND.COM /C COPY " & SourceFile & _ " " & DestFile Call Shell(CopyString, 0) End If     End Sub

If you are using Microsoft Windows NT, use the same procedure, but change the line

CopyString = "COMMAND.COM /C COPY " & SourceFile & _

to:

CopyString = "CMD.EXE /C COPY " & SourceFile & _ </li> To test this procedure, type the following line in the Debug window, and then press ENTER:

CopyFile "<path to Northwind.mdb>", "C:\Northwind.mdb"

Note that Northwind.mdb is copied to the root folder of drive C, even though it is currently open in another instance of Microsoft Access.</li></ol>

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STATUS
This behavior is by design.

<div class="moreinformation_section">

Steps to Reproduce Behavior
<ol> Start Microsoft Access.</li> Open the sample database Northwind.mdb.</li> Start a new instance of Microsoft Access.</li> Create a new blank database.</li>  Create a module and type the following line in the Declarations section if it is not already there:

<pre class="fixed_text">     Option Explicit </li>  Type the following procedure:

Sub CopyFile(SourceFile As String, DestFile As String) FileCopy SourceFile, DestFile End Sub </li> To test this procedure, type the following line in the Debug window, and then press ENTER:

CopyFile "<path to Northwind.mdb>", "C:\Northwind.mdb"

Note that you receive the error listed in the "Symptoms" section.</li></ol>

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