Microsoft KB Archive/217011

= How To Copy a DAO TableDef Including User-Defined Properties =

Article ID: 217011

Article Last Modified on 2/12/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Enterprise 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 Q217011



SUMMARY
Microsoft Access has the ability to import or export tables to another database, or save an existing definition as a new table. However, this is not readily achievable using DAO code. This article gives a function to copy a table definition into the same or another database, including both the standard Jet properties and also the user-defined properties that Access or other applications may add.



MORE INFORMATION
Creating a table in DAO involves two main steps:


 * creating the base table

-and-


 * adding user-defined properties.

When you create the base table, you create the following objects in order: the TableDef object, one or more Field objects, and, optionally, Index objects. Prior to appending the TableDef to the TableDefs collection, you can only set the standard Jet properties on these objects. You have to wait until after the Append method to add the user-defined properties that Access or another application may need.

The following function, CopyTableDef, has three arguments:
 * SourceTableDef: the TableDef object to be copied. It is not the name of the TableDef, but the actual object itself.


 * TargetDB: the Database object to copy the TableDef into. It can be different than CurrentDB or the Database object the SourceTableDef is part of.


 * TargetName: the name to call the new table. It must be different than the original name if you are copying the TableDef within the same Database.

Notes:
 * The function copies only TableDef objects for native Jet tables. It does not copy attached/linked tables, which can be easily recreated by copying just the ConnectString and SourceTableName properties of the TableDef.


 * Error trapping is only provided for expected errors. The calling routine must prevent errors such as illegal TargetName, SourceTableDef, TargetDB, or trying to copy a system table.


 * When using DAO 2.x, you should replace the dbAttachedODBC and dbAttachedTable constants used in the code below with DB_ATTACHEDODBC and DB_ATTACHEDTABLE, respectively. You should also remove the test for system fields, noted by **** below, which are added for Jet replication.


 * Because the code contains error handlers, the Break on All Errors option of the General tab of the Tools | Options dialog should not be set.

Function CopyTableDef (SourceTableDef As TableDef, TargetDB As Database, TargetName As String) As Integer Dim SI As Index, SF As Field, SP As Property Dim T As TableDef, I As Index, F As Field, P As Property Dim I1 As Integer, f1 As Integer, P1 As Integer If SourceTableDef.Attributes And dbAttachedODBC Or SourceTableDef.Attributes And dbAttachedTable Then CopyTableDef = False Exit Function End If Set T = TargetDB.CreateTableDef(TargetName) ' Copy Jet Properties On Error Resume Next For P1 = 0 To T.Properties.Count - 1 If T.Properties(P1).Name <> "Name" Then T.Properties(P1).Value = SourceTableDef.Properties(P1).Value End If   Next P1    On Error GoTo 0 ' Copy Fields For f1 = 0 To SourceTableDef.Fields.Count - 1 Set SF = SourceTableDef.Fields(f1) If (SF.Attributes and dbSystemField) = 0 Then  ' DAO 3.0 and higher **** Set F = T.CreateField ' Copy Jet Properties On Error Resume Next For P1 = 0 To F.Properties.Count - 1 F.Properties(P1).Value = SF.Properties(P1).Value Next P1         On Error GoTo 0 T.Fields.Append F     End If ' Corresponding End If **** Next f1 ' Copy Indexes For I1 = 0 To SourceTableDef.Indexes.Count - 1 Set SI = SourceTableDef.Indexes(I1) If Not SI.Foreign Then        ' Foreign indexes are added by relationships Set I = T.CreateIndex ' Copy Jet Properties On Error Resume Next For P1 = 0 To I.Properties.Count - 1 I.Properties(P1).Value = SI.Properties(P1).Value Next P1         On Error GoTo 0 ' Copy Fields For f1 = 0 To SI.Fields.Count - 1 Set F = T.CreateField(SI.Fields(f1).Name, T.Fields(SI.Fields(f1).Name).Type) I.Fields.Append F         Next f1        T.Indexes.Append I      End If    Next I1 ' Append TableDef TargetDB.TableDefs.Append T ' Copy Access/User Table Properties For P1 = T.Properties.Count To SourceTableDef.Properties.Count - 1 Set SP = SourceTableDef.Properties(P1) Set P = T.CreateProperty(SP.Name, SP.Type) P.Value = SP.Value T.Properties.Append P   Next P1  ' Copy Access/User Field Properties For f1 = 0 To T.Fields.Count - 1 Set SF = SourceTableDef.Fields(f1) Set F = T.Fields(f1) For P1 = F.Properties.Count To SF.Properties.Count - 1 Set SP = SF.Properties(P1) Set P = F.CreateProperty(SP.Name, SP.Type) P.Value = SP.Value F.Properties.Append P     Next P1    Next f1  ' Copy Access/User Index Properties For I1 = 0 To T.Indexes.Count - 1 Set SI = SourceTableDef.Indexes(T.Indexes(I1).Name) If Not SI.Foreign Then     ' don't copy foreign indexes - they're created by relationships Set I = T.Indexes(I1) For P1 = I.Properties.Count To SI.Properties.Count - 1 Set SP = SI.Properties(P1) Set P = I.CreateProperty(SP.Name, SP.Type) P.Value = SP.Value I.Properties.Append P       Next P1      End If    Next I1  CopyTableDef = True End Function

You would call the function as follows to copy a TableDef and its data within the same database:

Dim db As Database Set db = DBEngine(0).OpenDatabase("NWIND.MDB") If CopyTableDef(db!Employees, db, "Copy of Employees") Then db.Execute "INSERT INTO [Copy of Employees] SELECT * FROM Employees" Else MsgBox "Copy Failed" End If db.Close

You would call the function as follows to copy a TableDef and its data to another database:

Dim db1 As Database, db2 As Database Set db1 = DBEngine(0).OpenDatabase("NWIND.MDB") Set db2 = DBEngine(0).OpenDatabase("BIBLIO.MDB") If CopyTableDef(db1!Employees, db2, "Employees") Then db1.Execute "INSERT INTO [" & db2.Name & "].[Employees] SELECT * FROM Employees" Else MsgBox "Copy Failed" End If db1.Close db2.Close

(c) Microsoft Corporation 1999, All Rights Reserved. Contributions by Malcolm Stewart, Microsoft Corporation.

