Microsoft KB Archive/291264

= How to refresh links in a runtime application in Microsoft Access =

Article ID: 291264

Article Last Modified on 6/27/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Access 2007
 * Microsoft Office Access 2003
 * Microsoft Access 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office Access 2007 Developer Extensions
 * Microsoft Office Access 2003 Developer Extensions
 * Microsoft Office XP Developer Edition
 * Microsoft Office 2000 Developer Edition

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This article was previously published under Q291264



SUMMARY
In a run-time application, the front-end and back-end databases must be stored in the same folder. Even though you can change the default installation path of the back-end database to, for example, $AppPath\Folder1, there is no way for Access to refresh the links in the front-end to match the new installation location.

One way to work around this behavior is to programmatically refresh the links by using ActiveX Extensibility Objects (ADOX) after the run-time application has been installed. The following is an illustration of how to implement this technique. Please note that this article assumes that the back-end databases are stored in subfolders under the front-end database.



MORE INFORMATION
 Make sure you have the latest version of the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) installed on your computer. MDAC can be found at the following Microsoft Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/dataaccess

 Set a reference to Microsoft ADO Ext 2.5 (or later) for DDL and Security. Create a new database and name it FrontEnd.mdb. Import the Customers and Employees forms from the sample database Northwind.mdb into FrontEnd.mdb. Create a new database and subfolder under the folder where the FrontEnd.mdb file is located, for example, Folder1\Backend1.mdb. Import the Customer table from Northwind.mdb into Backend1.mdb. Create a new database and subfolder under the folder where the FrontEnd.mdb file is located, for example, Folder2\Backend2.mdb.</li> Import the Employee table from Northwind.mdb into Backend2.mdb.</li>  Open the FrontEnd.mdb database and create a new module. In the module, paste in the following code: Option Compare Database Option Explicit

Private Declare Function apiSearchTreeForFile Lib &quot;ImageHlp.dll&quot; Alias _ &quot;SearchTreeForFile&quot; (ByVal lpRoot As String, ByVal lpInPath _       As String, ByVal lpOutPath As String) As Long

Function RefreshLinks On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

Dim objCat As New ADOX.Catalog 'Define the ADOX Catalog Object Dim objTbl As ADOX.Table 'Define the ADOX Table Object

Dim strSearchFolder As String 'Folder to Search in. Dim strFilename As String 'Db Name of the Linked Table Dim strFullName As String 'Path & DB Name of the Linked Table. Dim strSearchFile As String 'The new path of the database. Dim blnTablesNotLinked As Boolean 'Determines if links are valid 'Open the catalog objCat.ActiveConnection = CurrentProject.Connection 'Loop through the table collection and refresh the linked tables. For Each objTbl In objCat.Tables ' Check to make sure the table is a linked table. If objTbl.Type = &quot;LINK&quot; Then strFullName = objTbl.Properties(&quot;Jet OLEDB:Link Datasource&quot;) strFilename = Mid(strFullName, InStrRev(strFullName, &quot;\&quot;, _ Len(strFullName)) + 1, Len(strFullName)) strSearchFolder = CurrentProject.Path 'The following line of code attempts to refresh the link. 'If the source cannot be found an error is generated. 'Please note that this code only checks one table to determine 'whether or not the links are valid. objTbl.Properties(&quot;Jet OLEDB:Link Datasource&quot;) = strFullName If blnTablesNotLinked = False Then Exit Function Else 'Set the search path to the path of the current project. 'The assumption is that the linked tables are located in subfolders. strSearchFile = SearchFile(strFilename, strSearchFolder) objTbl.Properties(&quot;Jet OLEDB:Link Datasource&quot;) = strSearchFile End If       End If    Next MsgBox &quot;The links were successfully refreshed!!! &quot;

ExitHandler: Exit Function ErrorHandler: Select Case Err.Number Case -2147467259 blnTablesNotLinked = True Resume Next Case Else MsgBox Err.Description & &quot; &quot; & Err.Number Resume ExitHandler End Select End Function

Function SearchFile(ByVal strFilename As String, _           ByVal strSearchPath As String) As String 'Search the folder for first occurrence of the source databases. Dim strBuffer As String Dim lngResult As Long SearchFile = &quot;&quot; strBuffer = String$(1024, 0) lngResult = apiSearchTreeForFile(strSearchPath, strFilename, strBuffer) If lngResult <> 0 Then If InStr(strBuffer, vbNullChar) > 0 Then SearchFile = Left$(strBuffer, InStr(strBuffer, vbNullChar) - 1) End If   End If End Function This function checks the first linked table in the database to determine if the links are valid. If the links are not valid, the function searches for the database and refreshes the links. </li>  Create a new macro with the following properties, and name it AutoExec: <pre class="fixed_text">  Action: RunCode Function Name: RefreshLinks

Action: OpenForm Form Name: Customers

Action: OpenForm Form Name: Employees Note that you can also call this function in the Open event of a hidden Startup Form. </li> Build the package for the run-time application. Remember to add &quot;Folder1&quot; and &quot;Folder2&quot; to the respective installation locations.

For Access 2007 and for Access 2003, add the back-end files in the &quot;Additional Files&quot; section, and then provide respective folder names &quot;Folder1&quot; and &quot;Folder2&quot; in the Install Subfolder column.

For Access 2002 and for Access 2000, add &quot;$(AppPath)\Folder1\&quot; and &quot;$(AppPath)\Folder2\&quot; to the respective installation locations on the Install Location page.

</li> Deploy the run-time application.</li></ol>

When the application starts, an hourglass indicates that the links are being refreshed. The Customers and Employees forms will then open with valid data.

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