# Solved: Cannot convert .mdb to .accdb



## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

I created a split database in Access 2000 (.mdb format). That format does not support Navigation forms, so I wanted to convert it to .accdb format on my laptop, which has Office Pro 2010. I follow all the steps: Open it, click "File", "Save & Publish", "Save Database As", "Access Database (*.accdb)", "Save As". Get message "All open objects must be closed prior to continuing this operation. Do you want Microsoft Access to close the objects?" Click 'Yes'. Window opens with new .accdb file name. Click "Save". Get error message "Could not use C:\(path)\(dbname.mdb); file already in use." But the file is NOT in use; the system closed it.

BTW, this applies only to the front-end of the split database. The back end (the tables) converted to .accdb, no problem.

What am I missing???????


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## OBP (Mar 8, 2005)

It sounds like a hidden form or query is running.
However a work around should be to open a Blank accb database and import all the Objects in from the Front End and then save it as accb.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

OBP said:


> It sounds like a hidden form or query is running.
> However a work around should be to open a Blank accb database and import all the Objects in from the Front End and then save it as accb.


That's what I thought. I do have a switchboard that opens via an Autoexec macro when the database is opened. But after I tell Access to close the database during the conversion process, there's nothing there but a blank Access window. Does Access consider an opening Autoexec macro as "still running", even though the switchboard it opens is no longer visible? If so. . . bizarre.

What irks the sh** out of me is that nowhere does Microsoft address reasons why things DON'T work. All they ever give you is step-by-step how you do it, but never what to do when it doesn't work.

I'll try the import and let you know.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

Did the import and it SAID it would import all tables, forms, reports, queries, macros. It didn't. It imported the Switchboard ITEMS, but not the form, and imported NO macros. So I rewrote the Autoexec macro, and it claims the Switchboard doesn't exist (which is correct; it's not listed among the Objects).

As you know, I have had very little exposure to Access 2010. . . because I hate it. So I'm now on the initial rungs of a steep learning curve. I cannot find any icon on the *&^% ribbon for a Switchboard. Did M$ in its infinite wisdom remove that feature in Office 2010? Is the "Navigation" form the replacement for the Switchboard? If so, that's probably why I couldn't convert my .mdb front end to a .accdb; Access 2010 doesn't know what to do with it, so tells me it couldn't "use" the old database. The other clue is that the tables (back end) part of the database converted promptly, no errors.

??????


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

Tony: This is a follow-on to my last post. I did a Web search on "switchboard in Access 2010" and found the following -- from MICROSOFT!!:

*Create a switchboard*

*Before you create a switchboard, consider how you want users to locate the various forms and reports in the database and plan your navigation design accordingly. Should your needs change after you create a switchboard, you will be able to modify the design of your switchboard at any time.

When you create a switchboard using the Switchboard Manager tool, Access creates a Switchboard Items table that describes what the buttons on the form display and what actions they perform. If you change your switchboard manually, the application may no longer work.

Since the Switchboard Manager only allows a maximum of eight command buttons on a switchboard, you might need additional switchboards that the user can navigate to from the Main Switchboard.

On the Database Tools tab, in the Database Tools group, click Switchboard Manager. . .*

There is much more after this, but I stopped at the last sentence because THERE IS NO SWITCHBOARD MANAGER choice on the Database Tools group!!!!!!!!!!

What's going on with M$? Why is my Office 2010 Pro not have the items they say are there?


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## OBP (Mar 8, 2005)

In Access 2007 the Switchboard Manager is located under Database Tools, far Right Group, Top Item.
I have never used a Switchboard Manager, I used to use a Form with Command Buttons, but know I prefer a Tabbed Mainform.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

OBP said:


> In Access 2007 the Switchboard Manager is located under Database Tools, far Right Group, Top Item.
> . . .


I have Access 2010, and Switchboard Manager is not there by default. However, I discovered that it DOES exist (check out http://www.addintools.com/documents/access/where-is-switchboard-manager.html#ribbon2010. This article mentions Classic Menu, which gives you menus similar to what we had in Office 2000-2003. I installed Classic Menu (a British product, btw) a year ago and sure enough, it's in exactly the same place it was in my Office 2000 -- under Database Utilities.

However, the Switchboard does not open when the database is opened (it did when the database was in .mdb format and I opened it with Access 2010). I have an Autoexec macro that contains only Minimize (minimizes native Access) and then opens the Switchboard. What I get with the database converted to .accdb format is "*The form name 'Switchboard" is misspelled or refers to a for that doesn't exis*t". But it DOES exist; I can open it and see all the things on it. Why am I getting that message?


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

Tony: Never mind. Being new to changing database designs in the 2010 format, I thought that after identifying the source of the objects you wanted to import _automatically_ did what the radio button says: "Import tables, queries, forms, report, macros, modules. . .". Perhaps it's just stupid me, but I mentally inserted the word "all" after "Import"; i.e., I though it meant it would import all of those. It doesn't. You have to manually select each and every table, query, form, report, etc. you want to import. After doing that a few minutes ago. . . everything works; Switchboard opens, all buttons on it work.

Now, relatively simple question. You could size and center the Switchboard in Office 2000 so it wound up in the middle of the screen (horizontally and vertically) when opened. In MSO 2010, it opens like any normal form -- in the upper left hand corner of the window. It also has no border. I tried to change the "Movable" property to 'Yes', but it won't let me; changes back to 'No' when I move off the property. Also changed border to "Sizable", but still no border. So I see no way to center it in the window (when it was a .mdb file, the Switchboard was centered). What am I missing?


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## OBP (Mar 8, 2005)

Have you tried the Form's "Pop up" setting, or "Auto Center"?


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

OBP said:


> Have you tried the Form's "Pop up" setting, or "Auto Center"?


Auto Center was already 'Yes'. Pop up was 'No', so changed it to 'Yes'. It worked -- once. Has an adjustable border, and is in a window that you can move, so I sized it and moved it to the center. However, after closing and reopening the database, the Switchboard reverts to taking up the full window, and is again in the upper left corner. I tried changing "Sizeable" to 'No', but that does nothing. Nor apparently does Auto Center center it.

????


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## OBP (Mar 8, 2005)

Don't you just love Access?
I don't know what else to try.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

OBP said:


> Don't you just love Access?
> I don't know what else to try.


Oh, I do, I do. . . but not '07 and beyond :down:; only '00 and '03 :up:!

M$ has done the same thing with many programs. Perfect example is dropping OE, which the world had used for 15+ years and was as near perfect as you can make an e-mail client. Then along came Vista (lovely OS) where OE was replaced by Windows Mail, which you could not download separately/was integral to Vista. After Vista, no e-mail program in any OS, so they gave us (separately) Windows Live Mail (WLM). . .where the initial versions (up to 9) worked essentially like OE. Later versions (a) dropped the stationery and (b) without your telling it to, take the photos embedded in an e-mail and when you forward it, converted the photos to attachments, leaving the message pane with many empty picture place holders and the text that was under them -- rendering the e-mail useless. I support many families, and the wife in one of them is sight impaired and relied on people sending her e-mails in 18pt bold print on a yellow background. Cannot do that with anything after WLM 9. . . which is why I install that on every computer I support that wants an e-mail client.

It appears the M$ has done the same with the Switchboard (can't fix size and position). Unless I can find a way to control its size and position, I will have to abandon it and use a Form with command buttons.

I will mark this thread as 'solved'.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

OBP said:


> Have you tried the Form's "Pop up" setting. . .
> 
> 
> > BTW, Tony, the pop up setting is also unusable for another reason. Unlike a normal Switchboard, Pop ups ALWAYS remain on top. They, therefore, block any other objects you open. I have no idea what practical use they would have in a database.


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## OBP (Mar 8, 2005)

They are there to force a response where required.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

An idea came into my head middle of last night. May be looney, but I have to ask. In Access 2010, all forms, reports, etc. are "tabbed". In Access 2000, everything was free-standing. I thought maybe there was a property for the Switchboard form that would allow me to choose "free-standing" or something similar, but I could not find anything like that. Is there such?


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## OBP (Mar 8, 2005)

Unfortunately I don't have Access 2010, so I don't know.
Perhaps as it works when first used you could try some VBA code to get it to do what you want.
Something like 
DoCmd.Restore
or 
DoCmd.Maximize
in the Form's On Got Focus event procedure or if the form was closed then the On Load event.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

Acc 07 and 10 are mostly the same, even though in 10 they elected not to put the Switchboard as a form type on the ribbon.

My guess is the VBA wouldn't do it. Me thinks what I'm going to do is keep the dB in .mdb format where I have substantially more flexibility in how forms display (actually how EVERYTHING displays!). The client has Acc 07, and when the .mdb file is opened with it, the Switchboard and all other forms are independent/stand-alone (not tabbed) and maintain the same size and position given to them when developed in Acc 00. . . and both can be changed in about 10 sec.

At the same time, Acc 07 has one feature that will make it easier for the client to use the dB after I add what they've asked me to add, which was my original reason for wanting to use the Navigation form. The original dB they asked me to fix was designed by someone who didn't understand how dBs should be designed. It had 61 tables and 50 queries for only 62 people (guides) and the activities they're trained to do. I reduced that to *1* table with all the guides and their personal information, including what activities they did, and *8* queries. But the client suffers from the "we've-always-done it-this-way" syndrome. I've asked for a face-to-face meeting with them after Thanksgiving. In that meeting, I will try to explain why the new dB and it's queries is simpler, does not "lose" guides that have been entered, and gives them MORE information than the old one. If that doesn't get them to "see the light", I will have to write 42 new queries, each listing the guides involved in one of the 42 activities. The Navigation pane in Acc 07/10 makes accessing that horde of queries easier than Acc 00/03, and that's how they accessed the huge # of queries in the old dB.


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## OBP (Mar 8, 2005)

The "Tabbing" of forms in Access 2007 is an option under "Access Options">Current Database and can be turned off to Overlapping Windows.


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