Linking SQL Express 2005 Tables to MS Access 2007 - Displaying Linked Tables
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The linked tables appear on the left hand side of the main window of the application as shown below. Only a portion of the main window is shown here. It shows six of the tables that are linked to the SQL Express server database. Right clicking the table reveals the drop-down from which you can choose an appropriate option.
In the All Tables tab (click on the down arrow head) you can choose a number of options such as going to a particular table (Table 1 is a default table created when you create a blank database) as well as look at created or modified date sorted views. It is left to the reader to experiment with the various options.
Single Table Display
When you place a cursor on a table you get the object (Table) properties as shown in the not so clear next picture. For this particular example it is displaying in the tooltip the following text:
ODBC; DSN=AccWindy; Description=Windy=Northwind;
App=Microsoft Office 2007; Database=Windy;
Language=us_english;Table=dbo.Customers
When you click on the Linked Table Manager you will get a window where you can choose the table links to be updated. This is useful if you are distributing your application, or if the sources have changed their location and old links are broken. The Linked Table Manager has evolved from the Attachment Manager in Access 2.0.
You will be able to access the data in the table by using the option Open in the drop-down shown in an earlier window. Here is a partial view of the data in the Customers table. The tabbed window allows you to open up more windows and switch easily between them.
Trying to view the design of the table pops up this warning message. It says that you cannot change the design of the linked table and what you may see is read-only. You can only make design changes in the source (in this case in SQL Express).
If you click "Yes" and continue you will see the design of the page as shown. It is very similar to earlier versions. You can see Smart Tags as one of the values you can attach to a column. Of course you may have to use an API kit to add this functionality. This has not been used or verified for this tutorial.
From the Database Tools tab you can access the Relationships window to which you can add tables or remove them. As shown here only tables have been added and they are not linked to one another.
Summary
Microsoft Access 2007 with all the novel changes to the interface makes it very easy to access all the necessary controls. Linking tables is as easy as it was in earlier versions without any changes. Office 2007 uses its own version of Jet whereas the previous versions used Jet provided with the Windows OS. Getting used to the new interface may require some effort. The reader may benefit further by reading the article on distributed queries using linked tables on a SQL server.
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