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I have a database that I created in Access 2010,
but I want to share a copy of it with a colleague who uses Access 2003.
I’ll click File,
and then click Save Database As.
And I’ll click Yes to close any objects that were open.
Turns out that this command allows me to
save a database as a current-version .accdb file,
but not as the earlier .mdb file format that Access 2003 uses.
So I’ll cancel this operation, and keep looking.
I’ll click File again, and then click Save & Publish.
This page contains the commands that are related to deploying a database.
Here I can see the different file types that Access 2010 can save to.
My colleague uses Access 2003, so I’ll click the Access 2002-2003 option,
and then click Save As.
Whoops, it looks like there’s a problem.
When I built this database, I added some newer features
that aren’t compatible with Access 2003.
This message gives you a hint as to which features these are.
In addition to these, you can’t save an Access Web database
as an earlier version database.
This is a client database, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
But I know that a table in this database has
an attachment field and a calculated field,
so those are probably the culprits.
I’ll click OK.
What I’m going to do is create a backup copy of this database
in the current format.
I’ll remove the attachment field and the calculated field from the backup copy,
and then save that backup as an earlier version database.
My original database will still have my attachment field and my calculated field,
but the version I create for my colleague will not.
So,first I’ll create a copy in the current format.
Under Save Database As, I’ll click the default .accdb format,
and then click Save As.
I’ll edit the file name so that I know this is going to be
the source for the Access 2003 file.
I’ll click Save, and Access closes my original database and opens the new one.
I’ll double-check that by looking in the title bar.
I see the new file name up there,
so I can be sure I won’t be deleting anything from my original database.
I’ll enable the content,and open the Contacts table.
The two fields that are keeping me from converting this database
are the Attachments field and the FullName field.
I’ll select them both by clicking one column header,
and then holding down the SHIFT key and clicking the other one,
and then I’ll click Delete.
Now I’ll save and close the table.
And then on the File tab, under Save & Publish,
I’ll click Access 2002-2003 database.
I click Save As,and now Access lets me save the database as an .mdb file.
I’ll just rename it "CustomerTracking_2003"
so I can tell it from the other one.
And, it’ll also have the .mdb file extension.
I click Save, and Access closes the database that I just converted,
and opens the new one.
I’ll enable the content on this new database.
In the title bar,
I see that the new database is indeed in the Access 2002 - 2003 file format.
But where did my form and report go?
If I look a little closer,
I see that the Navigation Pane is set to just display tables.
I’ll click the Navigation Bar to open the display menu,
and I’ll select All Access Objects.
Now I see the form and report.
Everything looks OK, minus the two fields I deleted,
so I’ll go ahead and send this database file to my colleague.