Access 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference

20.3. Microsoft Jet Expression Services and Sandboxes

After you have been working along in your database, at some point you may get a message that looks something like the one shown in Figure 20-14.

Figure 20.14. Figure 20-14

Why do you get this message and what do you do about it? As you know by now, Microsoft is taking security very seriously. As a result, they are looking at their software for anything that provides an opportunity that someone could exploit to maliciously attack your computer.

As mentioned previously in this chapter (see section Why Have Macro Security?), Access has many ways to execute functions that could be exploited maliciously on your computer. So, in addition to providing macro security enhancements, Microsoft has enhanced the Jet Engine to include checking for potentially unsafe VBA functions.

This isn't a new concept for Access or for the Jet Engine. But with Access 2003, the default is to block unsafe VBA functions. This is called the "Sandbox mode." In Sandbox mode, certain expressions cannot be executed from SQL queries.

20.3.1. More about Errors and How to Fix Them

In addition to the warning message seen in Figure 20-14, you may run into the error message showing in Figure 20-15. The error occurs if you have not installed Service Pack 8 and attempt to use one of the wizards in Access.

Figure 20.15. Figure 20-15

Some features will not work properly ...