Access™ 2007 VBA Programmer's Reference

A.3. Changing File Formats

Before actually converting or enabling older files, it would be good to know how to work with the various file types in Access 2007. A good place to start is to specify the default file format. And, since we all agree that the data should not be in the front-end or application file, we'll also tell you how to split the database. Because earlier files could be .mde files or runtime applications, we figured it would also be handy to have the steps for creating these file types in Access 2007.

A.3.1. Selecting the Access 2007 Default File Format

For Access 2007, the default file format is ACCDB. But, if most of the files will be used by prior versions of Access, it might be best to specify a 2000 or 2002-2003 MDB as the default file format. It is easy to set the default file format. And, if you need to specify a different file type, it takes only a couple of extra clicks to override the default selection.

Setting the default file format is accomplished in a few easy steps.

1. Open Access 2007, but don't open a file.

2. On the Ribbon, click the Microsoft Office Button.

3. Click Access Options, a button at the bottom right of the fly-out.

4. In the left pane of the Access Options dialog box, click Popular.

5. Under Creating Databases, in the Default File Format box, select the preferred default file format.

6. Click OK.

Of course, you probably want to confirm that the settings were saved as expected. One quick verification is to initiate the process for creating a new database. ...