Access™ 2007 VBA Programmer's Reference

K.3. Reserved Word List

If you're ambitious, you might be tempted to try to compile your own list of reserved words by combining lists from the most common sources. Be aware, however, that some of the lists were incomplete when initially published, and that additional words should be included in the lists as new objects or actions are added. Given those caveats, you'd still want a list that is a compilation of words from Access, ACE, MS Query SQL, and ANSI-92.

In the past, there were two lists, but with the ease of integration, there's no longer differentiation between Access reserved words and those from other sources. Of course, it is perfectly understandable to prefer to work against Access's list of 200+ terms instead of the compiled list of more than 500 words and terms. Searching Access help for Reserved Words leads you to an explanation and list of Access reserved words and the list of words that should not be used as identifiers. So you're already checking two sources, and there are still the lists of special characters and ASCII characters and their names.

As you can see, there is no easy way to consolidate everything into one tidy list, especially if there is any hope of understanding why you should avoid certain words and characters or knowing how to use them. So you're still stuck with multiple lists: the compilation of words to avoid (reserved words) and the lists of special characters and other ASCII characters.

Following is the list of words and terms that are reserved ...