ACC2000: How to Retrieve the Path or File Name from the Name Property

The Database object provided by a Microsoft Data Access Object (DAO) has a Name property. However, this property returns the full path and the file name of the database. To retrieve either the path or the file name separately, you must parse the string returned by the Name property by searching for slash characters ("/").

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1. Start Microsoft Access, and then open any database.
2. Open a new module, and then type or paste the following procedure:

   Function RetrievePathFile(Optional vFlag As Variant)
   
       ' This function takes an optional argument that specifies
       ' whether you want to return the directory portion of
       ' the path or the file portion of the path.
       '
       ' Usage: If you want to return only the name of the file
       ' without the path, put type any value in the function:
       '    RetrievePathFile(x)
       '
       ' If you type no argument at all, the function returns
       ' only the folder in which the file is located.
       
       Dim strCurDBName As String
       
       strCurDBName = CurrentDb.Name
       
         If IsMissing(vFlag) Then
             RetrievePathFile = _
             Left(strCurDBName, InStrRev(strCurDBName, "\") - 1)
         Else
             RetrievePathFile = _
             Right(strCurDBName, Len(strCurDBName) - _
             InStrRev(strCurDBName, "\"))
         End If
   
   End Function
   					

3. On the Debug menu, click Compile MyDatabase.
4. Press CRTL+G to open the Immediate window.
5. Type the following line in the Immediate window, and then press ENTER:
   ?RetrievePathFile(x)
   The function returns the name of the current database without the complete path.
6. Type the following line in the Immediate window, and then press ENTER:
   ?RetrievePathFile()
   The function returns the path of the folder in which the current database is located.

For additional information about using Visual Basic for Applications, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: