How to use the Attributes property for TableDef objects in Access

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Access 2010, Microsoft Office Access 2007, Microsoft Office Access 2003

Original KB number:   210362

Note

Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills. This article applies only to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb/.accdb).

Summary

You can use the Attributes property of a TableDef object to determine specific table properties. For example, you can use the Attributes property to find whether a table is a system table or a linked (attached) table.

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.NOTE: The sample code in this article uses Microsoft Data Access Objects. For this code to run properly, you must reference the Microsoft DAO 3.6 Object Library. To do so, click References on the Tools menu in the Visual Basic Editor, and make sure that the Microsoft DAO 3.6 Object Library check box is selected.

TableDef attributes

The Attributes property of a TableDef object specifies characteristics of the table represented by the TableDef object. The Attributes property is stored as a single Long Integer and is the sum of the following Long constants:

Constant Value Description
dbAttachExclusive 65536 For databases that use the Microsoft Jet database engine, indicates the table is a linked table opened for exclusive use.
dbAttachSavePWD 131072 For databases that use the Jet database engine, indicates the user ID and password for the linked table should be saved with the connection information.
dbSystemObject -2147483646 Indicates the table is a system table.
dbHiddenObject 1 Indicates the table is a hidden table (for temporary use).
dbAttachedTable 1073741824 Indicates the table is a linked table from a non-Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) database, such as Microsoft Access or Paradox.
dbAttachedODBC 536870912 Indicates the table is a linked table from an ODBC database, such as Microsoft SQL Server or ORACLE Server.

For a TableDef object, use of the Attributes property depends on the status of TableDef, as the following table shows:

TableDef Usage
Object not appended to collection Read/write
Base table Read-only
Linked table Read-only

When checking the setting of this property, you can use the AND operator to test for a specific attribute. For example, to determine whether a table object is a system table, perform a logical comparison of the TableDef Attributes property and the dbSystemObject constant.

Sample code

Note

The sample code in this article uses Microsoft Data Access Objects. For this code to run properly, you must reference the Microsoft DAO 3.6 Object Library. To do so, click References on the Tools menu in the Visual Basic Editor, and make sure that the Microsoft DAO 3.6 Object Library check box is selected.

The following user-defined sample function loops through all the tables in a database and displays a message box listing each table name and whether or not the table is a system table:

Option Compare Database   'Use database order for string comparisons.

Option Explicit

Function ShowTableAttribs()
   Dim DB As DAO.Database
   Dim T As DAO.TableDef
   Dim TType As String
   Dim TName As String
   Dim Attrib As String
   Dim I As Integer

Set DB = CurrentDB()

For I = 0 To DB.Tabledefs.Count - 1
      Set T = DB.Tabledefs(I)
      TName = T.Name
      Attrib = (T.Attributes And dbSystemObject)
      MsgBox TName & IIf(Attrib, ": System Table", ": Not System" & _
        "Table")
   Next I

End Function

References

For more information about the Attributes property, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type object properties in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.