ACC2000: Cannot Link to a Table in an Access Project (*.adp)

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This article was previously published under Q225937

Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

This article applies only to a Microsoft Access project (.adp).

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Symptoms

When you try to create a link to a table that is in a Microsoft Access project (*.adp), you may receive the following error message:

Link can only be created between Microsoft Access database files.

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Cause

Access projects display tables that reside in either a SQL Server or the Microsoft Database Engine (MSDE). You cannot link these tables from an Access project file.

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Resolution

To link tables that are stored in either SQL Server or the MSDE, select ODBC Databases in the Files of Type box of the Link dialog box. Then you can use an existing DSN to connect directly to the SQL Server or MSDE. For an example of how to do so, follow these steps:

1.	Open the sample database Northwind.mdb.
2.	On the File menu, point to Get External Data, and then click Link Tables.
3.	In the Files of Type box, click ODBC Databases.
4.	Select an existing DSN or click New to create a DSN that points to the SQL Server or MSDE that contains your tables, and then click OK. NOTE: The server may ask you to log on. If you do not know the UserID and Password, contact your System Administrator.
5.	In the Link Tables dialog box, select the table(s) that you want to link, and then click OK.

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More information

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1.	Open the sample database Northwind.mdb.
2.	On the File menu, point to Get External Data, and then click Link Tables.
3.	In the Files of Type box, click Microsoft Access. Note that the .adp extension appears in this list.
4.	In the Link dialog box, select any .adp file from the file list.
5.	Click LINK.
6.	In the Link Tables dialog box, select any table in the Access project and click OK. Note that you receive the error message described in the "Symptoms" section of this article.

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References

For more information about linking tables with projects, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type Import or link tables from Another Microsoft Access database or Microsoft Access project in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

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