Chapter 16: Working with External Data
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l (^) Avoid excessive movement in datasheets. View only the data you need to in a data-
sheet. Avoid paging up and down and jumping to the first or last record in very large
tables. (The exception is when you’re adding records to the external table.)
l If you add records to external linked tables, create a form to add records and set the
DataEntry property to True. This makes the form an entry form that starts with a
blank record every time it’s executed. Data-entry forms are not pre-populated with data
from the bound table. Using a dedicated data entry form is much more efficient than
building a normal form, populating it with data from the linked source, and then moving
to the end of the linked data just to add a new record.
Deleting a linked table reference
Deleting a linked table from the object list is a simple matter of performing three steps:
- In the object list, select the linked table you want to delete.
- Press the Delete key, or right-click on the linked table and select Delete from the shortcut
menu. - Click OK in the Access dialog box to delete the file.
Note
Deleting an external table deletes only its name from the database object list. The actual data is not deleted
from its source location.
Viewing or changing information for linked tables
Use the Linked Table Manager Wizard to update the links when you move, rename, or modify
tables or indexes associated with a linked table. Otherwise, Access won’t be able to find the data
file referenced by the link.- Select the External Data ribbon and click the Linked Table Manager button.
The Linked Table Manager dialog box (shown in Figure 16.13) appears, enabling you to
locate the data files associated with the linked tables in the database.
- Click the check box next to a linked table and click OK.
Access verifies that the file can’t be found, and the Select New Location dialog box
appears.
- Find the missing file and reassign the linkage to Access.
If all the files are already linked correctly, clicking OK makes Access verify all the link-
ages associated with all the selected tables.
If you know all of the linked data sources have been moved, select the Always Prompt
for a New Location check box, and then click OK. Access then prompts you for the
new location, and links all the tables as a batch process. You’ll find this operation much
faster than linking one or two tables at a time.