I'm using Visual Studio 2019's Visual Basic. To reconnect the link table of the Access file, The reference is set to "Microsoft Office 16.0 Access database engine Object Library". When using this to set a new connection destination and execute RefreshLink, an error message "Primary key already exists" will now occur. I was able to successfully reconnect the link table until January 5, 2024. I have asked this question because an error suddenly started appearing on January 9, 2024. Dim dao1 As Object Dim dao2 As Object dao1 = New Microsoft.Office.Interop.Access.Dao.DBEngine dao2 = dao1.OpenDatabase(Access file path) for loop = 0 To dao2.TableDefs.Count - 1 dao2.TableDefs(loop).Connect = Reconnect destination dao2.TableDefs(loop).RefreshLink() next

I have the same problem and it is related to the Office update 2312 which was released on 5 January. As a workaround, you could switch back to a previous version of Office (e.g. 2311).

Hi @Calu Florent You may have missed my reply to @Jean-Philippe George above so I'm repeating it below I can now give a definitive answer to explain what has happened. The fix was supplied to the Current Channel on 30 Jan without needing a version update. However, that fix wasn't applied to the Monthly Enterprise Channel (MEC) which is being used by @Jean-Philippe George and @Greg Youdale. The Access team have confirmed it will be fixed in the next update in the MEC to Version 2401 on 12th March. As that is still 2 weeks away, until then I suggest you use the work-around to handle error 3283 as suggested by Greg earlier. This will allow the links to refresh successfully with no messages. Alternatively if it is feasible for your organisation, consider changing to Current Channel(at least temporarily) I have just updated my web article with the above info and there is a similar article published on the AccessForever blog

When I run RefreshLink, I get an error saying "Primary key already exists"

Accepted answer

BaDi 90 Reputation points

2024-01-11T15:06:22.7566667+00:00

I have the same problem and it is related to the Office update 2312 which was released on 5 January. As a workaround, you could switch back to a previous version of Office (e.g. 2311).
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3 people found this answer helpful.
mk 25 Reputation points

2024-01-12T00:25:51.0766667+00:00

BaDi, thank you for providing the information. I was relieved to find out that it was an error in the update program. I'll try reverting to the previous version and see what happens.

Steven Halder 0 Reputation points

2024-01-29T23:41:51.9166667+00:00

I have the same problem. It is a critical error for my Access applications using SQL Server back end databases.

Ann Ziegler 0 Reputation points

2024-01-29T23:46:04.6733333+00:00

I also just had an enterprise client on the Current release channel report this issue. I don't see any information about the cause of the error of if/when it will be corrected. Does anyone have any other information?

Greg Youdale 5 Reputation points

2024-02-14T03:24:18.3433333+00:00

Solved my problem also ... we run a significant Access front end to an SQL Server back end. Today (14th Feb) users began to get the '3283 - Primary key already exists' error message in the Access application. This was confirmed by a user on Office version 2311, that when he updated to version 2312, the application failed with that error ... the 'refresh code' i.e. RefreshLink() has not changed for years and so it must have been something that had just changed ... and 2312 was released yesterday on 13th Feb in my organisation ...

Greg Youdale 5 Reputation points

2024-02-14T03:36:53.2133333+00:00

I'll add another twist ... my dev environment is the Access application connecting to a local instance of SQL Server, all local on the one laptop ... and even though I am running Office version 2312, I was not seeing the error. The production application actually runs on user's machines and then connects to an SQL Server on the corporate network ... and this is maybe why I wasn't seeing the error on my dev system. I did read a bit more regarding Version 2312, and it did obscurely mention 'remote code execution' ... so I'm guessing that is why my 2312 seems to work fine, while clients 2312 has the error ...

Silvert, Benjamin 5 Reputation points

2024-02-14T03:52:24.4366667+00:00

Suggesting to IT that they rollback their release of MS Office to 10,000+ computers for this issue is not a reasonable solution in my case. What I found is that even though the error is reported, the refresh of the link actually works. The error is trappable and can be suppressed from the user.

Greg Youdale 5 Reputation points

2024-02-14T03:59:03.5133333+00:00

Ben ... very good point ... will look at that option right now ... thanks

Greg Youdale 5 Reputation points

2024-02-14T07:39:05.1966667+00:00

I did modify the Access application with 'If Err.Number=3283 Then Resume Next' ... and that indeed solved the issue without having to roll back the Office version ... thanks BaDi and Ben.

Ann Ziegler 0 Reputation points

2024-02-14T17:38:17.2666667+00:00

Two useful articles about this bug are here, apparently it has been fixed in the Insider channels and corrected for the regular Current release.: https://www.isladogs.co.uk/error-3611-refresh-links/index.html https://www.utteraccess.com/topics/2065520#

Greg Youdale 5 Reputation points

2024-02-15T00:17:15.91+00:00

Ann ... those two links above refer to error number 3611 ... our error number was 3283 ... do you have any update on that error as being addressed by the Access Team ... perhaps I should direct the Access Team to this page, as it seems the only page to mention error 3283 ?

Ann Ziegler 0 Reputation points

2024-02-15T00:50:32.08+00:00

Good suggestion, Greg, if you can direct the Access team here that would be great. Hopefully we can get some more information.
Even though the error numbers are different, it looked to me like the cause may be the same - tdf.refreshlink in both cases. I guess I assumed it was the same root problem, and (maybe erroneously), assumed it was fixed. Maybe MS released an interim fix that just shifted the message from 3611 to 3283. :-( The case I saw was Err 3283 as well, on a client's IT guy's test laptop with Current channel updates. End users did not see the error, I assume because they are on a more stable channel, but I wasn't able to confirm that. It hasn't been reported by any of our other client sites. Colin's thread about err 3611 is the only other thing I've found related to a SQL Server refreshlink error in code that has been untouched forever and subsequent to an Office update. I've written Colin and sent a link to this thread as well, maybe he'll pop over here and comment if he has more information. In the mean time, I might update my workaround trap to include both error numbers until we have some more information.

Ann Ziegler 0 Reputation points

2024-02-15T01:04:57.4133333+00:00

sorry, somehow I got duplicate comments here and cannot delete the second one.

Greg Youdale 5 Reputation points

2024-02-15T01:46:55.42+00:00

Ann ... great info ... and covering the two error numbers is also a great idea for the workaround ... our organisation is on Monthly Enterprise Channel and we only see error 3283 ... we did an auto Office rollback to 2311 on 97 machines, so users could get back up and running (pays weekend), while also distributing a new Access application file version that included silent error trapping for error 3283 ... the application fix has been confirmed by rolling forward a few machines to 2312 and all is well. IT are now rolling forward all the machines that were rolled back and switching Office auto update back on.

I advised them that rolling back was not really necessary, as I had a fix within the application, however, they deemed that an auto rollback was no problem for now, and it ensured that all users could continue, regardless of what Access application version they were using. A double fix and actually a good strategy, as it gave more time for testing and rolling out the updated Access app.

I also posted a reference to this page on Microsoft Community such that MVPs would pass on the info to the MS Access Team. Whether the issue is addressed or not, we have the fix in the silent error trapping.

Thanks a lot for your input ...

Colin Riddington 85 Reputation points

2024-02-15T02:06:16.13+00:00

Hi

Ann alerted me to this thread by email.

The issue I reported a couple of months ago with error 3611 is definitely fixed.

I’m now on v2403 Beta Channel I’ve just tried refreshing links to SQL Server tables using the following methods:

Right click context menu

Linked table manager

VBA

All succeeded with no errors Happy to alert the Access team even though I can’t replicate the issue. Will report back when I hear anything of use
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When I run RefreshLink, I get an error saying "Primary key already exists"

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