Access 2010 backwards compatability?

Question

Hi

I have an Access application template developed over several years which I was hoping to maintain, in 2003 format, on a machine running Windows 7 and Office 2010 (both 32 bit).

I've notice there are additional object properties in 2010 which appear despite me specifying 2003 format etc., and that in some cases, going back to an XP machine (as per all my clients et ups), the database either corrupts or just crashes? Rebuilding the forms edited in 2010 an an XP/2003 setup corrects the problem.

Is there are fix to this behaviour or even some guidelines? I was (foolishly) working on the assumption that simply specifying "Access 200 2003" as the default format would work :o(

Many thanks

Answer 1

"JustAnotherFrustratedCodeMonkey" wrote in message news:*** Email address is removed for privacy ***...

You'd think I'd have learned that by now (been working with Access since version 2).

Time to pack away my all singing all dancing quad-core macbook pro running Windows 7 and Office 2010 and dig out my clunky old Dell :o(

Makes me wonder if the phrase "backwards compatible" is just another marketing ploy... I'm going to advise all my clients to stay clear of Office 2010 until they have absolutely no choice but to upgrade, unless of course they are setting everything up from scratch...

Cheers :o)

Well, just as note to clear this up, in the past, we always been able to go from word 95 to 97 to 2000 etc. Same goes for access. Going forward always been the case, usually works well, and I think for about 20 years of the computer desktop industry, going forward has always worked well. I mean, you not going to be able to create a word 2.0 DOS format document in Word 2010. And, I can quite much assure you that word 2.0 not going to have a clue what to do with word 2010.

However, going forward works quite well. So, I can't really think of any time in the past 20 years where as a general rule, going forward is the norm, works ok. However, going backwards is a different concept then being able to consume those previous versions.

I mean, I had loads of trouble working in access 2003 and attempting to deploy to a client that was running access 2000. In fact, several times even creating the mde on THEIR access 2000 box, the resulting mde had problems. I finally figured out that I needed to do a de compile on their box, then create the mde. That worked reasonable well, but even then I had some problems crop up (some conditional formatting problems even came up �?? they worked great in 2003 (like due to bugs being fixed), but in 2000, some of the CF did not behave well.

So, at the end of the day, I can quite much say that current versions will consume and are backwards compatible. However, that does not mean it is a great idea to use current versions for development of software that going to run on a previous version. In these cases, as noted, it is recommended to develop in the lower version, and I don't think that advice has changed in 20+ years of the computer desktop industry.

So, sure, backwards compatible means we can consume those previous versions, but as new features and changes are made to the product and code base, then how bits and parts work also changes over time.

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Albert D. Kallal (Access MVP)

Edmonton, Alberta Canada

*** Email address is removed for privacy ***

Answer 2

Thanks Gina... But I did, all files were .mdb. Have now dusted off my old Dell running Office XP and am flying along, what a shame :o(

Answer 3

In addition to what Hans said...

You should note that Access 2010 (and Access 2007) is a different format, .ACCDB.  That alone makes it so editing a database in .MDB format via one of the above teo a problem.  Always make the assumption *backwards compatiable* in the same format.  So when editing not only try to stay in the version but the same format type.

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Gina Whipp

Microsoft MVP (Access)

Please post all replies to the forum where everyone can benefit.

Answer 4

You'd think I'd have learned that by now (been working with Access since version 2).

Time to pack away my all singing all dancing quad-core macbook pro running Windows 7 and Office 2010 and dig out my clunky old Dell :o(

Makes me wonder if the phrase "backwards compatible" is just another marketing ploy... I'm going to advise all my clients to stay clear of Office 2010 until they have absolutely no choice but to upgrade, unless of course they are setting everything up from scratch...

Cheers :o)

Answer 5

You should always develop a database on the oldest version of Access that you need to support.