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External table is not in the expected format Error 3724

Anonymous
2017-03-14T02:23:27+00:00

Windows 10, Access 2016.

I am attempting to link a DBF file. I use another program which creates DBF files. Some link with no problem, others give the above error message. The details on the files are exactly the same. Both files have all permissions enabled, read and write.

Any ideas on what is wrong?

All Help is appreciated!

Rick

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Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-03-22T10:46:59+00:00

    Thanks for the answer, for some reason I did not get an email letting me know.

    Both files are created by the same version, and both have names 8 characters or less.  I am just trying to figure out why some files work and some don't.

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  2. Tom van Stiphout 40,211 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2017-03-14T04:47:56+00:00

    Filenames have to be in the ol' 8.3 format, so yourmorethaneightcharname.dbf will not work.

    DBase drives are also for a specific version of DBase, and maybe your files were created with a different version?

    See also: https://blogs.office.com/2016/09/07/back-by-popular-demand-dbase-file-support-in-access/

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