Supported External Data Sources and Versions

Microsoft Jet can work with data from any of the following external data sources:

• Microsoft Jet databases such as those created by Microsoft Access, Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Visual C++, or Microsoft Excel. (This includes databases created with previous versions of Microsoft Jet.)
  
  
• Microsoft FoxPro, versions 2.0, 2.5, 2.6, 3.0, and Database Container (DBC).
  
  
• Microsoft SQL Server and other ODBC databases.
  
  
• dBASE III, dBASE IV, and dBASE 5.0.
  
  
• Paradox, versions 3.x, 4.x, and 5.x.
  
  
• Microsoft Excel 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 7.0, and 8.0 worksheets.
  
  
• Lotus 1-2-3 WKS, WK1, WK3, and WK4 spreadsheets.
  
  
• Microsoft Exchange and Outlook folders and address books.
  
  
• Tables and lists contained in HTML files.
  
  
• ASCII text files in tabular format.

Note Before you can access any external data sources, you need to make sure that you have installed the appropriate drivers. Microsoft Access users can click the Custom/Complete button in Microsoft Office Setup or Microsoft Access Setup and select the Data Access check box in the Options list box and then select the Database Drivers selection and click the Change Option button. Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 users can click the Custom button in Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Setup and select the Data Access check box and then click the Change Option button. Then click ISAM Drivers in the Options list box.

Your Microsoft Jet application can read from and write to external data sources (the FoxPro 3.0, DBC, Microsoft Exchange, Outlook, HTML, and Lotus WK4 formats are read-only). You can view and edit external tables with your application without affecting their accessibility from their native applications. If you choose to link an external data source to a Microsoft Jet database, you can use it just as you would any other table in the database. You can create queries on the data and create forms and reports that use the data. If the external data source permits multiuser read-write access, you can even view and update the data while other users access the external data source through its native application.