ACC1x: How to Make the Analyzer Include Field Descriptions

• Microsoft Access versions 1.0, 1.1

SUMMARY

The Object Analyzer utility that comes with Microsoft Access does not include field descriptions in its output. However, you can make the Analyzer include field descriptions by making some modifications to the utility.

MORE INFORMATION

To make the Analyzer include field descriptions in its output you need to modify the table RLTables and the function DumpTableInfo() in the ANALYZER.MDA library.

The following steps describe how to make the necessary modifications:

1. Use Windows Notepad (or any other text editor) to open the MSACCESS.INI file that is in your Windows directory. If the line

         analyzer.mda=
   

   exists in the [Libraries] section of the MSACCESS.INI file, put a semicolon at the beginning of the line. The modified line will be:

         ;analyzer.mda=
   

2. Save and then close the MSACCESS.INI file. Start Microsoft Access and open the database ANALYZER.MDA.

3. Open the RLTables table in Design view, and add a field called Description to the table. The field should have a data type of Text, with a length of 255 characters.

4. Save and then close the table, and then open the module Object Analyzer.

5. Find the function DumpTableInfo().

6. Add the lines of code listed below to the function. Note that the lines to be added begin with the characters $$.

   NOTE: In the following sample code, an underscore (_) is used as a line-continuation character. Remove the underscore from the end of the line when re-creating this code in Access Basic.

        Sub DumpTableInfo (TargetDB As String, SQLTarget1 As String, _
          ObjOption As String, IsAttached As Integer)
          CurrentProc = "DumpTableInfo"
   

          '$$ New code begins - declare new variables
          Dim F As Form, C As Control
          '$$ New code ends
   

          If Not TableExists(TargetDB, SQLTarget1) Then
   

             '$$ New code begins - change the SQL to include Description
             SQLSTRING$ = "Select TableName,Name,Type,Length,IndexName,_
                    Description Into [" & SQLTarget1 & "] in """ & TargetDB _
                    & """ From RLTables;"
             '$$ New code ends
   
             PerformSQLAction SQLSTRING$
          End If
   
          Set RT_Target = OpenDatabase(TargetDB)
          Set RT_Database = CurrentDB()
          Set RT_SysDB = CodeDB()
          Set RT_Table2 = RT_Target.OpenTable(SQLTarget1)
          Set RT_Dynaset1 = RT_Database.CreateDynaset(ObjOption)
          Set RT_Snapshot1 = RT_Dynaset1.ListFields()
          If Not IsAttached Then
             Set RT_Table1 = RT_Database.OpenTable(ObjOption)
             Set RT_Snapshot2 = RT_Table1.ListIndexes()
          End If
   
          '$$ New code begins - create a form in Design view
          Set F = CreateForm()
          'set the record source to the source table
          F.RecordSource = ObjOption
           '$$ New code ends
   
          Do Until RT_Snapshot1.EOF
             RT_Table2.AddNew
             RT_Table2!TableName = ObjOption
             RT_Table2!Name = RT_Snapshot1!Name
             RT_Table2!Type = LookUpFieldType(RT_Snapshot1!Type)
             RT_Table2!Length = RT_Snapshot1!Size
   
             '$$ New code begins - create a control for this field
             Set C = CreateControl(F.FormName, 109, 0, "", RT_Snapshot1!Name)
             'save the description from the field
             RT_Table2!Description = C.StatusBarText
             '$$ New code ends
   
             If Not IsAttached Then
                ' Cannot use FindFirst method on List Snapshots
                If RT_Snapshot2.RecordCount > 0 Then
                   RT_Snapshot2.MoveFirst
                   Do Until RT_Snapshot2.EOF
                      If RT_Snapshot2!FieldName = RT_Snapshot1!Name Then _
                          Exit Do
                      RT_Snapshot2.MoveNext
                   Loop
                   If Not RT_Snapshot2.EOF Then
                      RT_Table2!IndexName = RT_Snapshot2!IndexName
                   End If
                End If
             End If
   
             RT_Table2.Update
             RT_Snapshot1.MoveNext
          Loop
   
          '$$ New code begins - close the form, say "No" to save changes
          DoCmd SetWarnings True
          SendKeys "n"
          DoCmd Close A_FORM, F.FormName
          '$$ New code ends
   
          RT_CloseAllObjects
        End Sub
   
   

7. Save and close the module, and then quit Microsoft Access.

8. Use Windows Notepad (or any other text editor) to open the MSACCESS.INI file that is in your Windows directory. Remove the semicolon from the beginning of the

         ;analyzer.mda=
   

   line in the [Libraries] section of the file. The modified line will be:

         analyzer.mda=
   

9. Save and then close the file.

REFERENCES