HOWTO: Identify the Jet Database Engine Components

ID: Q141796

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual Basic Learning, Professional, and Enterprise Editions for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0
Microsoft Visual Basic Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Editions, 16-bit and 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0
Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 16-bit and 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

SUMMARY

Jet is the default database engine for Visual Basic as well as other Microsoft applications such as Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Project, and Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC). Which version of Jet you are using can be unclear because Visual Basic and other applications using Jet are continually being updated. The tables and explanations in this article are intended to help you identify the version and components of Jet that you are using for the given application.

MORE INFORMATION

The list below displays which version of Jet is shipped with each of the following products:


Application                  Microsoft JET version
----------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Access 1.0             1.0
Microsoft Access 1.1             1.1
Microsoft Access 2.0             2.0
Microsoft Access 2.0             2.5 with Microsoft Access Service Pack
Microsoft Access 7.0             3.0
Microsoft Access 97              3.5
Visual Basic 3.0                 1.1
Visual Basic 3.0                 2.0 with Visual Basic Compatibility Layer
Visual Basic 3.0                 2.5 with Microsoft Access Service Pack
Visual Basic 4.0 16-bit          2.5
Visual Basic 4.0 32-bit          3.0
Visual Basic 5.0 32-bit          3.5
Microsoft Excel 7.0              3.0
Microsoft Excel 97               3.5
Microsoft Project                2.0
Microsoft Foundation Classes     3.0

Compatibility Among Versions

With each new version of Microsoft Jet, enhancements in functionality and changes to the structure of the database file cause problems with backward compatibility. Wherever possible, efforts have been made to ensure an easy migration path among versions. However, incompatibilities do exist. The following table illustrates how database files and objects can be used among different versions of Microsoft Jet.


Jet Version
                         1.0   1.1   2.0   2.5   3.0   3.5   3.51


-----------------------------------------------------------------
MDB Version      1.0     Y     Y     Y     Y     Y     Y     Y
                 1.1     N     Y     Y     Y     Y     Y     Y
                 2.0     N     N     Y     Y     Y     Y     Y
                 2.5     N     N     N     Y     Y     Y     Y
                 3.0     N     N     N     N     Y     Y     Y
                 3.5     N     N     N     N     N     Y     Y
                 3.51    N     N     N     N     N     N     Y

A "Y" indicates that the database can be used without conversion; "N" indicates that the database cannot be used or converted. With DAO code you can open any version of any database up to the same version of Microsoft Jet. However, Microsoft Access can open only those databases with the same version as itself, but it can link to tables with the same or earlier version. In other words, if you upgrade to Microsoft Jet 3.0, you will still be able to read version 2.x databases.

Notice that Visual Basic 3.0 is capable of using three different versions of Jet each requiring a separate set of dynamic link libraries (.dlls). This can cause problems when your Visual Basic application expects to use Jet 2.0 for example, and then another Visual Basic application using an earlier version of Jet gets installed on the same system replacing some of the version 2.0 .dlls with version 1.1. Typically the problem .dll in this situation is VBDB300.DLL because it determines which version of the Jet engine will be used.

The following table should help you solve any version conflicts and help you identify the version of Jet you are using. You may use the Wps.exe utility shipped with Visual Basic to find out which version of Jet you currently have loaded in memory. Wps.exe is located in the \VB\CDK directory of Visual Basic 3.0 Professional, and in \TOOLS\PSS directory of the Visual Basic 4.0 CD. Pay special attention to the version information obtained from File Manager (File, Properties) in Visual Basic 3.0, and Microsoft System Info. in Visual Basic 4.0 32-bit.

The following files are required by Visual Basic to use the Jet Database Engine:


Jet Version    File          Version     Description
--------------------------------------------------------------

1.1            VBDB300.DLL   3.00.0528   VB/JET support
               MSAES110.DLL  1.10.0000   Expression services
               MSAJT110.DLL  1.10.0001   Jet 1.1 engine
               XBS110.DLL    1.10.0002   External xBASE ISAM
               BTRV110.DLL   1.10.0000   External Btrieve ISAM
               PDX110.DLL    1.10.0000   External Paradox ISAM

2.0 (comlyr)   VBDB300.DLL   3.00.0529   VB/JET support
               MSAJT112.DLL  1.99.1605   Jet 2.x comp. loader
               MSAJT200.DLL  2.00.0000   Jet 2.0 engine
               XBS200.DLL    2.00.0000   External xBASE ISAM
               BTRV200.DLL   2.00.0000   External Btrieve ISAM
               PDX200.DLL    2.00.0000   External Paradox ISAM

2.5 (accsvc)   VBDB300.DLL   3.00.0529   VB/JET support
               MSAJT112.DLL  1.99.1605   Jet 2.x comp loader
               MSAJT200.DLL  2.50.1606   Jet 2.5 engine
               MSJETERR.DLL  2.50.1108   Error services
               MSJETINT.DLL  2.50.1108   International
               XBS200.DLL    2.50.1108   External xBASE ISAM
               BTRV200.DLL   2.50.1108   External Btrieve ISAM
               PDX200.DLL    2.50.1108   External Paradox ISAM

2.5 (VB4 16)   VBDB16.DLL    4.00.2422   VB/JET support
               MSAJT200.DLL  2.50.1606   Jet 2.5 engine
               MSJETERR.DLL  2.50.1111   Error services
               MSJETINT.DLL  2.50.1111   International
               XBS200.DLL    2.50.1117   External xBASE ISAM
               BTRV200.DLL   2.50.1117   External Btrieve ISAM
               PDX200.DLL    2.50.1117   External Paradox ISAM
               MSXL2016.DLL  2.50.1117   External Excel ISAM
               MSTX2016.DLL  2.50.1117   External Text ISAM

3.0            MSJT3032.DLL  3.0.0.2118  Jet 3.0 engine
               MSJINT32.DLL  3.0.0.2118  International
               MSJTER32.DLL  3.0.0.2118  Error services
               MSXL3032.DLL  3.0.0.2001  External Excel ISAM
               MSRD2X32.DLL  3.0.0.2118  External Jet 2.0 ISAM
               MSLT3032.DLL  3.0.0.2008  External Lotus ISAM
               MSPX3032.DLL  3.0.0.2001  External Paradox ISAM
               MSXB3032.DLL  3.0.0.2008  External xBASE ISAM
               MSTX3032.DLL  3.0.0.2008  External Text ISAM

3.5            MSJET35.DLL   3.50.3602.4 Jet 3.5 engine
               MSJTER35.DLL  3.50.3602.0 Error service
               MSJINT35.DLL  3.50.3602.5 International
               MSXBSE35.DLL  3.50.3428.0 External xBASE ISAM
               MSEXCL35.DLL  3.50.3428.0 External Excel ISAM
               MSTEXT35.DLL  3.50.3428.0 External Text ISAM
               MSRD2X35.DLL  3.50.3602.0 External Jet 2.x ISAM
               MSPDOX35.DLL  3.50.3428.0 External Paradox ISAM
               MSLTUS35.DLL  3.50.3428.0 External Lotus ISAM

3.51 (SR-1)    MSJET35.DLL   3.51.0623.4  Jet 3.51 engine
               MSJTER35.DLL  3.51.0623.0  Error service
               MSJINT35.DLL  3.51.0623.0  International
               MSXBSE35.DLL  3.50.3907.0 External xBASE ISAM
               MSEXCL35.DLL  3.50.3907.0 External Excel ISAM
               MSTEXT35.DLL  3.50.3907.0 External Text ISAM
               MSRD2X35.DLL  3.50.3907.0 External Jet 2.x ISAM
               MSPDOX35.DLL  3.50.3907.0 External Paradox ISAM
               MSLTUS35.DLL  3.50.3907.0 External Lotus ISAM

The Visual Basic Compatibility Layer (Comlyr.exe) and the Microsoft Access Service Pack (Accsvc.exe) are available for download from the Microsoft Software Library: The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Software Library. Click the file names below to download the files:

Comlyr.exe

Accsvc.exe

Release Date: August 15, 1999

For more information about how to download files from the Microsoft Software Library, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

REFERENCES

Microsoft Jet Database Engine Programmer's Guide, by Dan Haught and Jim Ferguson, Microsoft Press 1995 For additional information, please click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q113683 FILE: Fact Sheet on Jet 2.0/VB 3.0 Compatibility Layer

Q122927 WX1124: Microsoft Access Version 2.0 Service Pack

Q172733 Updated Version of Microsoft Jet 3.5 Available on MSL

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbfile kbsample kbMFC kbVBp400 kbVBp500 kbVBp600
Version : WINDOWS:4.0,5.0,6.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto