Question

I am trying to extract the schema of an .mdb database, so that I can recreate the database elsewhere.

How can I pull off something like this?

Answer 1

It is possible to do a little with VBA. For example, here is a start on creating script for a database with local tables.

Dim db As Database Dim tdf As TableDef Dim fld As DAO.Field Dim ndx As DAO.Index Dim strSQL As String Dim strFlds As String Dim strCn As String  Dim fs, f      Set db = CurrentDb      Set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")     Set f = fs.CreateTextFile("C:\Docs\Schema.txt")          For Each tdf In db.TableDefs         If Left(tdf.Name, 4) <> "Msys" Then             strSQL = "strSQL=""CREATE TABLE [" & tdf.Name & "] ("                          strFlds = ""                          For Each fld In tdf.Fields                                  strFlds = strFlds & ",[" & fld.Name & "] "                                  Select Case fld.Type                                      Case dbText                         'No look-up fields                         strFlds = strFlds & "Text (" & fld.Size & ")"                                          Case dbLong                         If (fld.Attributes And dbAutoIncrField) = 0& Then                             strFlds = strFlds & "Long"                         Else                             strFlds = strFlds & "Counter"                         End If                          Case dbBoolean                         strFlds = strFlds & "YesNo"                          Case dbByte                         strFlds = strFlds & "Byte"                                              Case dbInteger                         strFlds = strFlds & "Integer"                                          Case dbCurrency                         strFlds = strFlds & "Currency"                                  Case dbSingle                         strFlds = strFlds & "Single"                                  Case dbDouble                         strFlds = strFlds & "Double"                                  Case dbDate                         strFlds = strFlds & "DateTime"                                  Case dbBinary                         strFlds = strFlds & "Binary"                                  Case dbLongBinary                         strFlds = strFlds & "OLE Object"                                              Case dbMemo                         If (fld.Attributes And dbHyperlinkField) = 0& Then                             strFlds = strFlds & "Memo"                         Else                             strFlds = strFlds & "Hyperlink"                         End If                                              Case dbGUID                         strFlds = strFlds & "GUID"                                          End Select                          Next                  strSQL = strSQL & Mid(strFlds, 2) & " )""" & vbCrLf & "Currentdb.Execute strSQL"                          f.WriteLine vbCrLf & strSQL                      'Indexes             For Each ndx In tdf.Indexes                              If ndx.Unique Then                     strSQL = "strSQL=""CREATE UNIQUE INDEX "                 Else                     strSQL = "strSQL=""CREATE INDEX "                 End If                                  strSQL = strSQL & "[" & ndx.Name & "] ON [" & tdf.Name & "] ("                                  strFlds = ""                  For Each fld In tdf.Fields                     strFlds = strFlds & ",[" & fld.Name & "]"                 Next                                      strSQL = strSQL & Mid(strFlds, 2) & ") "                                  strCn = ""                                  If ndx.Primary Then                     strCn = " PRIMARY"                 End If                                  If ndx.Required Then                     strCn = strCn & " DISALLOW NULL"                 End If                                  If ndx.IgnoreNulls Then                     strCn = strCn & " IGNORE NULL"                 End If                                  If Trim(strCn) <> vbNullString Then                     strSQL = strSQL & " WITH" & strCn & " "                 End If                                  f.WriteLine vbCrLf & strSQL & """" & vbCrLf & "Currentdb.Execute strSQL"             Next         End If     Next              f.Close