Question

Problem: Could not find installable ISAM

I am executing a query from MS Access in order to pull information from MS SQL Server 2005.
When I attempt to open a linked ODBC connection to the table directly it opens with no issues. However, when I attempt to create a DSN-less connection, I receive an ISAM error.

I have the following error when I attempt to execute my SELECT query:

“Could not find installable ISAM.”

The code I’m using is as follows:

SELECT * FROM [Driver={SQL Server};
   Server=Server_Name\Instance;
   Database=Database_Name;
   Integrated Security=SSPI;].[My_View_Name]

The help from MS Access provides the following information:

Could not find installable ISAM. (Error 3170)
The DLL for an installable ISAM file could not be found.
This file is required for linking external tables (other than ODBC or Microsoft
Jet database tables). The locations for all ISAM drivers are
maintained in the Microsoft® Windows® Registry. These entries are
created automatically when you install your application. If you change
the location of these drivers, you need to correct your application
Setup program to reflect this change and make the correct entries in
the Registry.

Possible causes:

+ An entry in the Registry is not valid. For example, this error occurs if you are using a Paradox external database, and the Paradox
entry points to a nonexistent directory or driver. Exit the
application, correct the Windows Registry, and try the operation
again.

+ One of the entries in the Registry points to a network drive and that network is not connected. Make sure the network is available, and
then try the operation again.

I have also found KB articles from Microsoft explaining when and how this should be handled. However they are unclear to me if they are actually rooted from another type of issue.

For example:

283881 and 209805 Tell me the purpose of ISAM is to tell how to format data other then, MS Access’ native formatting. (But I don’t want to format it in another way and the other formats do not list what I think to be the appropriate format-er)

and, 90111 Tells us the driver in the .ini file may be pointing to the wrong place in MS Access 2.0 which no longer exists in version 97+.

The odd thing is I have a DNS-less setup for another table which works fine. The only difference I see here is the default naming of the database object is not standard, so possibly I am not referring to the schema correctly in my syntax.

• What am I doing wrong here? Is it truly a syntax error?*
• Are there any “View” permission considerations which need to be made on the server end?

Answer 1

Try adding ODBC; at the start of the connection string and remove the brackets around the view name:

SELECT * FROM [ODBC;Driver={SQL Server};
Server=Server_Name\Instance;
Database=Database_Name;
Integrated Security=SSPI;].My_View_Name