3.1. Easy Upgrading

First and foremost, developers need to know about the issues surrounding upgrading and converting. Fortunately, it is very easy and painless to upgrade from Access 2000 or Access 2002 to Access 2003. In fact, 2002 and 2003 have the same file format. The only real differences between 2002 and 2003 are the several new features. And converting from the Access 2000 file format to 2003 is as easy as selecting Convert on the Convert/Enable dialog window. This is covered in detail in Appendix A. But the fact is that you can use Access 2003 to make design changes in both Access 2000 and Access 2002–2003 files. So, if a 2002 database was saved as an Access 2000 file format, Access 2003 can be used to make design changes and the file will still open with Access 2000.

You can use Access 2003 to make design changes in both Access 2000 and Access 2002–2003 format files.

The important message here is that upgrading is managed quite effectively by Access—one might say, "even seamlessly." And with the click of the mouse, you can even convert from 2003 back to Access 2000 or 97. To convert a database to Access 97, 2000, or 2002–2003 file format, start by clicking Tools, and select Database Utilities. Then, click Convert Database and select the file format. Then, respond to the dialog boxes to select and convert the database. As an extra precaution, the converter ensures that the original file is retained, and it will not let you replace the existing file with the newly converted ...

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