Office XP/2000/97
Compatibility Guide
Pinnacle CIS LAB
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In general,
recent versions of office can open all older versions of office documents.
Problems may arise, however, when a document generated by a newer version
of office is opened by an older version of office. To help ensure backwards
compatibility, a document generated in Office XP may need to be saved
in a format that is readable by older versions of Office such as Office
97. This involves using the "save as" feature on the file
menu. |
Next,
select the desired file type in the "Save as type" field. In
this case, the selected format will be compatible with the older Office
97 suite. |
| This method is also helpful for Powerpoint and Excel, but not Access. Access compatibility will be discussed later. There are some drawbacks to using this method to ensure backwards compatibility; therefore, it should be used sparingly. When a docuement is created with a new version of office and saved in an older file format, there is a chance of truncation of data, or loss of data. Furthermore, many advanced features and formatting specific to a newer version of Office will not be visible or may appear garbled when opened with Office 97 or any relatively older Office suite. If you wish to avoid any potential problems or data loss, it is recommended that only one consistent version of office be used. The Pinnacle open computer labs will maintain the current software suites taught by ACC Pinnacle professors. |
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Microsoft Access Compatibility: When an Access 97 database is opened in Access 2000/2002/XP, a convert/open database dialog box appears. The database can either be converted to Access 2000/2002/XP format or it can be opened in read only mode without being converted to the Access 2000/2002/XP format. When a database is converted to the Access/2000/2002/XP format, records can be added, deleted, or edited. On the contrary, it is possible to convert a database created in Access 2000/2002/XP to an older format Access 97. This may allow a student to bring the database home for use on an older Access version. *If you wish to avoid any potential problems or data loss, it is recommended that only one consistent version of office be used. |
Procedure for converting a newer Access database for use in an older version
of Access:
Example shown in Access XP:
-Select Tools, Database Utilities, Convert Database, then Select
the appropriate file format you wish to save.
-It
will them prompt you for a path and filename for the newly converted database.
| ADDITIONAL
Access Conversion info: Access 97 to Access 2000 Conversion -There are some programming statements that have a slightly different format in Access 2000 compared to Access 97. Furthermore, there are some programming statements that are not supported in Access 2000 at all. So there might be some programming changes that will have to be done to enable the forms or routines to run correctly. -Access 2000 supports 1,000 VB modules -Access 97 supports 1,024 VB modules --- Consequently, there may be an issue where that limit might be reached -Label reports in databases that have been converted to Access XP/2002 may display incorrectly if the field name is the same as an Access reserved name or global keyword Access 2000 to Access XP/2002 Conversion -Access XP/2002 is able to run and modify Access 2000 databases without converting them. So there should be no changes required in Access 2000 databases when using Access XP/2002. Conversion Tips Access 2000 or later does not support the Microsoft DAO 2.5/3.x compatibility library. Attempting to convert an Access database in which the code contains older versions of DAO objects, methods, and properties that depend on the DAO 2.5/3.x compatibility library, a message appears stating that there are compilation errors. Before converting an Access database, update the code so that it does not depend on the DAO 2.5/3.x compatibility library. If an error compilation error message still appears, open the converted database in Access 2002, remove the reference to the missing DAO 2.5/3.x compatibility library, and then set a reference to the Microsoft DAO 3.6 Object Library. If the Access database uses add-ins or library databases created in Access 97 or earlier, they must be converted. However, an add-in or library database created in Access 2000 with a file in Access 2002 format can still be used. The DoMenuItem replaced with RunCommand The DoMenuItem action is replaced in Microsoft Access 2000 and later with the RunCommand action. The DoMenuItem is still supported for compatibility. Microsoft's reference for converting Access Database formats: http://www.microsoft.com/Office/ORK/2000/Four/68ct_3.htm Lastly, backup and save often. |
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Phone: 223-8050
Pinnacle CIS LAB