Bug 121024 - Document usage of Microsoft Access Database
Summary: Document usage of Microsoft Access Database
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Base (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: All All
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
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Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Database-Connectivity
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Reported: 2018-10-29 14:35 UTC by Timur
Modified: 2025-07-18 11:31 UTC (History)
6 users (show)

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Description Timur 2018-10-29 14:35:51 UTC
We had a number of bugs for usage of Microsoft Access Database: 
Bug 107360, Bug 114794, Bug 97395, Bug 97579, Bug 107890.

Thanks to Alex, some of them were closed with the following explanation:

Microsoft no longer provides for reading/writing to a 32bit Access db (versions created with Access 97, 2003) on its 64bit systems. There is information about this on both MSND, and Microsoft's own knowledgebase websites.
On a 64bit OS with 64bit programs, MS no longer supports 32bit access to Access MDB files made on a 32bit system (see MS' own support forums and the MSDN forums). 
As LO relies on Microsofts own drivers to do this, Access97 and Access2003 files are no longer accessible with 64bit LO. If there is no MS support, there is not much we can do.
All-64bit setup works :
- 64bit OS
- 64bit accdb Access >= 2010
- 64bit Access Database Engine (2016) - database drivers provided by MS

There was some workaround mentioned, I didn't test:
There is a way to do this in 64-bit if you use a JDBC connector - UCanAccess: https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/question/145877/mdb-files-not-loading-to-base/
May exist a problem of passing the required parameter into the database in order to create the report. Create a single record table containing that parameter, and connect that into the database.

We still have Bug 43187.

I didn't find a proper documentation, just https://help.libreoffice.org/6.2/en-US/text/shared/explorer/database/dabawiz02access.html 
I suggest it be created. We may rely on wiki page https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/MSA-Base_Faq 

Now it just points to https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/MSA-Base_Faq which I find wrong. We should explain all what we can here, using and updating info that one and https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Connecting_to_Microsoft_Access.
Comment 1 Timur 2018-10-29 14:36:52 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 2 Alex Thurgood 2018-12-04 15:55:31 UTC
Unfortunately, I no longer have a setup that allows me to test any of this.
Comment 3 Xisco Faulí 2019-01-10 12:36:55 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 4 Lionel Elie Mamane 2024-07-05 15:10:44 UTC
We should reevaluate this in light of the commit that fixed tdf#158056

https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/165756

https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/7edca7dc740f6877fa85c2a996ca869c6b971a48

tdf#158056 Connect to MS Access .mdb files by mean of ACE.OLEDB.12.0 provider
Comment 5 jcsanz 2025-07-18 11:31:43 UTC
(In reply to Timur from comment #0)
> We had a number of bugs for usage of Microsoft Access Database: 
> Bug 107360, Bug 114794, Bug 97395, Bug 97579, Bug 107890.
 It seems that these bugs have been fixed

> Microsoft no longer provides for reading/writing to a 32bit Access db
icrosoft continues to provide access to 32-bit databases (which I do not recommend) https://www.microsoft.com/es-es/download/details.aspx?id=54920.


> As LO relies on Microsofts own drivers to do this, Access97 and Access2003
> files are no longer accessible with 64bit LO. If there is no MS support,
> there is not much we can do.
Microsoft Access 2016 Database Engine Redistributable Component allows access to 32-bit and 64-bit databases.

There are different ways to connect directly to Access (without workarounds)
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Faq/Base/How_to_connect_to_a_Microsoft_Access_database


> We still have Bug 43187.
That bug is fixed
> 
> I didn't find a proper documentation
perhaps https://help.libreoffice.org/25.2/es/text/sdatabase/dabawiz01.html is updated, also the you have the aforementioned https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Faq/Base/How_to_connect_to_a_Microsoft_Access_database

As @Lionel said, I've reevaluated this bug and I see is totally outdated and the bugs are solved, so I'm going to change the status to fixed