HOW TO: Import a Works Database into Microsoft Access 2002 (327147)

SUMMARY

This step-by-step article describes how to import a Microsoft Works database file into a Microsoft Access database. This is a two-step process:

1. Save the Works database file in a format that is compatible with Microsoft Access.
2. Import the Works database into Microsoft Access.

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Save the Works Database File

To save the Works database file in a format that is compatible with Microsoft Access, follow these steps:

1. Open the database in Works.
2. Verify that the field widths in Form view are large enough to display all of the information in the field.
3. Verify that the format of each field that contains text is set to General or Text.
   
4. When you save in dBASE format (as you will do in step 8), field names are truncated at 10 characters, so it is important to verify that the first 10 characters of each field name are unique. For example, two fields that are named Address_1 and Address_2 will import as expected, but if two fields are named Address_Line_1 and Address_Line_2, these field will import with default field names.
   
   NOTE: If the first 10 characters in two or more fields are the same, these field names are imported into Access with default field names such as Field_1 and Field_2.
5. On the File menu, click Save As.
6. Locate a folder to which you want to save the database. (To make the database easy to locate, you can use the My Documents folder.)
7. Type a new name for the database, if you want one, in the File Name text box.
   
   NOTE: When you import a dBASE file that does not follow the MS-DOS 8.3 file name convention (that is, an 8- character name followed by a period (.) and a 3-character extension), you may experience problems when you try to import the dBASE file into Microsoft Access. Therefore, create a new file name that does not use more than eight characters.
8. In the Save file as type list box, click to select dBASE III or dBASE IV, and then click Save.
   
   NOTE: If you receive the following error message, return to step 2 and increase the field width:
   Some Field Text Was Truncated
9. Quit Works.

NOTE: If Works does not add the .dbf file name extension, save the file again with .dbf for the file name extension.

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Import the Works Database into Access

To import the database into Access, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Access.
2. In the New File task pane, under New, click Blank Database.
3. Type a file name for the database, and then click Create.
4. In the Database window, under Objects, click Tables, and then click New.
5. In the New Table dialog box, click to select Import Table from the list, and then click OK.
6. In the Import dialog box, click the down arrow in the Look In list box, and then click to select the folder that contains the dBASE file that you created in Microsoft Works.
7. Click the down arrow in the Files Of Type list box, and the click to select either dBASE III or dBASE IV (the same format that you selected in step 8 of the "Save the Works Database File" section).
8. Click to select the database that you want to use, and then click Import.
9. You receive a message that the file has been successfully imported. Click OK, and then close the Import dialog box.

To view the imported data, click to select the new table in the Database window, and then click Open. If you want to discard the Works file that you used to transfer your data into Microsoft Access, delete the Works file.

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