ACC2000: How to Retrieve the Path or File Name from the Name Property (209860)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Access 2000
This article was previously published under Q209860
Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

This article applies only to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb).

SUMMARY

The Database object provided by a Microsoft Data Access Object (DAO) has a Name property. However, this property returns the full path and the file name of the database. To retrieve either the path or the file name separately, you must parse the string returned by the Name property by searching for slash characters ("/").

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. The following Visual Basic for Applications uses the InStrRev() function to search backward through the string returned by the Name property and determines the position of the first slash. If you want only the name of the file without the path, the function returns the portion of the string to the right of the slash. If you want only the path of the folder in which the current database is located, the function returns the portion of the string to the left of the slash.
  1. Start Microsoft Access, and then open any database.
  2. Open a new module, and then type or paste the following procedure:
    Function RetrievePathFile(Optional vFlag As Variant)

    ' This function takes an optional argument that specifies
    ' whether you want to return the directory portion of
    ' the path or the file portion of the path.
    '
    ' Usage: If you want to return only the name of the file
    ' without the path, put type any value in the function:
    '    RetrievePathFile(x)
    '
    ' If you type no argument at all, the function returns
    ' only the folder in which the file is located.
    
    Dim strCurDBName As String
    
    strCurDBName = CurrentDb.Name
    
      If IsMissing(vFlag) Then
          RetrievePathFile = _
          Left(strCurDBName, InStrRev(strCurDBName, "\") - 1)
      Else
          RetrievePathFile = _
          Right(strCurDBName, Len(strCurDBName) - _
          InStrRev(strCurDBName, "\"))
      End If

End Function
  3. On the Debug menu, click Compile MyDatabase.
  4. Press CRTL+G to open the Immediate window.
  5. Type the following line in the Immediate window, and then press ENTER:

    ?RetrievePathFile(x)

    The function returns the name of the current database without the complete path.
  6. Type the following line in the Immediate window, and then press ENTER:

    ?RetrievePathFile()

    The function returns the path of the folder in which the current database is located.

REFERENCES

For additional information about using Visual Basic for Applications, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

226118 OFF2000: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/23/2005
Keywords:kbhowto kbinfo KB209860
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