Modifying Linked Tables

You can make some changes to the definitions of linked tables to customize them for use in your Access 2010 environment. When you attempt to open the table in Design view, Access opens a dialog box to warn you that you cannot modify certain properties of a linked table. You can still click OK to open the linked table in Design view.

You can open a linked table in Design view to change the Format, Decimal Places, Caption, Description, and Input Mask property settings for any field. You can set these properties to customize the way you look at and update data in Access forms and reports. You can also give any linked table a new name for use within your Access database (although the table's original name remains unchanged in the source database) to help you better identify the table or to enable you to use the table with the queries, forms, and reports that you've already designed.

Changing a table's design in Access has no effect on the original table in its source database. However, if the design of the table in the source database changes, you must relink the table to Access. You must also unlink and relink any table if your user ID or your password changes.

Unlinking Linked Tables

It is easy to unlink tables that are linked to your Access database. In the Navigation pane, simply select the table you want to unlink and then press the Delete key or click the Delete command in the Records group on the Home tab on the ribbon. Access displays the confirmation message. Click Yes to unlink the table. Unlinking the table does not delete the table; it simply removes the link from your table list in the Navigation pane.

Note: If you click the Cut command in the Clipboard group on the Home tab of the ribbon to unlink a table, Access does not display the confirmation message.

Using the Linked Table Manager

If you move some or all of your linked tables to a different location, you must either delete your linked tables and relink them or update the location information before you can open the tables. You can easily update the location information in the table links by using the Linked Table Manager. To use this handy utility, open the database that contains linked tables that you need to relink, and on the External Data tab, in the Import & Link group, click the Linked Table Manager command. The utility opens a dialog box that displays all the linked tables in your database. Simply select the check boxes for the ones that you think need to be verified and updated, and then click OK. If any linked table has been moved to a different location, the Linked Table Manager prompts you with a dialog box so that you can specify the new file location. You can also select the Always Prompt For New Location check box to verify the file location for all linked tables.