Chapter 3: The ADOX Library and Tables

Overview

Much of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 focused on a single model of ActiveX Data Objects (ADO): the ADODB model for data access. This chapter examines another of the three ADO models: the ADOX library. This chapter delivers a quick overview of the ADOX library and then provides a diverse series of samples, many of which demonstrate how to program table components , such as columns , keys, and indexes. The samples will lay a firm foundation for your understanding of how to use the ADOX model for table design and table- related schema management, including the enumeration, deletion, and counting of tables and table components in a database. In Chapter 4, we'll explore using the ADOX model with query design and management, while later in Chapter 10 we'll look at ADOX database security features.

The main objective of this chapter is to equip you with the skills needed to start designing tables with the ADOX object model for Jet databases. This chapter assumes you have a working knowledge of table design elements, such as primary and foreign keys. However, the chapter assumes only a novice or intermediate level of experience with the ADOX library, as will be the case for most Microsoft Access developers switching from Access 97 and earlier versions to Access 2003. Even if you have some exposure to ADOX programmatic table design, this chapter will reinforce your existing ADOX skills and prepare you for more advanced programmatic table design. The chapter concludes with a series of samples that illustrate how to populate tables with data after creating them with the ADOX model. The samples focus primarily on gathering data from sources outside the current Access project, including text files.