Linked Table Madness

Linked tables can be very useful

If you want to see this application and explore the linking, go to \\store\classes\<Year+Term+CourseID>\ReadOnly\LinkedTableMadness
Download a copy of all of the files in this folder, then open up Linked.mdb
That will display all the linked tables shown above.
You will need to use the "Linked Table Manager" to reestablish the links. Right click a linked table and select "Linked Table Manager"
The Linked ODBC connection requires you to also create an ODBC connection.

for an overview of linking as of 8/2017, see:

https://support.office.com/en-US/article/Import-data-into-an-Access-database-782703AA-6B21-4458-9429-480EAF0C71D6

Sample of info in this knowledge base article as of 8/2012:

The following table lists the data formats that an Access database supports.
The table also lists some formats that Access does not support and some formats that have limited support.

File Type	Extension	Import	Link	Export
Microsoft Access 2.0	.mdb	Yes (1)	Yes (1)	Yes (1)
Microsoft Access 7.0	.mdb	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Access 97	.mdb	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Access 2000	.mdb	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Access 2002	.mdb	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Office Access 2003	.mdb	Yes	Yes	Yes
Text (Delimited)	.txt	Yes	Yes(4)	Yes
Text (Fixed Width)	.txt	Yes	Yes(4)	Yes
Microsoft Excel 3.0	.xls	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Excel 4.0 Sheets	.xls	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Excel 4.0 Workbooks	.xls	No	No	No
Microsoft Excel 5.0-7.0 Workbooks	.xls	Yes	Yes	Yes
File Type	Extension	Import	Link	Export
Microsoft Excel 97 Workbooks	.xls	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Excel 2000 Workbooks	.xls	Yes	Yes(6)	Yes
Microsoft Excel 2002 Workbooks	.xls	Yes	Yes(6)	Yes
Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Workbooks	.xls	Yes	Yes(6)	Yes
Lotus 1-2-3	.wk1	Yes	Yes(2)	Yes
Lotus 1-2-3 3.0	.wk3	Yes	Yes(2)	Yes
dBASE III	.dbf	Yes	Yes	Yes
dBASE IV	.dbf	Yes	Yes	Yes
dBASE 5	.dbf	Yes	Yes	Yes
dBASE 7	.dbf	Yes(5)	Yes(5)	Yes(5)
File Type	Extension	Import	Link	Export
Paradox 3.0	.db	Yes	Yes	Yes
Paradox 4.0	.db	Yes	Yes	Yes
Paradox 5.0	.db	Yes	Yes	Yes
Paradox 8.0	.db	Yes(5)	Yes(5)	Yes(5)
Exchange/Outlook	N/A	Yes	Yes	No
HTML Documents	.html, .htm	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Internet Database Connector	.idc/.htx	No	No	Yes
Microsoft Active Server Pages	.asp	No	No	Yes
Rich Text Format	.rtf	No	No	Yes
ODBC Datasources(3)	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes
XML Files	.xml	Yes	No	Yes
Windows SharePoint Services	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes
File Type	Extension	Import	Link	Export

Notes

You must use the Microsoft Access 2.0 Converter so that you can use Access 2.0 files in Access 2003.
BUG: You receive an error message when you open or convert an Access 2.0 database file in Access 2003
The Lotus 1-2-3 files can be linked. However, the linked Lotus files are read-only.
Linked dBASE and Paradox tables are read-only. However, you can resolve this issue by installing one of the following items:
- The lastest Microsoft Jet 4.0 service pack
- The Borland Database Engine
For more information about how to use dBase and Paradox data with Access and Jet, see the "References" section.
To work with an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) data source, you must have the correct ODBC drivers, and you must have the most current ODBC drivers for the data source that you use. For example, Access does not provide an indexed sequential access method (ISAM) driver for Microsoft FoxPro files (.dbc), but you can use the ODBC drivers that are included with Access to connect to the FoxPro files.
When you link text files, you cannot update the existing data. You can add records to the linked text file, but when the record is committed, you cannot update existing records.
When you have to link to, import from, or export data to a dBASE 7.0 database or to a Paradox 8.0 database, Borland Database Engine 4.0 or later may be required.
In Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Microsoft Office 2002 update dated 10/18/05 (KB904018), by design, linked Excel spreadsheets cannot be updated.
You cannot change, add, or delete data in tables that are linked to an Excel workbook in Office Access 2003 or in Access 2002
You can not use Access 2000 to import, link, or export to an Access 2002 or Access 2003 database.
Only Access 2003 can export data, import data, and link to lists on Microsoft Windows SharePoint Portal Services sites.