Connecting to non geodatabase MS Access database using ArcObjects

Question

I am trying to connect to an MS Access database from a program I have written in VB.Net with ArcObjects 10.0. My MS Access database is not a personal geodatabase so apparently I have to connect to Access using an OLEDBWorkspaceFactory.

Dim propset As IPropertySet2 = New PropertySet
propset.SetProperty("CONNECTIONSTRING", "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" & txtbox1.Text & ";User Id=admin;Password=;")
Dim oleWorkspace As IWorkspaceFactory2 = New OLEDBWorkspaceFactory
Dim m_workspace As IWorkspace2
If oleWorkspace IsNot Nothing Then m_workspace = oleWorkspace.Open(propset, 0)

The above code works except for one minor detail. When I call oleWorkspace.Open(propset, 0) I get the ArcGIS Database Connection dialogue asking what driver to use and for connection information (which I have already provided in my propertyset).

Is there a way to avoid this dialogue?

Answer 1

You should be able to use the AccessWorkspaceFactory co-class even though it's not a personal geodatabase. You could also use ADO.NET. I am not sure why your code isn't working but I do know that working with property sets is an exercise in frustration.

• Brian: I originally did it with the AccessWorkspaceFactory, but any joins I try to create (using memoryrelationshipclass) do not work because my tables do not have objectid's.

Answer 2

Is the username actually 'admin' and password blank?

Try removing those parameters from your property set. I usually don't include them if the db is not password protected. Also verify that your txtbox1.Text string is what you expect it to be.

Answer 3

I would use ADO.NET. If you are just trying to access information from a normal database, use the methods that .NET has packaged within their framework.

Dim connectionString As String
 Dim cnn As OleDbConnection
 connectionString = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=yourdatabasename.mdb;"
 cnn = New OleDbConnection(connectionString)
 Try
 cnn.Open()
 MsgBox("Yeah, that's cool. You opened me. Kudos.")
 cnn.Close()
 Catch ex As Exception
 MsgBox("That's right, crawl back into the hole you came from. Fail.")
 End Try