Connecting to MS Access In Windows 7 64-Bit

Question

Hi.
As usual, Microsoft has done its best to make this as difficult as possible. The essence of a solution to this problem that I found at http://sushantnayak.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/connect-ms-access-using-jdbc-odbc-in-windows-7-64-bit/ is as follows:
1. Download and run AccessDatabaseEngine_x64.exe
(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c06b8369-60dd-4b64-a44b-84b371ede16d&displaylang=en)
2. Change the connection string in your code to:
Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};DBQ= <-db name and path here
Though the author of the tip had used VB to make the connection, it looked as though the same technique should work with Java. However, I found that the attempted connection kept generating an SQLException. The code that I tried to run is shown below.
import java.sql.*;
public class JDBCTest2
public static void main(String[] args)
Connection connection = null;
Statement statement = null;
ResultSet results = null;
String fileName = "F:\\Temp\\Finances.mdb";
I also tried the following (with different fields below):
String fileName = "F:\\Temp\\ExamResults.accdb";
String dbString =
"jdbc:odbc:Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};DBQ="
+ fileName + ";DriverID=22;READONLY=false}";
//I also tried the above without ';DriverID=22;READONLY=false', but the
//result was exactly the same.
try
Class.forName("sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver");
connection = DriverManager.getConnection(dbString, "", "");
catch (ClassNotFoundException cnfEx)
System.out.println("* Unable to load driver! *");
System.exit(1);
catch (SQLException sqlEx)
System.out.println("* Cannot connect to database! *");
//The above message was displayed.
System.exit(1);
try
statement = connection.createStatement();
results = statement.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM Accounts");
catch (SQLException sqlEx)
System.out.println("* Cannot execute query! *");
System.exit(1);
try
while(results.next())
System.out.println("Account no. " + results.getInt(1));
System.out.println("Account holder: " + results.getString(3)
+ " " + results.getString(2));
System.out.printf("Balance: %.2f %n%n",results.getFloat(4));
catch (SQLException sqlEx)
System.out.println("* Error retrieving data! *");
System.exit(1);
Any help in solving this problem would be most appreciated.
Thanks.
Jan ('Yan')

Answer 1

I believe that my problem may be due to using a 32-bit Access database, rather than a 64-bit one. I am fully aware of how to use c:\windows\syswow64\odbcad32.exe to get round the problem of setting up the required ODBC data source, and that is what I shall be making use of for at least the next year, as I have just been informed that it will be the 32-bit version of MS Access (with Windows 7) that will be used at my institution for the coming academic session. (I lecture at a university.)
As a consequence of the above, it turns out that I don't really have a problem for the foreseeable future. However, I would like to know (for personal satisfaction, if nothing else) whether the test program would work if it were used with a 64-bit Access database. Unfortunately, it looks as though I won't have the use of a 64-bit version of Access. Consequently, I would be most grateful if anybody out there could try out my test program with 64-bit Access. Obviously, the appropriate database would need to be set up (or an existing one used and the name/path changed accordingly), but the fields wouldn't even have to be set up to match mine. As long as the program gets past the 'Cannot connect to database error message', I'll be happy.
Thanks.
Jan