Check if access table exists

Question

I want to log web site visits' IP, datetime, client and refferer data to access database but I'm planning to log every days log data in separate tables in example logs for 06.06.2010 will be logged in 2010_06_06 named table. When date is changed I'll create a table named 2010_06_07. But the problem is if this table is already created.

Any suggestions how to check if table exists in Access?

Answer 1

You can use the hidden system table MSysObjects to check if a table exists:

If Not IsNull(DlookUp("Name","MSysObjects","Name='TableName'")) Then
    'Table Exists

However, I agree that it is a very bad idea to create a new table every day.

EDIT: I should add that tables have a type 1, 4 or 6 and it is possible for other objects of a different type to have the same name as a table, so it would be better to say:

If Not IsNull(DlookUp("Name","MSysObjects","Name='TableName' And Type In (1,4,6)")) Then
    'Table Exists

However, it is not possible to create a table with the same name as a query, so if you need a look up to test for a name, it may be best to add 5, that is query, to the Type list.

Answer 2

I tested various methods for finding out if a table exists several years ago. Here is the code for all of them as I implemented, including my simple test routine.

Public Function TableExists(strTableName As String, Optional ysnRefresh As Boolean, Optional db As DAO.Database) As Boolean
' Originally Based on Tony Toews function in TempTables.MDB, http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/temptables.htm
' Based on testing, when passed an existing database variable, this is the fastest
On Error GoTo errHandler
  Dim tdf As DAO.TableDef

  If db Is Nothing Then Set db = CurrentDb()
  If ysnRefresh Then db.TableDefs.Refresh
  Set tdf = db(strTableName)
  TableExists = True

exitRoutine:
  Set tdf = Nothing
  Exit Function

errHandler:
  Select Case Err.Number
    Case 3265
      TableExists = False
    Case Else
      MsgBox Err.Number & ": " & Err.Description, vbCritical, "Error in mdlBackup.TableExists()"
  End Select
  Resume exitRoutine
End Function

Public Function TableExists2(strTableName As String, Optional ysnRefresh As Boolean, Optional db As DAO.Database) As Boolean
On Error GoTo errHandler
  Dim bolCleanupDB As Boolean
  Dim tdf As DAO.TableDef

  If db Is Nothing Then
     Set db = CurrentDb()
     bolCleanupDB = True
  End If
  If ysnRefresh Then db.TableDefs.Refresh
  For Each tdf In db.TableDefs
    If tdf.name = strTableName Then
       TableExists2 = True
       Exit For
    End If
  Next tdf

exitRoutine:
  Set tdf = Nothing
  If bolCleanupDB Then
     Set db = Nothing
  End If
  Exit Function

errHandler:
  MsgBox Err.Number & ": " & Err.Description, vbCritical, "Error in mdlBackup.TableExists1()"
  Resume exitRoutine
End Function

Public Function TableExists3(strTableName As String, _
     Optional db As DAO.Database) As Boolean
' Based on testing, when NOT passed an existing database variable, this is the fastest
On Error GoTo errHandler
  Dim strSQL As String
  Dim rs As DAO.Recordset

  If db Is Nothing Then Set db = CurrentDb()
  strSQL = "SELECT MSysObjects.Name FROM MSysObjects "
  strSQL = strSQL & "WHERE MSysObjects.Name=" & Chr(34) & strTableName & Chr(34)
  strSQL = strSQL & " AND MSysObjects.Type=6;"
  Set rs = db.OpenRecordset(strSQL)
  TableExists3 = (rs.RecordCount <> 0)

exitRoutine:
  If Not (rs Is Nothing) Then
     rs.Close
     Set rs = Nothing
  End If
  Exit Function

errHandler:
  MsgBox Err.Number & ": " & Err.Description, vbCritical, _
     "Error in TableExists1()"
  Resume exitRoutine
End Function

Public Sub TestTableExists(strTableName As String, intLoopCount As Integer)
  Dim dteStart As Date
  Dim i As Integer
  Dim bolResults As Boolean

  dteStart = Now()
  For i = 0 To intLoopCount
    bolResults = TableExists(strTableName, , CurrentDB())
  Next i
  Debug.Print "TableExists (" & intLoopCount & "): " & Format(Now() - dteStart, "nn:ss")

  dteStart = Now()
  For i = 0 To intLoopCount
    bolResults = TableExists2(strTableName, , CurrentDB())
  Next i
  Debug.Print "TableExists2 (" & intLoopCount & "): " & Format(Now() - dteStart, "nn:ss")

  dteStart = Now()
  For i = 0 To intLoopCount
    bolResults = TableExists3(strTableName, CurrentDB())
  Next i
  Debug.Print "TableExists3 (" & intLoopCount & "): " & Format(Now() - dteStart, "nn:ss")
End Sub

Answer 3

Here's another solution, will be a bit faster than looping over all of the tables.

Public Function doesTableExist(strTableName As String) As Boolean
    Dim db As DAO.Database
    Dim td As DAO.TableDef
    Set db = CurrentDb
    On Error Resume Next
    Set td = db.TableDefs(strTableName)
    doesTableExist = (Err.Number = 0)
    Err.Clear
End Function

Answer 4

I have found querying system tables or tabledefs to be unreliable and introduce unpredictable behaviour in scripts where tables get regularly created and dropped.

Based on my results, my hypothesis is that these tables aren't necessarily updated at the exact instant a CREATE or DROP is executed, or that concurrency issues are preventing me from getting an accurate result.

I've found the following method to be more reliable:

Public Function TableExists(theDatabase As Access.Application, _
    tableName As String) As Boolean

    ' Presume that table does not exist.
    TableExists = False

    ' Define iterator to query the object model.
    Dim iTable As Integer

    ' Loop through object catalogue and compare with search term.
    For iTable = 0 To theDatabase.CurrentData.AllTables.Count - 1
        If theDatabase.CurrentData.AllTables(iTable).Name = tableName Then
            TableExists = True
            Exit Function
        End If
    Next iTable

End Function

There should be no runtime issue iterating unless there is an staggeringly enormous collection of tables.

Answer 5

This question is quite old but I found that no answer is satisfying, because:

• they do not handle the case of "bad" linked tables, where the linked table points to a non existing db or table.
• since linked tables are potentially huge, we must be able to check them with a fast query.

So here is my simple but more complete solution:

Function isTableOk(tblName As String) As Boolean
'works with local or linked tables
    Dim db As DAO.Database, rs As DAO.Recordset
    Dim sSql As String
    sSql = "SELECT TOP 1 ""xxx"" AS Expr1 FROM [" & tblName & "]"

    On Error Resume Next
    Err.Clear
    Set db = CurrentDb
    Set rs = db.OpenRecordset(sSql)
    isTableOk = (Err.Number = 0)
    rs.Close
End Function

You can even check table in an external Access db with this version:

Function isTableOk(tblName As String, Optional dbName As String) As Boolean
'works with local or linked tables, or even tables in external db (if dbName is provided)

    Dim db As DAO.Database, rs As DAO.Recordset
    Dim sSql As String

    Set db = CurrentDb
    sSql = "SELECT TOP 1 'xxx' AS Expr1 FROM [" & tblName & "]"
    If Len(dbName) > 0 Then 'external db 
        sSql = sSql & " IN '" & dbName & "'"
    End If
    Err.Clear
    On Error Resume Next
    Set rs = db.OpenRecordset(sSql)
    isTableOk = (Err.Number = 0)
    rs.Close
End Function