Accessing Secured Databases from VB4

Also, an apparent bug in the 16-bit Jet 2.5 database engine causes the DBEngine’s CreateWorkspace method to fail unless the DefaultUser and DefaultPassword properties contain the values required by the secured database. And so, for your coding pleasure, I’m is pleased to present the following examples:

For 16-bit programs, you must first create an APPNAME.INI file (where APPNAME is the base name of your program’s .EXE file) containing at least the following:

[Data] 

Database=D:\PATH\DBNAME.MDB 

[Options] 

SystemDB=D:\PATH\SYSTEM.MDA 

Then, to open the database, do this:

Dim sUserName As String 
Dim sPassword As String 
Dim db As Database 
Dim ws As Workspace 

     sUserName = "Your Name Here" 

     sPassword = "Bite_Me" 

     ' Create secured workspace 

     With DBEngine

           .IniPath = "D:\PATH\APPNAME.INI" 

           .DefaultUser = sUserName 

           .DefaultPassword = sPassword 

     End With 

     ' Workspace name is arbitrary, 

     ' but must be unique 

     Set ws = DBEngine.CreateWorkspace("Name", sUserName, sPassword) 

     ' Open database via secured workspace 

     Set db = ws.OpenDatabase("D:\PATH\DBNAME.MDB"...)

32-bit programs do not require an .INI file, nor do they require you to set the DefaultUser and DefaultPassword properties. Simply set the DBEngine’s SystemDB property to point to your system database:

Dim sUserName As String 
Dim sPassword As String 
Dim db As Database 
Dim ws As Workspace 

     sUserName = "Your Name Here" 

     sPassword = "Bite_Me" 

     ' Create secured workspace 

     DBEngine.SystemDB = "D:\PATH\SYSTEM.MDW" 

     Set ws = DBEngine.CreateWorkspace("Name", sUserName, sPassword) 

     ' That's it! Open sesame... 

     Set db = ws.OpenDatabase("D:\PATH\DBNAME.MDB"...)

Note: These examples assume that you have properly secured the database using the Access Security Wizard. During that process, Access will create the SYSTEM.MDA or .MDW files mentioned above.

 

Tip Submitted By: Phil Weber