ODBC call failed error when an access table is opened - sql-server-2008

Question

I have linked the sql server tables to ms access so that I can use ms access as the front end.I was able to access the tables from access, until I run into an error ODBC call failed when I tried to open one of the tables. There was no problem with the other tables. Actually I have changed a column name in sql server after creating a link. Is this the problem? I am really worried about this as I was about to use access as a front-end for my future purposes.

Answer 1

When you link to a remote table, Access stores metadata about that table. When you later change the table structure, the metadata doesn't get updated to capture the change.
Delete the link. Then recreate the link. That way the metadata will be consistent with the current version of the table.

Answer 2

Yes changing the column name after linking the table is most likely causing your failure. Is it is now trying to pull data from a column that no longer exists. You will need to relink the table. You can programatically link tables in access. We do that in may of our access applications and drive the tables that need to be linked from a local access table.
Public Sub LinkODBCTables()
Dim objRS As DAO.Recordset
Dim objTblDef As DAO.TableDef
Dim strTableName As String
Dim strAliasName As String
Dim strDSN As String
Dim lngTblCount As Long
Set objRS = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset( _
" select TableName," & _
" AliasName," & _
" DSN," & _
" DatabaseName," & _
" Development_DSN," & _
" UniqueIndexCol" & _
" from tblODBCLinkedTables " & _
" order by TableName", dbOpenSnapshot)
While Not objRS.EOF
' Check to see if we already have this linked tableDef
' We don't care if it is not actually in there
strTableName = objRS.Fields("TableName")
If Not IsNull(objRS.Fields("AliasName")) Then
strAliasName = objRS.Fields("AliasName")
Else
strAliasName = strTableName
End If
If DEV_MODE Then
strDSN = objRS.Fields("Development_DSN")
Else
strDSN = objRS.Fields("DSN")
End If
On Error Resume Next
CurrentDb.TableDefs.Delete strAliasName
If Err.Number <> 0 And _
Err.Number <> 3265 Then ' item not found in collection
Dim objError As Error
MsgBox "Unable to delete table " & strAliasName
MsgBox Err.Description
For Each objError In DBEngine.Errors
MsgBox objError.Description
Next
End If
On Error GoTo 0
Set objTblDef = CurrentDb.CreateTableDef(strAliasName)
objTblDef.Connect = g_strSQLServerConn & _
"DSN=" & strDSN & _
";DATABASE=" & objRS.Fields("DatabaseName") & _
";UID=" & g_strSQLServerUid & _
";PWD=" & g_strSQLServerPwd
objTblDef.SourceTableName = strTableName
On Error Resume Next
CurrentDb.TableDefs.Append objTblDef
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
Dim objErr As DAO.Error
For Each objErr In DBEngine.Errors
MsgBox objErr.Description
Next
End If
On Error GoTo 0
' Attempt to create a uniqe index of the link for updates
' if specified
If Not IsNull(objRS.Fields("UniqueIndexCol")) Then
' Execute DDL to create the new index
CurrentDb.Execute " Create Unique Index uk_" & strAliasName & _
" on " & strAliasName & "(" & objRS.Fields("UniqueIndexCol") & ")"
End If
objRS.MoveNext
Wend
objRS.Close
End Sub
We are using a single SQLServer login for our access applications so the g_strSQLServerUID and g_strSQLServerPwd are globals that contain that info. You may need to tweek that for your own needs or integrated security. We are setting up two DSNs one for production and the other for development. The DEV_MODE global controls wich set of DSNs are linked. You can call this code from a startup macro or startup form. It will deleted the old link and create a new link so you always have the most up to date schema.