Adding field to MS Access Table using VBA - vba

Question

I need to add a calculated field to an existing table. I am aware of two ways to do this and I'm wondering if anyone has any input on which is best and how to make them work:
Using TableDef.CreateField, then TableDef.Fields.Append
Using a DDL Alter Table ADD COLUMN statement
I tried using the first method, but I keep getting a 3211 error because Access could not lock the table. I don't have the table open. However, I am calling CreateField from a form that has accessed which fields currently exist in the table.
Here's the code for calling CreateField:
`
Public Sub AddFieldToTable(strTable As String, strField As String, nFieldType As Integer)
Dim db As DAO.Database
Dim tdf As DAO.TableDef
Dim fld As DAO.Field
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
Set db = CurrentDb
Set tdf = db.TableDefs(strTable)
Set fld = tdf.CreateField(strField, nFieldType)
tdf.Fields.Append fld
MsgBox "The field named [" & strField & "] has been added to table [" & strTable & "]."
Set tdf = Nothing
Set db = Nothing
Exit Sub
ErrorHandler:
MsgBox "An error has occurred. Number: " & Err.Number & ", description: " & Err.Description
Exit Sub
End Sub
`
I get the error on the tdf.fields.append line. Would executing an ALTER TABLE statement be better? What are the tradeoffs?

Answer 1

You can use DDL to create fields:
Long:
CurrentDb.Execute "ALTER TABLE t ADD COLUMN a Long not null", dbFailOnError
(tack on NOT NULL IDENTITY(1,1) for an autonumber)
CurrentDb.Execute "ALTER TABLE t ADD COLUMN b text(100)", dbFailOnError
Boolean:
CurrentDb.Execute "ALTER TABLE t ADD COLUMN c Bit not null", dbFailOnError
DateTime:
CurrentDb.Execute "ALTER TABLE t ADD COLUMN d datetime null", dbFailOnError
Memo:
CurrentDb.Execute "ALTER TABLE t ADD COLUMN e memo null", dbFailOnError
Obviously, this lends itself well to functionalization, and you could just pass in your own eternal enum, combined with a Select, to construct the string and execute it:
Public Sub AddFieldToTable(TableName as string, FieldName as string, _
FieldType as Long, FieldLen as Long, FieldAllowsNull as Boolean)
Dim FieldText as String
Select Case(FieldType)
Case 0:
FieldText = "Long"
Case 1:
FieldText = "text(" & FieldLen & ")"
Case 2:
FieldText = "bit"
Case 3:
FieldText = "datetime"
Case 4:
FieldText = "memo"
End Select
Dim Sql as string
Sql = "ALTER TABLE " & TableName & " ADD COLUMN " & FieldName & " " & FieldText
If FieldAllowsNull then
Sql = Sql & " NULL"
Else
Sql = Sql & " NOT NULL"
End If
CurrentDb.Execute Sql, dbFailOnError
End Sub

Answer 2

I got the code working with either the CreateField or the ALTER TABLE statement. The key here was that I had used a recordset to access the table's data (I needed to check whether the field already existed and/or contained data before I ran the AddField method). I moved the rst.close statement up to before I edited the table structure and it worked! No more 3211.
`
Set db = CurrentDb
Set rst = db.OpenRecordset(strTable)
bFieldExists = Field_Exists(rst, strOutputField) ' Custom field_exists in table function
If bFieldExists then nFieldType = rst(strOutputField).Type
If CheckFieldHasValues(strTable, strOutputField) = True Then ' custom CheckField function
If MsgBox("The output field has values in it. Proceed?", vbYesNo) = vbNo Then Exit Sub
End If
rst.Close ' Recordset must release the table data before we can alter the table!
If bFieldExists = False Then
AddFieldToTable strTable, strOutputField, dbCurrency
End If
Set db = Nothing

Answer 3

I just did the following in a module and it works fine
Sub AddTableFields()
Dim db As DAO.Database
Dim t As DAO.TableDef
Dim f As DAO.Field
Set db = CurrentDb
Set t = db.TableDefs("tl_LongTermStat")
Dim intY As Integer
Dim intQ As Integer
For intY = 2012 To 2018
For intQ = 1 To 4
Set f = t.CreateField("Y" & intY & "Q" & intQ, dbText, 10)
t.Fields.Append f
Next
Next
Debug.Print "AddTableFields() done"
End Sub