If I can open a connection to an MS Access file in C#, how can I retrieve a list of the different tables that exist in the Access DB (and if possible, any meta-data associated with the tables)?
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What metadata are you in need of knowing about?– David-W-FentonCommented Nov 9, 2009 at 21:08
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At the very least, the description of the table (if one is saved)– Yaakov EllisCommented Nov 10, 2009 at 4:25
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possible duplicate of How can I get a list of tables in an Access (Jet) database?– FionnualaCommented Feb 9, 2012 at 10:55
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2 Answers
I just found the following solution from David Hayden
// Microsoft Access provider factory
DbProviderFactory factory = DbProviderFactories.GetFactory("System.Data.OleDb");
DataTable userTables = null;
using (DbConnection connection = factory.CreateConnection()) {
// c:\test\test.mdb
connection.ConnectionString = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=c:\\test\\test.mdb";
// We only want user tables, not system tables
string[] restrictions = new string[4];
restrictions[3] = "Table";
connection.Open();
// Get list of user tables
userTables = connection.GetSchema("Tables", restrictions);
}
List<string> tableNames = new List<string>();
for (int i=0; i < userTables.Rows.Count; i++)
tableNames.Add(userTables.Rows[i][2].ToString());
Here's are some links:
- Displaying Tables of An Access Database Through C#
- Walkthrough: Editing an Access Database with ADO.NET
Here's a VB.NET snipit to get all the columns of a Access Table, I know it's not exactly what you're looking for, but a similar primciple apples when listing all the tables:
Dim oleConn As OleDbConnection = New OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; Data Source=" & myDB & ";User Id=admin;Password=;")
oleConn.Open()
Dim schemaTable As DataTable
Dim i As Integer
schemaTable = oleConn.GetOleDbSchemaTable(OleDbSchemaGuid.Column s, _
New Object() {Nothing, Nothing, "tblTheTableToListColumns", Nothing})
For i = 0 To schemaTable.Columns.Count - 1
Debug.Print(schemaTable.Rows(i)!COLUMN_NAME.ToStri ng)
Next i
oleConn.Close()