Microsoft® Office Access 2003 Inside Out

Importing vs. Linking Database Files

You have the choice of importing or linking data from other databases, but how do you decide which type of access is best? Here are some guidelines.

You should consider importing another database file when any of the following is true:

• The file you need is relatively small and is not changed frequently by users of the other database application.

• You don’t need to share the data you create with users of the other database application.

• You’re replacing the old database application, and you no longer need the data in the old format.

• You need to load data (such as customers or products as I mentioned earlier) from another source to begin populating your Access tables.

• You need the best performance while working with ...