Programmatically rename tables in Access queries

Question

I have an access 2003 database file with hundreds of queries. I would like to rename all tables referenced from within my queries based on a condition

If tableNa         


        

Answer 1

I have a quick & dirty VBA sub which does what I think you want. (Can you translate it to one of your preferred languages?) You could try it with a copy of your database. (DO NOT try it with the only copy of a database you want to keep!)

To substitute "tblBar" for "tblFoo" in your queries, you can run it from the VBE Immediate Window (from Access, Ctrl+g will get you there) like this:

call swapTblNamesInQueryDefs("tblFoo", "tblBar")

To actually save the changed query definitions, call it like so:

call swapTblNamesInQueryDefs("tblFoo", "tblBar", "savechanges")

The code:

Public Sub swapTblNamesInQueryDefs(ByVal pstrFind As String, _
ByVal pstrReplace As String, _
Optional ByVal pstrMode As String = "DisplayOnly")

Dim qd As QueryDef
Dim re As Object
Dim strSql As String

Set re = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
re.Global = True
re.IgnoreCase = True

re.Pattern = "\b" & pstrFind & "\b"

For Each qd In CurrentDb.QueryDefs
    If Left$(qd.Name, 1) <> "~" Then
        Debug.Print qd.Name
        Debug.Print "Before: " & qd.SQL
        strSql = re.Replace(qd.SQL, pstrReplace)
        Debug.Print "After: " & strSql
        'only save the modified SQL statement if called
        'with SaveChanges parameter
        'If pstrMode = "SaveChanges" Then
        If StrComp(pstrMode, "SaveChanges", vbTextCompare) = 0 Then
            qd.SQL = strSql
        End If
        Debug.Print String(20, "-")
    End If
Next qd
Set re = Nothing
Set qd = Nothing
End Sub

Edit: Changed evaluation of pstrMode to guarantee case insensitive comparison (in case module includes "Option Compare Binary").