Import Specifications (2003 sp2)

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Is there a way to import a single text file Import Specification from another database?

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You can import *all* import/export specifications from another database by selecting File | Get External Data | Import…
In the dialog that appears, click Options…
Tick the check box “Import/export specifications” then click OK.

Importing a single specification is possible, but it’s rather tricky since you have to manipulate two normally hidden system tables; I’d avoid that.

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You triggered an idea… I used a make table query based on MSysIMEXSpecs table with the specification I need as criteria and chose my destination database as the target. Safe and sound.

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Don’t forget MSysIMEXColumns then – it contains the column (field) settings for the import/export specifications listed in MSysIMEXSpecs. SpecID is the field linking them.

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Just so I do not lead anyone astray, using a make-table query did not work. The resulting table does not have system-table attributes and therefore is not recognized by the TransferText Method. So I exported the ‘definitions only’ of each table, MSysIMEXSpecs and MSysIMEXColumns, to the new database and then used append queries to append only the specification and columns I needed.

Thanks Hans for the heads up on the MSysIMEXColumns table.

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The system tables always exist, even if you don’t have any import/export specifications, and I think they are protected against accidental deletion or overwriting. That’s why a make-table query fails to produce the genuine article. But append and delete queries on the existing tables work, as you have found.

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