In this article I will explain how you can read data from an Access table using VBA.

This article uses the ADODB.Recordset object. In order to use this object you may need to add reference to ADODB object library. For more information on this topic please see the link below:

• VBA Access Recordset, Object Library

How To?

Assume we have a table with the name “MyTable1” with the following fields:

As you can see the table has 4 fields:

• MyField1
• MyField2
• MyField3
• MyField4

The following code will initiate an ADODB.Recordset object for the table:

Dim objRecordset As ADODB.Recordset
Set objRecordset = New ADODB.Recordset
objRecordset.ActiveConnection = CurrentProject.Connection
objRecordset.Open ("MyTable1")


Note: The code above will initiate a recordset object that will pointing at the first record of the access table.

Note: Rather than opening the entire table, we could have used a query to filter the data and return only the values we need. For example we could have replace the last line of the code above with the code below to only return values from the table whose first field has a value greater than 15:

objRecordset.Open ("Select MyField1, MyField2, " & _
"MyField3, MyField4 " & _
"From MyTable1 " & _
"Where MyField1 > 15 ")


For more information about this topic please see the link below:

• Simple Recordset Query Search , Access VBA

Note: The first record of the table is not necessarily the first row of the table. The figure below is displaying the first row of the table:

By using the code below we can move the recordset pointer to the next record:

objRecordset.MoveNext


Example: The code below will loop through all the records in the recrodset:

While objRecordset.EOF = False
    objRecordset.MoveNext
Wend


The value of the current record the recordset object is pointing at can be read through the Fields collection. The code below will return the value in the first field of the current record the Recordset object is pointing at:

objRecordset.Fields.Item(0).Value


Note: The Fields collection of the Recordset object is a zero based collection. Therefore the first field is reference by the index “0” and the 4th field is referenced by the index “3”.

Note: The Recordset object can be moved to the previous record using the code below:

objRecordset.MovePrevious


Note: The Recordset object can be moved to the last record using the code below:

objRecordset.MoveLast


Note: The Recordset object can be moved to the first record using the code below:

objRecordset.MoveFirst


Example 1:

In this example we are going to the:

• Step 1: Search the table for the record whose first field has the value “14”.
• Step 2: Display the value in the 3rd field (“MyField3”) of that record in a message box.

Note: “MyField3” is the 3rd field therefore is reference through the index “2”:

Sub Example1()
Dim objRecordset As ADODB.Recordset
Set objRecordset = New ADODB.Recordset
Dim i As Integer
Dim value As Variant

'initated recordset obejct
objRecordset.ActiveConnection = CurrentProject.Connection
objRecordset.Open ("MyTable1")
'find the target record
While objRecordset.EOF = False
    'check for match
    If objRecordset.Fields.Item(0).value = 14 Then
        'get value
        MsgBox (objRecordset.Fields(2).value)
        'exit loop
        objRecordset.MoveLast
    End If
    objRecordset.MoveNext
Wend
End Sub


Result:
Note: Although in this example the 14th record was the same as the 14th row of the table but this is not always true. For more information please see the link below:

• Access VBA First Record in Table

Example 2:

In this example all the values in the second field (“MyField2”) will be stored in an array:

Sub Example2()
Dim objRecordset As ADODB.Recordset
Set objRecordset = New ADODB.Recordset
Dim i As Integer
Dim arrValues(1 To 100) As Variant

'initated recordset obejct
objRecordset.ActiveConnection = CurrentProject.Connection
objRecordset.Open ("MyTable1")
i = 1
'keep going until the end of the recordset is reached
While objRecordset.EOF = False
    arrValues(i) = objRecordset.Fields.Item(1)
    i = i + 1
    objRecordset.MoveNext
Wend
End Sub


Result:

Example 3:

In this example we will loop through the values of all records whose first field has value between 5 and 10. Although we could have used the method explained in the previous examples, but a faster method would be using a Select Query:

Sub Example3()
Dim objRecordset As ADODB.Recordset
Set objRecordset = New ADODB.Recordset
Dim varField1 As Variant
Dim varField2 As Variant
Dim varField3 As Variant
Dim varField4 As Variant

'initated recordset obejct
objRecordset.ActiveConnection = CurrentProject.Connection
objRecordset.Open ("Select MyField1, MyField2, " & _
"MyField3, MyField4 " & _
"From MyTable1 " & _
"Where MyField1 > 5 and MyField1 < 10 ")
'find the target record
While objRecordset.EOF = False
    varField1 = objRecordset.Fields(0).value
    varField2 = objRecordset.Fields(1).value
    varField3 = objRecordset.Fields(2).value
    varField4 = objRecordset.Fields(3).value
    objRecordset.MoveNext
Wend
End Sub 

You can download the file and code used in this article from the link below:

• Read Data From Table.Zip

See also:

• Modify Existing Data in Table, Access VBA Recordsets
• Microsoft MSDN: Recordset Object (ADO)
• Append Data to Table, Access VBA
• Recordset.AddNew Method VBA Access
• Delete Record, Access VBA Recordset

If you need assistance with your code, or you are looking for a VBA programmer to hire feel free to contact me. Also please visit my website  www.software-solutions-online.com