Error Message after exporting an MS Access Table

Exporting MS Access database components in MS Word Merge format or MS Excel format is the common practice followed by database users. While exporting the database objects provides various benefits, it can also become a cause of Access database corruption. In many cases, the Access database becomes inaccessible and demountable. To regain the affected database data, you should restore the Access database from an updated backup. However, if you have not created any such backup or the backup fails to restore data, then you need to use advanced access database recovery tools.

Consider a practical example, where you receive the below error message when you export a table (Employee) from a Microsoft Access database (in .mdb format) to the Microsoft Word Merge format:

“The data being exported does not match the format described in the Schema.ini file.”

Furthermore, you receive another error message if you use VBA (Visual Basic for Application) code:

Run-time error ‘3438’

Cause:

The main cause behind the above error message is that when you export the Employee table for the first time, the field names of the table for the Microsoft Word Merge format get saved in the Schema.ini file. A schema.ini (schema information) file provides information about the general format of the file, column name and data types. So, if you again export the employee table, it does not match with previously exported fields. Another major reason behind mismatching fields can be Access database corruption. In both the cases, if you try to import the Employee table, you will receive the above error messages.

Resolution:

To resolve the errors, Microsoft suggests opening the schema.ini file by using Notepad and then modifying all the field names that are causing the problem. However, in case of database corruption, you need to repair the MS Access database and then apply the above resolution. To completely repair the MS Access database, you should use advanced access repair utilities. Such Access Recovery tools incorporate effective scanning algorithms to perform thorough repair and restoration of all affected Access database components. These applications can be easily understood without prior technical knowledge as they come with largely graphical interface and user-friendly documentation.