The Paradox ISAM driver that is included with Microsoft Access can cause incorrect data to be linked to a Microsoft Access database, or to be imported into a Microsoft Access database.

This problem occurs when two or more Paradox files are in the same folder, and the folder contains files with similar names, in both the 8.3 short file name format and the long file name format.

When you try to import or link to a Paradox file that has a long file name, and the first eight characters of the long file name match an 8.3 short file name in the same folder, Access imports the file that has the 8.3 short file name instead.

To resolve this problem, rename the file that has the long file name so that it conforms to the 8.3 file name format. That is, the file name must be no longer than eight characters, and it must have an extension after the period.

This behavior is by design.

The Paradox ISAM driver that is included with Microsoft Access does not usually recognize a Paradox file that has a long file name. When you try to link to or import a Paradox file that has a long file name into Microsoft Access, you receive an error message and the process quits.

When you export a Microsoft Access table as a Paradox file, and the table name is over eight characters long, Access gives the Paradox file a file name that consists of the first eight characters of that table name, and a .db extension.

The Paradox ISAM driver is designed to work strictly with an 8.3 file name format. However, a Paradox file can have a long file name under an operating system that supports long file names. In this situation, two Paradox files can be in the same folder: the first with an 8.3 file name format, and the second with a long file name format. If the first eight characters of the second Paradox file name exactly match those of the first Paradox file name, you can select the long file name to import without receiving any error. However, when the importing or linking process is complete, the first Paradox file has been imported into the Microsoft Access database, and the new Microsoft Access table has the name of the second Paradox file (the long file name).

Steps to Reproduce the Behavior

CAUTION: If you follow the steps in this example, you modify the sample database Northwind.mdb. You may want to back up the Northwind.mdb file and follow these steps on a copy of the database.

1. Start Microsoft Access, and then open the sample database, Northwind.mdb.
2. Select the Customers table.
3. On the File menu, click Export. Make a note of the folder that is listed in the Save in box. In the Save as type list, click Paradox 3 (*.db), Paradox 4 (*.db), or Paradox 5 (*.db), and then click Save.
   
   Access saves the file to the folder that is in the Save in box. The Customers table has now been exported to a Paradox file named Customer.db.
4. Repeat step 3 and follow the same steps to export the Orders table. The Orders table has now been exported to a Paradox file named Orders.db.
5. Open Windows Explorer and rename Orders.db to Customer1.db. Close Windows Explorer.
6. Switch to Access. On the File menu, point to Get External Data, and then click Link Tables.
7. In the Files of type list, click Paradox (*.db).
8. In the Look in list, select the folder in which you saved the Customer1.db file. Click to select Customer1.db, and then click Link.
9. When you see a message box that says "Successfully Linked 'Customer1'," notice the use of the long file name, and then click OK.
10. Open the Customer1 table. Note that its data is from the Customer.db Paradox file, and not from the Orders.db Paradox file; however, the linked table name appears as 'Customer1', the long file name.