IN clause (Microsoft Access SQL)

Article
01/22/2022

Applies to: Access 2013 | Access 2016

Identifies tables in any external database to which the Microsoft Access database engine can connect, such as a dBASE or Paradox database or an external Microsoft Access database engine database.

Syntax

To identify a destination table

[SELECT | INSERT] INTO destination IN { path | [" path " " type "] | ["" [ type; DATABASE = path ]]}

To identify a source table

FROM tableexpression IN { path | [" path " " type "] | ["" [ type; DATABASE = path ]]}

A SELECT statement containing an IN clause has these parts:

Part	Description
destination	The name of the external table into which data is inserted.
tableexpression	The name of the table or tables from which data is retrieved. This argument can be a single table name, a saved query, or a compound resulting from an INNER JOIN, LEFT JOIN, or RIGHT JOIN.
path	The full path for the directory or file containing table.
type	The name of the database type used to create table if a database is not a Microsoft Access database engine database (for example, dBASE III, dBASE IV, Paradox 3.x, or Paradox 4.x).

Remarks

Use IN to connect to only one external database at a time.

In some cases, the path argument refers to the directory containing the database files. For example, when working with dBASE, Microsoft FoxPro, or Paradox database tables, the path argument specifies the directory containing .dbf or .db files. The table file name is derived from the destination or tableexpression argument.

To specify a non-Microsoft Access database engine database, append a semicolon (;) to the name, and enclose it in single (' ') or double (" ") quotation marks. For example, either 'dBASE IV;' or "dBASE IV;" is acceptable.

You can also use the DATABASE reserved word to specify the external database. For example, the following lines specify the same table:

…FROM Table IN "" [dBASE IV; DATABASE=C:\DBASE\DATA\SALES;]; 

…FROM Table IN "C:\DBASE\DATA\SALES" "dBASE IV;"

Example

The following example shows how you can use the IN clause to retrieve data from an external database. In each example, assume the hypothetical Customers table is stored in an external database.

Microsoft Access database engine database

SELECT CustomerID
FROM Customers
IN OtherDB.mdb
WHERE CustomerID Like "A*";

dBASE III or IV

To retrieve data from a dBASE III table, substitute "dBASE III;" for "dBASE IV;".

SELECT CustomerID
FROM Customer
IN "C:\DBASE\DATA\SALES" "dBASE IV;"
WHERE CustomerID Like "A*";

dBASE III or IV using database syntax

SELECT CustomerID
FROM Customer
IN "" [dBASE IV; Database=C:\DBASE\DATA\SALES;] 
WHERE CustomerID Like "A*";

Paradox 3.x or 4.x

To retrieve data from a Paradox version 3.x table, substitute "Paradox 3.x;" for "Paradox 4.x;".

SELECT CustomerID
FROM Customer
IN "C:\PARADOX\DATA\SALES" "Paradox 4.x;"
WHERE CustomerID Like "A*";

Paradox 3.x or 4.x using Database syntax

SELECT CustomerID
FROM Customer
IN "" [Paradox 4.x;Database=C:\PARADOX\DATA\SALES;] 
WHERE CustomerID Like "A*";

A Microsoft Excel worksheet

SELECT CustomerID, CompanyName
FROM [Customers$] 
IN "c:\documents\xldata.xls" "EXCEL 5.0;"
WHERE CustomerID Like "A*"
ORDER BY CustomerID;

A named range in a worksheet

SELECT CustomerID, CompanyName
FROM CustomersRange
IN "c:\documents\xldata.xls" "EXCEL 5.0;"
WHERE CustomerID Like "A*"
ORDER BY CustomerID;