When you use Microsoft Query or Access 97 to return external data to a worksheet in Microsoft Excel or when you view returned data in Microsoft Query, you may receive the following error message:

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Microsoft Query

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Access 97

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This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:

•	You attempt to retrieve data from a Microsoft Access database. -and-
•	The path to the database or the database name itself contains a period (.), for example: C:\My.Test\Northwind.mdb -or-
•	You attempt to retrieve data from a Microsoft Excel workbook. -and-
•	The table range in the workbook is called "Database".

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To work around this problem, change the path to the database so that it does not contain any periods, for example: NOTE: You may use a period before the file name extension (.mdb in this case).

Or, rename the table range in the workbook to a name other than "Database".

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Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

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When the file name path contains a period, the path is qualified incorrectly by Microsoft Query. As a result, the Structured Query Language (SQL) statement for the data you are retrieving is incorrect, and you receive the error message in the "Symptoms" section.

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