"Syntax Error in FROM Clause" When Getting External Data

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:

Microsoft Query

Access 97

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".

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".

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

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.