Error message when you try to open a linked SharePoint table in Access 2007: "The Microsoft Office Access database engine could not find the object"

When you try to open a linked Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services table in Microsoft Office Access 2007, you may receive an error message that resembles the following error message:However, the linked SharePoint table opens successfully.

This error message occurs after you update the linked SharePoint table programmatically more than one time in a row by using the Data Access Objects (DAO) RefreshLink method.

This problem occurs because the RefreshLink method ignores the table relationships that are created during the previous call to the method.

To work around this problem, programmatically delete the table relationships before you use the RefreshLink method to update the linked table.

Sample subroutine to delete the relationships

To use a subroutine to delete the relationships for the refreshed link, follow these steps:

1. Insert the following code into a module in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA):

   Public Sub RemoveInvalidRelationships(strTableName As String)
       On Error Resume Next
       Dim cnt As Integer
       Dim i As Integer
       Dim bForeignTable As Boolean
       Dim bTable As Boolean
       Dim td As TableDef
       
       cnt = CurrentDb.Relations.Count - 1
       ' Go through the relationships collection backwards, to ensure that if we delete one, we will have a valid index
       For i = cnt To 0 Step -1
           bTable = False
           bForeignTable = False
           If (StrComp(CurrentDb.Relations(i).Table, strTableName, vbTextCompare) = 0) Then bTable = True
           If (StrComp(CurrentDb.Relations(i).ForeignTable, strTableName, vbTextCompare) = 0) Then bForeignTable = True
           
           If bTable Xor bForeignTable Then
               ' Determine if either the table or foreign table is the table that we are interested in
               ' We will then look at the other table to determine if it exists
               ' If it doesn't exist, delete the relationship
               If bTable Then
                   Set td = CurrentDb.TableDefs(CurrentDb.Relations(i).ForeignTable)
               Else
                   Set td = CurrentDb.TableDefs(CurrentDb.Relations(i).Table)
               End If
               
               If Err.Number = 3265 Then
                   CurrentDb.Relations.Delete CurrentDb.Relations(i).Name
               End If
               Err.Clear
           End If
           
       Next i
   End Sub
   

2. In the source code where the RefreshLink method is called, insert the following code immediately before the RefreshLink source code line:

   RemoveInvalidRelationships "WSSLink"

   Note "WSSLink" is the name of the linked table that is being refreshed by the RefreshLink method.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.