Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

I recently assumed management of an organizational database. The previous keeper used Microsoft Office. The file he gave me was saved in .mdb format. I try to open it with OpenOffice Base 3.4. It only views the file in "all files" format and refuses to open it without trying to route it through Office Writer.

Doesn't base recognize the .mdb file format?

You can connect to mbd files from a Base file. There is a tutorial: MS Access and OOo Base

Note for W7 64-bit: When you like to access your ms access via ODBC, you have to configure ODBC via C:\Windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe. (Using Start -> Computer Control -> Administrative Tools -> Data Sources (ODBC) opens the 64bit where as OO / LO is 32-bit)