Access 2007 Template (.accdt) Files

Published 06 August 07 06:25 PM

The new template work we did in 2007 is awesome, but I know it is not obvious how you can customize the template experience. There was at least one question in the newsgroups about this already, so I thought I would offer this up here as well.

Template files in Access 2007 are a totally new file format based on the Open Packaging Convention which is also used by Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for the .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx extensions, respectively. Access's old template files used to be .mdb files renamed with the .mdt extension, but now they are a completely new format consisting of a hierarchy of zipped up XML and text files. This is great because it means they're open and transparent, and easier to work with programmatically from outside Access. However, it also means that creating a template out of an existing database file is a non- trivial task.

The easiest way to be able to create and share these template files yourself is by using the 2007 Access Developer Extensions (ADE) created by the Access team.  The ADE adds a button to the Office menu which enables you to save databases as .accdt files, and it has the right price... FREE.

Once you've made an .accdt out of your .accdb, you can just double click on the file to create a new db based on the template. .Accdt files are natively compressed using zip, and great for distributing via the web or in email. You can also get the template to show up in your default getting started experience (the list of templates that shows when you first start Access) by copying it into your local user's template folder:
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Templates

by Zac Woodall
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Comments

# Tony D'Ambra said on August 6, 2007 7:22 PM:

Tks for a timely post.

It should also be noted that by renaming an .AADT to a .ZIP,  you can unzip the template documents into a folder hierarchy, and you can then review/edit the XML component documents individually.

# Zac Woodall said on August 7, 2007 12:22 PM:

Good point Tony, as with the other Open Packaging Convention formats (.docx, .pptx, .xlsx, .xps, etc...) if you rename <databasename>.accdt to <databasename>.zip, you can double click it to open and see the contents of the package.  

# Francis said on August 7, 2007 4:19 PM:

Is there any way to customize the template that is used for Data Collection e-mail messages?

The e-mail surveys I send require questions and responses that exceed the 64-character field and 255-character text limit. Others call for yes/no and scale responses, for which check boxes and radio buttons/drop-down list boxes would be more appropriate.

Also, I would like to replace the text "Note: Type only... any other way." with a custom instructions and delete captions under the text boxes (e.g. "Type a numeric value.") Is this possible?

# Access Team Blog said on January 7, 2008 5:43 PM:

Community submitted templates are now live on Office Online!!&#160; &quot;Er?&quot;&#160; You say, &quot;what

# Noticias externas said on January 7, 2008 6:07 PM:

Community submitted templates are now live on Office Online!!&#160; &quot;Er?&quot;&#160; You say, &quot;what

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About Zac Woodall

Zac is a Program Manager at Microsoft on the team designing Access’s next generation platform infrastructure. He advocates easy to use designs, organizes community efforts, and is the author of The Rational Guide to Microsoft® Office Access 2007 Templates. Zac has been working at Microsoft Corporation since 1999. Before that time, he attended the University of Idaho, from which he holds a B.S. in Computer Science.
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