how to deal with .mdb access files with python

Question

Hello all,

Can someone point me in the right direction on how to open a .mdb file in python? I normally like including some code to start off a discussion, but I don't know where to start. I work with mysql a fair bit with python. I was wondering if there is a way to work with .mdb files in a similar way?

Answer 1

This looks similar to a previous question:

• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/853370/what-do-i-need-to-read-microsoft-access-databases-using-python
• http://code.activestate.com/recipes/528868-extraction-and-manipulation-class-for-microsoft-ac/

Answer there should be useful.

Answer 2

Below is some code I wrote for another SO question.
It requires the 3rd-party pyodbc module.

This very simple example will connect to a table and export the results to a file.
Feel free to expand upon your question with any more specific needs you might have.

import csv
import pyodbc

MDB = 'c:/path/to/my.mdb'
DRV = '{Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)}'
PWD = 'mypassword'

conn = pyodbc.connect('DRIVER=%s;DBQ=%s;PWD=%s' % (DRV,MDB,PWD))
curs = conn.cursor()

SQL = 'SELECT * FROM mytable;' # insert your query here
curs.execute(SQL)

rows = curs.fetchall()

curs.close()
conn.close()

# you could change the 'w' to 'a' for subsequent queries
csv_writer = csv.writer(open('mytable.csv', 'w'), lineterminator='\n')

for row in rows:
    csv_writer.writerow(row)