"#Deleted" errors with linked ODBC tables

This article was previously published under Q128809
When you retrieve, insert, or update records in a linked ODBC table, each field in a record contains the "#Deleted" error message. When you retrieve, insert, or update records using code, you receive the error message "Record is deleted."
The Microsoft Jet database engine is designed around a keyset-driven model. This means that data is retrieved, inserted, and updated based on key values (in the case of a linked ODBC table, the unique index of a table).

After Microsoft Access performs an insert or an update of a linked ODBC table, it uses a Where criteria to select the record again to verify the insert or update. The Where criteria is based on the unique index. Although numerous factors can cause the select not to return any records, most often the cause is that the key value Microsoft Access has cached is not the same as the actual key value on the ODBC table. Other possible causes are as follows:
  • Having an update or insert trigger on the table, modifying the key value.
  • Basing the unique index on a float value.
  • Using a fixed-length text field that may be padded on the server with the correct amount of spaces.
  • Having a linked ODBC table containing Null values in any of the fields making up the unique index.
These factors do not directly cause the "#Deleted" error message. Instead, they cause Microsoft Access to go to the next step in maintaining the key values, which is to select the record again, this time with the criteria based on all the other fields in the record. If this step returns more than one record, Microsoft Access returns the "#Deleted" message because it does not have a reliable key value to work with. If you close and re-open the table or choose Show All Records from the Records menu, the "#Deleted" errors are removed.

Microsoft Access uses a similar process to retrieve records from an linked ODBC table. First, it retrieves the key values and then the rest of the fields that match the key values. If Microsoft Access is not able to find that value again when it tries to find the rest of the record, it assumes that the record is deleted.
The following are some strategies that you can use to avoid this behavior:
  • Avoid entering records that are exactly the same except for the unique index.
  • Avoid an update that triggers updates of both the unique index and another field.
  • Do not use a Float field as a unique index or as part of a unique index because of the inherent rounding problems of this data type.
  • Do all the updates and inserts by using SQL pass-through queries so that you know exactly what is sent to the ODBC data source.
  • Retrieve records with an SQL pass-through query. An SQL pass-through query is not updateable, and therefore does not cause "#Delete" errors.
  • Avoid storing Null values within any field making up the unique index of your linked ODBC table.
Note: In Microsoft Access 2.0, linked tables were called attached tables.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb (or NWIND.MDB. in Microsoft Access 2.0)
  2. Use the Upsizing Tools to upsize the Shippers table.

    NOTE: This table contains an AutoNumber field (or Counter field in Microsoft Access 2.0) that is translated on SQL Server by the Upsizing Tools into a trigger that emulates a counter.
  3. Open the linked Shippers table and enter a new record. Make sure that the record you enter has the same data in the Company Name field as the previous record.
  4. Press TAB to move to a new record. Note that the "#Deleted" error fills the record you entered.
  5. Close and re-open the table. Note that the record is correct.
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Article ID: 128809 - Last Review: 12/04/2015 11:14:27 - Revision: 4.1

Microsoft Access 2.0 Standard Edition, Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition, Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

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