HOW TO

Create a new personal geodatabase using VBA

Last Published: April 25, 2020

Summary

Note: 
The information in this article applies to ArcGIS versions 9.x only. Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for ArcMap and ArcCatalog has been deprecated at ArcGIS 10.

Instructions provided explain how to create a new personal geodatabase programmatically using VBA code.

Procedure

Follow the steps below:

  1. Start ArcCatalog.
  2. Create a new UIButtonControl
    1. Select Tools > Customize to open the Customize dialog box.
    2. Select the Commands tab.
    3. Select [UIControls] from the Categories list box.
    4. Select Untitled from the Save In drop-down list to save the button to this map document. Select Normal to save the button to all ArcMap documents on the machine.
    5. Click New UIControl.
    6. Select UIButtonControl and click Create.
    7. Drag the new UIButtonControl to the toolbar of choice.
    8. Close the Customize dialog box.
    Note:
    If there is an existing UIButtonControl or a desire to change the name of the UIButtonControl, the change to the UIButtonControl code portion below needs to be made accordingly before the button can be used.
  3. Open Visual Basic Editor. In ArcCatalog, select Tools > Macros > Visual Basic Editor.
  4. In the Project Explorer window, expand the Normal (Normal.gxt) item and select ArcCatalog Objects > This Document. Right-click and select View Code.
  5. Paste the following code into the code module.
    Private Sub UIButtonControl1_Click()
        CreateGeodb
    End Sub
    
    Private Sub CreateGeodb()
        Dim pGxApp As IGxApplication
        Set pGxApp = Application
        Dim pSelObj As IGxObject
        Set pSelObj = pGxApp.SelectedObject
        Debug.Print pSelObj.Category
        If pSelObj.Category = "Folder" Or pSelObj.Category = "Folder Connection" Then
            Dim location As String
            location = pSelObj.FullName
            Dim name As String
            name = "mydb"
            Dim mypath As String
            mypath = location & "\" & name & ".mdb"
            Dim bWorkspExist As Boolean
            bWorkspExist = PgdbExists(mypath)
            If bWorkspExist = False Then
                Call createAccessWorkspace(location, name)
                Call AddGeodb(mypath)
                pGxApp.Refresh location
                MsgBox mypath & " has been created.", vbInformation
            Else
                MsgBox "The " & name & " PGDB already exists in the current location.", vbExclamation
                Exit Sub
            End If
        Else
            MsgBox "A Personal Geodatabase cannot be created at this location." & vbNewLine & "Please select a folder location.", vbExclamation
            Exit Sub
        End If
    End Sub
    
    Private Function PgdbExists(mypath As String) As Boolean
        Dim pGPValue As IGPValue
        Set pGPValue = New DEWorkspace
        pGPValue.SetAsText mypath
        Dim pDEUtil As IDEUtilities
        Set pDEUtil = New DEUtilities
        PgdbExists = pDEUtil.Exists(pGPValue)
    End Function
    ''
    '' createAccessWorkspace
    '' NOTE:
    ''   Location does not have to contain ending '\'
    ''   Name should not contain .mdb extension
    Public Function createAccessWorkspace(location As String, name As String) _
               As IWorkspaceName
    
        On Error GoTo EH
        Set createAccessWorkspace = Nothing
        
        ' create the Access Workspace factory
        Dim pWorkspaceFactory As IWorkspaceFactory
        Set pWorkspaceFactory = New AccessWorkspaceFactory
        
        Dim pWorkspaceName As IWorkspaceName
        Set pWorkspaceName = pWorkspaceFactory.Create(location, name, Nothing, 0)
        
        Set createAccessWorkspace = pWorkspaceName
        Exit Function
       
    EH:
        MsgBox Err.Number, vbInformation, "createAccessWorkspace"
    End Function
    
    Sub AddGeodb(mypath As String)
        Dim pwf As IWorkspaceFactory
        Set pwf = New AccessWorkspaceFactory
        Dim pfws As IFeatureWorkspace
        Set pfws = pwf.OpenFromFile(mypath, 0)
    End Sub
    
  6. Click the New button to create a new personal geodatabase.

Article ID:000008645

Software:
  • ArcMap 9 x

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