Create a new personal geodatabase using VBA

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.