jetdb CLI

Read-only CLI for Microsoft Access (.mdb / .accdb) databases, version 0.4. Single Rust binary, no runtime dependencies.

cargo install jetdb-cli

Operating Rules

jetdb [--password <PASS>] <COMMAND> [OPTIONS] <FILE> [ARGS]

• --password is a global option — it may appear before or after the subcommand.
• Object names (table, query, VBA module, form, report, macro, prop target) are matched exactly, case included. Always quote them — Access names often contain spaces and multibyte characters. Take names from the matching list command (or tables); never guess one.
• Objects of different types can share a name (a table, a form and a macro all named Customers; a form and a report both named Shared). prop, form dump|controls|props and macro embedded then fail and list the types; repeat with -t/--type.
• Stdout carries the result. Errors go to stderr as jetdb: <message>, warnings as jetdb: warning: <message>.
• Exit codes: success → 0; runtime error → 1; invalid arguments → 2 (stderr starts with error:). jetdb with no subcommand prints its usage to stderr and exits 2.
• List commands print one name per line, sorted. No data (no queries, no VBA, no macros) → exit 0 with empty stdout, not an error.
• export, vba show, macro and form props can be large. Redirect large output to a file (> out.csv) and inspect the file. Piping into head -n N for a peek is safe (jetdb ends quietly when the pipe closes).
• form dump writes raw binary. Always redirect it to a file; never let the bytes reach the conversation.
• Check stderr for jetdb: warning: lines even when the exit code is 0. In particular export warns jetdb: warning: <TABLE>: N row(s) skipped due to parse errors — the CSV is then incomplete.
• Text: Jet3 (Access 97) text is read in the code page of the database (such as 1252, or 932 for Japanese), Jet4 and ACE text as UTF-16LE; all output is UTF-8.

Commands

ver — Engine version

jetdb ver <FILE>              # JET3 | JET4 | ACE12 | ACE14 | ACE15 | ACE16 | ACE17
jetdb ver -l <FILE>           # Long form

$ jetdb ver nwind.mdb
JET3
$ jetdb ver -l nwind.mdb
Jet3 (Access 97)

tables — List tables

jetdb tables <FILE>           # User tables, one per line, sorted
jetdb tables -s <FILE>        # Also tables with the SYSTEM or HIDDEN flag (MSys*, f_..._Data, ...)
jetdb tables -T <FILE>        # Prefix the type name (table / systable), tab-separated
jetdb tables -t <FILE>        # Prefix the type number (1 for every table), tab-separated

-t and -T are mutually exclusive. Only -T tells user tables from system tables.

$ jetdb tables jetdb-sample.accdb
tblCustomers
tblOrders
tblProducts

schema — Table structure and DDL

jetdb schema <FILE>                      # All user tables, human-readable
jetdb schema <FILE> -T <TABLE>           # One table
jetdb schema <FILE> --ddl postgres       # sqlite | postgres | mysql | access
jetdb schema <FILE> --no-indexes --no-relations

• The human form prints Columns:, Indexes: and Relationships: per table. Columns are in Design View order; Text sizes are in characters. NOT NULL marks a required column, AUTO an AutoNumber, CALC a calculated column (shown with the type of its result).
• The DDL form emits CREATE TABLE, CREATE INDEX and ALTER TABLE ... ADD CONSTRAINT ... FOREIGN KEY. A relationship without referential integrity is written as a -- comment, not a foreign key (left out in Access DDL). GUID AutoNumber columns get a GUID default where the dialect has one.
• --no-indexes / --no-relations apply to both forms.
• Unknown -T table → exit 1, jetdb: table not found: <NAME>.

$ jetdb schema jetdb-sample.accdb -T tblOrders
Table: tblOrders

  Columns:
    OrderID     Long       AUTO
    CustomerID  Long       NOT NULL
    ProductID   Long       NOT NULL
    Quantity    Int        NOT NULL
    OrderDate   Timestamp  NOT NULL
    Shipped     Boolean

  Indexes:
    pkOrders  [OrderID ASC]  UNIQUE REQUIRED

  Relationships:
    fkOrdersCustomers  tblOrders.CustomerID -> tblCustomers.CustomerID
    fkOrdersProducts   tblOrders.ProductID -> tblProducts.ProductID

$ jetdb schema jetdb-sample.accdb --ddl postgres -T tblOrders
CREATE TABLE "tblOrders" (
    "OrderID" INTEGER NOT NULL GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY,
    "CustomerID" INTEGER NOT NULL,
    ...
    PRIMARY KEY ("OrderID")
);

ALTER TABLE "tblOrders" ADD CONSTRAINT "fkOrdersCustomers"
    FOREIGN KEY ("CustomerID") REFERENCES "tblCustomers" ("CustomerID");
...

export — CSV export

jetdb export <FILE> <TABLE>                         # RFC 4180 CSV to stdout
jetdb export <FILE> <TABLE> -H                      # No header row
jetdb export <FILE> <TABLE> -d $'\t'                # Delimiter: exactly one character (default ,)
jetdb export <FILE> <TABLE> -D "%d/%m/%Y"           # Format of dates without a time (default %Y-%m-%d)
jetdb export <FILE> <TABLE> -T "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S"  # Format of dates with a time (default "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
jetdb export <FILE> <TABLE> -b strip                # Binary: strip | raw | octal | hex (default hex)
jetdb export <FILE> <TABLE> -0 NULL                 # NULL text (default: empty)
jetdb export <FILE> <TABLE> -B                      # Booleans as TRUE/FALSE (default 1/0)
jetdb export <FILE> <TABLE> -s                      # Include hidden columns (HIDDEN flag)
jetdb export <FILE> <TABLE> --attachments <DIR>     # Write attachment files under DIR

• -d takes exactly one character. An empty or longer value fails with exit 1: jetdb: delimiter must be one character, got '\t'. In bash/zsh write a tab as -d $'\t'; "\t" is a backslash and t.
• By default the columns Access maintains and hides are left out; -s includes them. System tables are always exported with all their columns.
• Text, GUID and extended date/time values are always quoted. Other values are quoted only when they contain the delimiter, a quote or a line break.
• A Date/Time value with no time of day uses -D; others use -T (strftime subset).
• Binary modes: strip empty field; raw bytes as lossy UTF-8; octal \NNN per byte; hex lowercase hex.
• Complex columns (Access 2007+): multiple values → the values joined by ; in one quoted field; attachments → the file names joined by ;; append-only Long Text history → a number (an ID, not a count; the Long Text column itself holds the latest text). No values → empty field.
• --attachments <DIR> writes each file to <DIR>/<number>/<file name> (/ and \ in names become _) and puts those paths, relative to <DIR>, in the field.
• Rows are streamed, so large tables do not need to fit in memory. Redirect to a file, then check wc -l and stderr.

$ jetdb export jetdb-sample.accdb tblProducts
ProductID,ProductName,UnitPrice,Discontinued
1,"Coffee Beans 1kg",2400.0000,0
2,"Paper Filters (100)",380.0000,0
3,"Hand Grinder",6800.0000,1
...

$ jetdb export --attachments att complexDataTestV2010.accdb Table1
id,VersionHistory_F5F8918F-0A3F-4DA9-AE71-184EE5012880,memo-data,append-memo-data,multi-value-data,attach-data
"row1",1,,,,
"row2",2,"row2-memo","row2-memo","value1;value4","2/test_data.txt;2/test_data2.txt"
"row3",3,"row3-memo","row3-memo-again","value1;value2;value3;value4",
"row4",4,"row4-memo","row4-memo",,"4/test_data2.txt"

queries — Saved queries

jetdb queries list <FILE>                  # One name per line, sorted
jetdb queries list -d "|" <FILE>           # All names on one line, joined by the string
jetdb queries show <FILE> <QUERY_NAME>     # Reconstructed SQL

• On queries list, vba list, form list and macro list: -d takes any string; -1 is accepted for compatibility and does nothing; -1 and -d together are an argument error (exit 2).
• If rows of MSysQueries cannot be read, queries show fails rather than print SQL that may miss parts (jetdb: query <NAME> may be incomplete: rows of MSysQueries could not be read).

$ jetdb queries show jetdb-sample.accdb qryMonthlySales
SELECT Format(tblOrders.OrderDate, 'yyyy-mm') AS SalesMonth, tblCustomers.CustomerName, Sum(tblOrders.Quantity * tblProducts.UnitPrice) AS Total
FROM (tblOrders INNER JOIN tblCustomers ON tblOrders.CustomerID = tblCustomers.CustomerID) INNER JOIN tblProducts ON tblOrders.ProductID = tblProducts.ProductID
GROUP BY Format(tblOrders.OrderDate, 'yyyy-mm'), tblCustomers.CustomerName
ORDER BY Format(tblOrders.OrderDate, 'yyyy-mm'), tblCustomers.CustomerName;

vba — VBA modules

jetdb vba list <FILE>                      # One name per line, sorted
jetdb vba list -d "|" <FILE>               # One line, joined by the string
jetdb vba show <FILE> <MODULE_NAME>        # Full source (UTF-8)

$ jetdb vba list -d "|" jetdb-sample.accdb
Form_frmOrders|modBilling

prop — Object properties (LvProp)

jetdb prop <FILE> <OBJECT_NAME>
jetdb prop -t <TYPE> <FILE> <OBJECT_NAME>

• -t/--type: table, query, form, report, macro, module, linkedtable, linkedodbctable, relationship, container, database, dbproperty, userinfo.
• Output: Object: <NAME>, then the object's own properties headed with its type in words (Table Properties:, Query Properties:, Macro Properties:, Linked Table Properties:, ...; Object Properties: when the type is unknown), then Column: <NAME> blocks and Additional Properties: blocks in stored order.
• Text values are in double quotes with \\, \", \r, \n, \t and \u{..} escapes, so each property is one line. Binary values show as (N bytes), GUIDs as {...}, booleans as yes/no.
• A missing object → exit 1, jetdb: object not found: <NAME> (table not found: ... etc. with --type). An object that exists but has no properties → exit 0, empty stdout.

$ jetdb prop jetdb-sample.accdb tblOrders
Object: tblOrders

  Table Properties:
    Description  "One row per ordered product"
    GUID         {1F1C571D-1956-447B-915D-E6177370C4F1}

  Column: CustomerID
    Required  yes
    GUID      {3FBE1C68-7833-413A-9E86-97EBF43A71CB}
...

$ jetdb prop nwind.mdb Customers
jetdb: objects of several types are named Customers: form, macro, table; choose one with --type
$ jetdb prop -t table nwind.mdb Customers
Object: Customers

  Table Properties:
    Description                 "Customers' names, addresses, and phone numbers."
...

form — Forms and reports

Read for Access 2000 and later (Jet4 and ACE). The forms and reports of Access 97 (Jet3) are not read: form list prints nothing, and form dump|controls|props (and macro embedded) fail with jetdb: the forms and reports of Access 97 are not read (exit 1).

jetdb form list <FILE>                       # Forms and reports, one per line, sorted
jetdb form list --forms-only <FILE>          # Forms only (--reports-only: reports only)
jetdb form list -d "|" <FILE>                # One line, joined by the string
jetdb form controls <FILE> <NAME>            # Sections and controls: name<TAB>type<TAB>position
jetdb form props <FILE> <NAME>               # Properties of the form/report, its sections and controls
jetdb form dump <FILE> <NAME> > form.bin     # Raw Blob stream — ALWAYS redirect
jetdb form dump -s typeinfo <FILE> <NAME> > typeinfo.bin   # blob (default) | typeinfo | propdata | blobdelta

• --forms-only and --reports-only are mutually exclusive. A form and a report with the same name are both listed.
• controls, props and dump take -t form|report when a form and a report share the name.
• form controls lists each section followed by its controls, in the order form props shows them; the third column is the position in that list, from 0. Unknown control types show as their hex code.
• form props: properties are named as Application.SaveAsText names them (RecordSource, ControlSource, Filter, Caption, OnClick, ...); unknown IDs show as 0xXXXX, and for the Access 2000 format a later property without an ID of that format as the ID plus 0x8000 (such as 0x8037). Text is quoted and escaped as in prop; numbers, colors included, are signed as SaveAsText writes them; binary shows as (N bytes), GUIDs as {...}, booleans as yes/no, and a Yes/No property set to its non-default value without a value as NotDefault.
• Unknown name → exit 1, jetdb: form/report not found: <NAME>.

$ jetdb form controls jetdb-sample.accdb frmOrders
詳細	Detail	0
txtOrderID	TextBox	1
lblOrderID	Label	2
...
btnShowTotal	CommandButton	13

$ jetdb form props jetdb-sample.accdb frmOrders
Form: frmOrders

  Form Properties:
    DividingLines               NotDefault
    ...
    RecordSource                "tblOrders"
    Caption                     "Orders"
    ...

  Control: txtOrderID (TextBox)
    ...
    Name           "txtOrderID"
    ControlSource  "OrderID"
    ...

macro — Macros

jetdb macro list <FILE>                       # Named macros, one per line, sorted (-d / -1 as in queries list)
jetdb macro show <FILE> <MACRO_NAME>          # SaveAsText text (CRLF line endings)
jetdb macro show --xml <FILE> <MACRO_NAME>    # The macro's XML
jetdb macro embedded <FILE> <NAME>            # Embedded macros of a form/report: <event>EmMacro = Begin ... End blocks
jetdb macro embedded --xml <FILE> <NAME>      # One XML document per line (For = control, Event = event)
jetdb macro data <FILE> <TABLE>               # Data macros of a table as one DataMacros XML document
jetdb macro data --xml <FILE> <TABLE>         # Each data macro's XML as stored, one per line

• macro show also reads macros saved without XML, including Access 97 macros; --xml then prints nothing.
• macro embedded takes -t form|report when a form and a report share the name.
• No embedded macros / no data macros → exit 0, empty stdout.
• Unknown names → exit 1: jetdb: macro not found: <NAME>, jetdb: form/report not found: <NAME>, or jetdb: table not found: <NAME> (macro data).

$ jetdb macro show macroGeneratedTestV2010.accdb act_Beep
Version =196611
PublishOption =1
ColumnsShown =0
Begin
    Comment ="_AXL:<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-16' standalone='no'?><UserInterfaceMacro "
        "xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/accessservices/2009/11/application'><"
        "Statements><Action Name='Beep'/></Statements>"
End
Begin
    Comment ="_AXL:</UserInterfaceMacro>"
End

$ jetdb macro embedded --xml macroGeneratedTestV2010.accdb frmEmbedded
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-16' standalone='no'?><UserInterfaceMacro Event='OnLoad' xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/accessservices/2009/11/application'><Statements><Action Name='SetTempVar'><Argument Name='Name'>x</Argument><Argument Name='Expression'>2</Argument></Action></Statements></UserInterfaceMacro>
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-16' standalone='no'?><UserInterfaceMacro For='btnHello' Event='OnClick' xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/accessservices/2009/11/application'><Statements><Action Name='MessageBox'><Argument Name='Message'>button clicked</Argument></Action></Statements></UserInterfaceMacro>

Encrypted Databases

.mdb files (Jet3 / Jet4) open without a password. A password-protected .accdb needs --password:

jetdb --password "secret" tables protected.accdb
jetdb tables protected.accdb --password "secret"    # same; --password is global

Workflow Patterns

Survey an unknown database

jetdb ver -l data.mdb
jetdb tables data.mdb
jetdb schema data.mdb > schema.txt
jetdb queries list data.mdb
jetdb vba list data.mdb
jetdb form list data.mdb
jetdb macro list data.mdb

Export every table to its own file

jetdb tables data.accdb | while IFS= read -r t; do
  jetdb export data.accdb "$t" > "${t}.csv"
done

Then check stderr for jetdb: warning: and the row counts with wc -l. Add --attachments "att_${t}" for tables with attachment columns.

Generate target-RDBMS DDL

jetdb schema data.accdb --ddl postgres > schema.sql

Extract every VBA module

jetdb vba list data.mdb | while IFS= read -r m; do
  jetdb vba show data.mdb "$m" > "${m}.bas"
done

Snapshot every saved query

jetdb queries list data.mdb | while IFS= read -r q; do
  printf '=== %s ===\n' "$q"
  jetdb queries show data.mdb "$q"
done > queries.sql

Extract every named macro

jetdb macro list data.accdb | while IFS= read -r m; do
  jetdb macro show data.accdb "$m" > "${m}.txt"
done

Inspect a form or report

jetdb form list data.accdb
jetdb form controls data.accdb "Orders"
jetdb form props data.accdb "Orders" > orders_props.txt
jetdb macro embedded data.accdb "Orders"

If the name is shared by a form and a report, add -t form or -t report.

Error Behaviour

• File not found → exit 1, jetdb: I/O error: <path>: No such file or directory (os error 2)
• Not an Access database → exit 1, jetdb: format error: ...
• Password required but missing → exit 1, jetdb: this database is password-protected
• Wrong password → exit 1, jetdb: invalid password
• Unknown name on schema -T, export, queries show, vba show, form dump|controls|props, macro show|embedded|data, prop → exit 1 (jetdb: table not found: ..., query not found, VBA module not found, form/report not found, macro not found, object not found)
• Name shared by objects of several types without --type → exit 1, jetdb: objects of several types are named <NAME>: <types>; choose one with --type
• Access 97 forms and reports → exit 1, jetdb: the forms and reports of Access 97 are not read (form list gives empty output)
• export -d not one character → exit 1, jetdb: delimiter must be one character, got '...'
• No data on a list command, no properties on prop, no embedded / data macros → exit 0, empty stdout
• Skipped rows on export → exit 0 with jetdb: warning: <TABLE>: N row(s) skipped due to parse errors — treat the CSV as incomplete
• Invalid arguments, conflicting options, or options without a subcommand → exit 2, stderr starts with error:
• jetdb with no arguments → exit 2, the usage on stderr