Applies ToAccess for Microsoft 365 Access 2021 Access 2019 Access 2016 Access 2013

Microsoft Access SQL supports the use of the ODBC defined syntax for scalar functions in a pass-through query that runs on Microsoft SQL Server. For example, to return all rows where the absolute value of the change in the price of a stock was greater than five, use the following query:

SELECT DailyClose, DailyChange FROM DailyQuote
WHERE {fn ABS(DailyChange)} > 5

For a description of the arguments and a complete explanation of the escape syntax for including functions in a SQL statement, see Scalar Functions.

ODBC Scalar functions by category

A subset of the text functions are supported. The following table lists the ODBC Scalar functions and the equivalent Access functions if any.

ODBC Function (ODBC Version)

Access Function

ASCII (ODBC 1.0)

Asc Function

BIT_LENGTH (3.0)

(No equivalent)

CHAR ( ODBC 1.0)

Chr Function

CONCAT ( ODBC 1.0)

(Use the ampersand (&) character concatenation operator)

DIFFERENCE ( ODBC 2.0)

(No equivalent)

INSERT ( ODBC 1.0)

(No equivalent)

LCASE ( ODBC 1.0)

LCase Function

LEFT ( ODBC 1.0)

Left Function

LENGTH ( ODBC 1.0)

Len Function

LOCATE ( ODBC 1.0)

InStr Function

LTRIM ( ODBC 1.0)

LTrim, RTrim, and Trim Functions

OCTET_LENGTH ( ODBC 3.0) (No equivalent function)

(No equivalent)

POSITION ( ODBC 3.0)

InStr Function

REPEAT ( ODBC 1.0)

String Function

REPLACE ( ODBC 1.0)

Replace Function

RIGHT ( ODBC 1.0)

Right Function

RTRIM ( ODBC 1.0)

LTrim, RTrim, and Trim Functions

SOUNDEX ( ODBC 2.0)

(No equivalent)

SPACE ( ODBC 2.0)

Space Function

SUBSTRING ( ODBC 1.0)

Mid Function

UCASE ( ODBC 1.0)

UCase Function

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