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Format

Microsoft Access Database File

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Summary

Name
Microsoft Access Database File
Version
2.0
Identifiers
  • Library of Congress Format Description Identifier: fdd000462
  • Wikidata QID Identifier: Q48004607
  • PUID: x-fmt/66
Format type
Database
Description
Microsoft Access Database File, formerly known as Jet MDB Database format, is propriatory file format developed and used by Microsoft as a native format for its Microsoft Access (formerly Microsoft Jet Database Engine) desktop database management system. First released in 1992, starting with version 1.0 the earlier versions of the database used the Jet Database Engine, with version 1.0 having a maximum size of 128 megabytes, then increasing to 1 gigabyte with versions 1.1 and 2.0. This entry records the version 2.0 of MDB file format, for a full list of versions please follow the links provided in the Notes section.
Note
https://web.archive.org/web/20220711181532/http://fileformats.archiveteam.org/wiki/Access https://web.archive.org/web/20220901011824/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Access https://web.archive.org/web/20220825195028/https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000462.shtml
File extensions
mdb, mda
Source
Digital Preservation Department / The National Archives
Developed by
Microsoft Corporation

Relationships

Is previous version of
Is subsequent version of
Is supertype of

Internal signatures

Microsoft Access Database File 2.0

Note
BOF; Offset: 0; Magic Bytes: Access database header 0x01000000, then an exact gap of 1026 bytes followed by 0x5269636809

Byte sequences

Min Frag Length
Absolute from BOF
Offset
0
Max offset
None
Byte Sequence
01000000{1026}5269636809
Endianness
Little-endian

Changelog

  • Updated in V112

    Release date
    10 May 2023

    Microsoft Access Database File 2.0: Updated Wikidata QID. Submitted by National Library of the Netherlands.

  • Added in V110

    Release date
    14 March 2023

    Microsoft Access Database File 2.0: Updated file format name, signature and description, added extension .mda. Submitted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

    Microsoft Access Database File 2.0: Signature researched and samples provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

  • Added in V34

    Release date
    2 April 2010

    Microsoft Access Database 2.0: Signature developed through DROID 5.0 research