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vbams-access

Why does Access VBA Project "Help File Name" contain random numbers?

Using MS-Access 64-bit O365 Version 2103 (Build 13901.20336 Click-to-run)

I noticed that the "Help File Name" contained some numbers recently. I thought this was odd because I've never used that field. I've never made a custom help file. The numbers change every time I look at my project details.

EXAMPLE:

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So I tried clearing it out. Set it to blank because I don't need it. If I make it blank I can check it multiple times and see that it is blank. Then if I run a single line of VBA code a new random number appears in that field. Doesn't matter what kind of code I step in to, I get new numbers in there.

If I export my database to text files for version control I see these random numbers in my DB properties for the help file name.

What is going on here? Is this just Access corruption? Does a number ever make sense here? Shouldn't it be a string containing a filename?

Solution

  • At long last I learned that the reason is that I use RubberDuck VBA

    The explanation can be found in Issue#3355 of their GitHub:

    According to the wiki, RD will store ProjectID in the project help file.

    If we look at the Wiki it is only mentioned briefly:

    Projects are bit more tricky since they are usually treated as equal if their projectIds are the same; we save these in the project help file.