The answer is yes, but your post indicates you have one mdb with code and
data that multiple users are sharing over a network.
There are multipe problems with that kind of implementation. As you are
seeing a little bit of, it not only exposes you to corruption, performace
will be poor, and maintaining it becomes difficult.
The proper way to implement a multi user Access database application is to
split the database. You can use the database splitter wizard to do that.
Tools, Database Utilities, Database Splitter.
First, make a backup copy of your mdb. The run the database splitter. It
will create an additional mdb file that adds _be to the name of the file.
For example, if your file is name greatapp.mdb you will now have two files
greatapp.mdb will contain all your forms, reports, code modules, macros,
queries, and data access pages. This is the application
The other file file be greatapp_be.mdb
It will contain only tables and relationships.
That is how it should be.
Now put the _be on a shared folder on the network where all users have
read/write/delete permissions. They have to have these so they can create,
write to, and delete the ldb file for _be
Now you need to open greatapp.mdb (front end or fe) and link to the be
tables. It is important that you use UNC paths rather than Drive Mapping
because not all users will have the same drives mapped. For example, instead
of R:\SomeFolder\greatapp_be.mdb You would use
\\SeverName\SomeFoleder\greatapp.mdb.
Now, it is best if you then create an mde file for the fe, so you will have
greatapp.mde. This is the file you should deliver to your users. Each
should have their own copy on their computer, not on a network drive, and not
shared.
Now we have the issue of how to keep the users' copies of the mde up to
date. There are at least a couple of ways to do that. One is to put a copy
on the network that they can copy to their computer. You just send them all
an e-mail and tell them to copy the file to thier computers. This is simple,
but not very safe for a number of reasons. Another way is to put a shortcut
on their desktop that instead of running the app directly, runs a bat file
that copies the mde from the network to their desktop and runs it. That will
insure they always have the most current version. Better, but there is a
delay while the mde is being copied.
My preferred way is to use an automatic front end updater. Here is a link
to one you can modify to meet your needs:
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm
You have to put some code into your application to make it work. You put a
one record table in the fe that has one field and it contains a value that
indicates what the current version is. You put a similar table in the be
that also tells what the current version is. Then in the startup code for
your app, you compare the fe version with the be version. If the fe version
is out of date, it launches the updater application and quits. The update
then renames the fe file as a backup and copies the current version from the
network location and launches it and quits.
This is a bit of work to set up, but will, I promise, make your life much
easier.
