Problem with Access 97 database

[Guest]

I converted the database to Access 2002 and then split it. When I open the
Front End, the top of the screen indicates the front end of the file is
Access 2002 and the Back End is Access 2000 format. This doesn't sound right!
Any idea what I may have done wrong.

Thanks.

Ken K.

 

[John W. Vinson]

I converted the database to Access 2002 and then split it. When I open the
Front End, the top of the screen indicates the front end of the file is
Access 2002 and the Back End is Access 2000 format. This doesn't sound right!
Any idea what I may have done wrong.

Proably nothing. Access2002 (and 2003 for that matter) default to using A2000
format for the database; I suspect that the conversion process just took the
default and created an A2000 database. Does it work?

John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[David W. Fenton]

I converted the database to Access 2002 and then split it. When I
open the Front End, the top of the screen indicates the front end
of the file is Access 2002 and the Back End is Access 2000 format.
This doesn't sound right! Any idea what I may have done wrong.

Nothing. Access 2000 is the default format for A2K2 and A2K3.

 

[David W. Fenton]

I converted the database to Access 2002 and then split it. When I
open the Front End, the top of the screen indicates the front end
of the file is Access 2002 and the Back End is Access 2000 format.
This doesn't sound right! Any idea what I may have done wrong.

Oh, for data files, I don't think there's any possible difference
between A2K format and A2K2/A2K3, as all the changes I can think of
are of in the later versions are with VBA functionality, not with
tables (which is all that should be in your back end).

 

[Guest]

It seems to be working so far. Hopefully it will keep working. I don't
trust Access 2002, because awhile back I had converted this database to
Access 2002 and after several months, the indexes got messed up. At that
time it wasn't split. Thanks again for all of the help. It was definitely
a learning experience for me!!! I haven't created the executable versions for
each of the other pc's yet. I'll try to do that today, but our IT folks will
have to get me access to each of the other pc's it needs to be installed on.
For now, we'll do all the changes to this file from my pc until the
executable is ready for each machine.

Ken K. - 2191

 

[Guest]

After splitting the file on my Windows XP PC in Access 2002, I created an
executable and saved it to my local program files directory. I kept the
source code intact. When I tried to make an executable on the pc's the
application is being deployed to (Access 2002 on a Windows 2000 o/s), I got
an unrecognized file format error. Any idea what I need to do to fix this?

For now, we are stuck running the application only on my pc!!

Thanks.

Ken K. - 2191

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

You cannot create an executable with any version of Access.

Do you perhaps mean you created an MDE file? (Under Tools | Make MDE File)
An MDE file still requires that each user have Access installed.

 

[Guest]

Yes, I created the mde on my pc. I also kept the source code on our network.
When I tried to create the mde on each of the other pc's in our department,
I got a message that the file must have been created in a newer version of
Access when I tried to open the front end. All of the pc's in our area are
running Access 2002, but only mine is an XP machine. All the others are
Windows 2000 pc's. One machine up front is running Access 97. I'm not sure
what to try next. Hopefully I won't have to restore from the file before the
split.

Thanks for the help.

Ken K. - 2191

 

[John W. Vinson]

Yes, I created the mde on my pc. I also kept the source code on our network.
When I tried to create the mde on each of the other pc's in our department,
I got a message that the file must have been created in a newer version of
Access when I tried to open the front end. All of the pc's in our area are
running Access 2002, but only mine is an XP machine. All the others are
Windows 2000 pc's. One machine up front is running Access 97. I'm not sure
what to try next. Hopefully I won't have to restore from the file before the
split.

The operating system (Windows 2000, WindowsXP) is not the relevant issue here.
You can run Access97 or AccessXP applications on either operating system.

The problem is the version of Access. Access can only use databases which were
created in the same version or an earlier version; that is, Access97 can open
an Access-97 database, but it cannot open a database that is in Access2000 or
Access2002 format.

When you make a MDE file, it creates it in the version of Access that you are
running. If you are running AccessXP (on any operating system that can run
it), then the .mde file that you created will need AccessXP, or Access2003, or
Access 2007 to run it; it cannot be run by the machine with Access97
installed.


John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[Guest]

The pc in question actually has both Access 2000 and Access 97 on it.
Initially the database was in Access 97 format. I converted it to 2002 format
and then split it. Should I restore the 97 version of the database, convert
it to 2002 (or 2000) format, split it again and just stay away from the pc
with Access 97 on it? If it isn't the operating systems messing things up, I
thought maybe the DLL files on the PC with 2 versions of Access could be the
problem. Could just be my lack of prowice with the software!

Thanks again for all your help (& patience!)

 

[John W. Vinson]

The pc in question actually has both Access 2000 and Access 97 on it.
Initially the database was in Access 97 format. I converted it to 2002 format
and then split it. Should I restore the 97 version of the database, convert
it to 2002 (or 2000) format, split it again and just stay away from the pc
with Access 97 on it? If it isn't the operating systems messing things up, I
thought maybe the DLL files on the PC with 2 versions of Access could be the
problem. Could just be my lack of prowice with the software!

It depends on what you want to do. If the only users who need the database
have AccessXP installed, then by all means, make an Access2002 format
database, split, and let them use it. If a user has both A97 and A2002
installed, they'll (of course) need to use A2002 to run it; the fact that A97
is installed on the same computer *might* cause some hassles, but I have
Access 2.0, 97, 2000, 2002 and 2003 installed on my computer and they all
work.

I don't see ANY point in restoring the 97 version if the 2002 version works.
Maybe I'm not visualizing the problem correctly!

John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[Guest]

I created the mde on my pc (Access 2002 with XP) and when I copied the mde to
my co-worker's pcs who are both running Access 2002 with Windows 2000, the
error message they are getting now is that Access can't find the database
file. Is it because I have a drive letter in front of the path? Albert's
article mentioned not using the drive letters, but I'm not sure how to id the
file.

Thanks.

Ken K.
akkrug

 

[John W. Vinson]

I created the mde on my pc (Access 2002 with XP) and when I copied the mde to
my co-worker's pcs who are both running Access 2002 with Windows 2000, the
error message they are getting now is that Access can't find the database
file. Is it because I have a drive letter in front of the path? Albert's
article mentioned not using the drive letters, but I'm not sure how to id the
file.

How are they opening the database? Is it a split database? If so, how did you
relink the backend? If you relinked it using drive letters, do the users have
a connection to the folder containing the backend, and are they using the same
drive letter mapping as you are?

You might want to open the .mdb file and use Tools... Database Utilities...
Linked Table Manager to relink the backend. Rather than navigating via My
Computer, navigate to the backend using Network Neighborhood - this will put
the links in the form \\server\path\path\database.mdb which will not be
sensitive to individual drive letter mappings. Then recreate the .mde and
distribute it again.

John W. Vinson [MVP]