Record Locking vs Page Locking

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I use an Access 2003 >MDB database with multi users updating a common table. I have ensured that users can only update records that 'belong' to them as their userid is part of the record and so I filter them for display. Fine. I want to achieve record level locking to ensure that when a user is updating a record in the table that 'belongs' to them that they are not held up by adjacent records being worked on by other users. If the users are restricte dto only 'their' records then I would not envisage any record lock conflicts, so I thought this could be achieved by using Record Level Locking (as provided by Jet 4.0). I know that I must set this on the Advanced tab of Options. However, some of the Help from Microsoft seems ambiguous and I would appreciate some feedback on what might seem very basic questions if somebody can help. There are 5 questions below but they are all linked and I though it better to give the whole picture rather tahn people ask me questions and going back and forth.

1. The advanced tab states that for DEFAULT record locking you can put None, All or Edited Record. Logically I would pick Edited Record. There is then a tick box to select "Record Level Locking". What I dont understand is that if I have ticked Record Level Locking then surely whatever I select in DEFAULT record locking is supefluous is it not? i.e. Default Locking NONE and Ticked Record level locking or Default EDITED RECORD and Ticked Record Level Locking should achieve the same should nt it? It seems the 2 fields conflict with each other.

2. The Microsoft help as in URL below states that when you set these settings on the Advanced tab that the changes apply to the current database. However if I alter these settings and then open a completely different database it too has the altered settings. Question is then , "do the settings apply to Access in general for that user for any databases that they open or do the settings apply to just that database?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/odeopg/html/deovrpagelevellockingvsrecordlevellocking.asp


3. I note that the link above also states that you cannot achieve record level locking anyway of if the table containes indices or memo fields. Is this true? It would appear from this statement that you can only achieve record level locking if there are no indices in the table! Surely I have misunerstood. Haven't I?

4. I understand the logic that the first person that opens the database determines the locking strategy which suggest to me that different users opening the same database could have different settings? Am i corrrect in this assumption as this would confirm that I must ensure that all users must check their Access settings to ensure they all have the same. This would not apply of course if the settings ARE stored in each database rather than applying to Access as whole as in the questions above. Can anybody clarify please?

5. Is there any way to Check a users settings so that if they open the database in a non record locking mode I can close it down and ask them to open it properly? (i.e. not by a shortcut , double click in explorer ir recently used files list all of which apparently disable record level locking.

If anybody has read to the end of this I appreciate your patience and as you can see I am confused on some very basics concepts and if anybody can answer the questions oabove I would be indebted.

 
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