Access 2000 SP-3 corrupts mdb for Access 2003 SP-1?

[Ola]

Hi!

I have a front-end database in the Access 2000 format with an
SQL-Server 2000 as the back-end. The front-end database is used by
several users, of whom some are running Access 2000 SP3 on NT 4.0 SP6
and some have Access 2003 SP1 on XP SP1. The front-end contains no
data, just linked tables and some queries, forms and a lot of code.

My problem is as follows: whenever a user on 2000 & NT opens the
database, the database becomes unopenable for the 2003 & XP users. If
I open the database in Access 2003 with the /decompile switch
(http://www.trigeminal.com/usenet/usenet004.asp) it opens without any
problems. The problem started to happen as I upgraded Office 2003 to
SP1.

Another interesting fact: After the upgrade I noticed that the command
buttons on all forms in the database changed from being rectangular to
being rounded (XP-look) in 2003. If I open the database on a
2000-machine, the buttons are still rectangular. Is this normal
behavor just indicating that 2000 and 2003 uses different versions of
form controls or is it a sign of that something is wrong?


TIA,
Ola

 

[Norman Yuan]

If each computer has its own front end copy ( this is the way it should be,
especially you have different version of Access involved), they should not
affect each other, 'cause each front end only connects to SQL Server back
end and has no knowledge on other front end.

 

[Tony Toews]

I have a front-end database in the Access 2000 format with an
SQL-Server 2000 as the back-end. The front-end database is used by
several users, of whom some are running Access 2000 SP3 on NT 4.0 SP6
and some have Access 2003 SP1 on XP SP1. The front-end contains no
data, just linked tables and some queries, forms and a lot of code.

My problem is as follows: whenever a user on 2000 & NT opens the
database, the database becomes unopenable for the 2003 & XP users. If
I open the database in Access 2003 with the /decompile switch
(http://www.trigeminal.com/usenet/usenet004.asp) it opens without any
problems. The problem started to happen as I upgraded Office 2003 to
SP1.

Another interesting fact: After the upgrade I noticed that the command
buttons on all forms in the database changed from being rectangular to
being rounded (XP-look) in 2003. If I open the database on a
2000-machine, the buttons are still rectangular. Is this normal
behavor just indicating that 2000 and 2003 uses different versions of
form controls or is it a sign of that something is wrong?

Interesting set of problems. However as Norman stated the best
solution is to ensure each user has their own copy of the FE.

I can also see where using two different versions of Access on the
same FE MDB could cause lots of troubles as both might want to save
their own version of compiled VBA code in the FE.

I specifically created the Auto FE Updater utility so that I could
make changes to the FE MDE as often as I wanted and be quite confident
that the next time someone went to run the app that it would pull in
the latest version. For more info on the errors or the Auto FE
Updater utility see the free Auto FE Updater utility at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm at my website to keep the
FE on each PC up to date.

In a Terminal Server or Citrix environment the Auto FE Updater now
supports creating a directory named after the user on a server. Given
a choice put the FE on the Citrix server to reduce network traffic and
to avoid having to load objects over the network which can be somewhat
sluggish.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

 

['69 Camaro]

Hi, Ola.
As Norman points out, each user should have a copy of this front-end on his
workstation. Until you work out the logistics of how these copies are going
to be distributed and periodically updated (see Tony Toews's auto front-end
updater at: http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm), consider creating
an MDE file from Access 2000 to prevent the "corruption" and missing
References problems with your mixed-user audience.
Go easy on that /decompile switch. It's undocumented and unsupported by
Microsoft for some good reasons. It does more than just decompile the
P-Code, and it was originally designed for decompiling a multi-object
architecture code structure, not the monolithic architecture code structure
in Access 2000 and later versions.
It's *ALWAYS* a good idea to thoroughly test Microsoft's updates, hot-fixes
and service packs *before* deploying them in a production environment,
because there are always potential incompatibilities and undesirable side
effects. Be advised that you can't uninstall this service pack. If you
need to get rid of it, you'll have to uninstall, then reinstall, then
reactivate Office '03, then reconfigure Access '03 if you've made any
customizations.
It's the "themes," which could be turned on/off before installing SP-1.
It's likely the default now, but you should still be able to turn it off if
you don't like it.

HTH.

Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips.

 

[Ola]

Tony, Norman & Gunny,

Thanks for all help, much appreciated. I'll definitely give each user
their own copy of the FE as recommended.

Ola

 

[Ola]

Tony, Norman & Gunny

Thanks for all help, much appreciated. I'll definitely give each user
their own copy of the FE as recommended.

Ola

 

[Ola]

Tony, Norman & Gunny,

Thanks for all help, much appreciated. I'll definitely give each user
their own copy of the FE as recommended.

Ola

 

['69 Camaro]

You're welcome!

Gunny

See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips.