Access 2003 - Keeps Crashing During Table Design Saves

  • Thread starter Thread starter Craig Alexander Morrison
  • Start date Start date
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Craig Alexander Morrison

Any developers notice how Access 2003 keeps crashing when they are designing
tables and making a series of updates to table structures.

Many a time I would add a few fields to an existing table then close it
being prompted to save the table, clicking yes and..... Sorry Microsoft
Access has encountered.... It does seem to happen more often if you open the
table and make a design change and then save it and open it again to make
another change.

It never seems to cause any corruption. I can recreate the problem until I
do a decompile and compact. I have tried to recreate the problem in Access
97, it never crashes, do you know I do not think Access 97 has ever crashed
since I started using it nearly 10 years ago.

I also get this sometimes when I change a subform, and it does not quite
work, usually by copying one subform, renaming it and then changing the
recordsource and the link fields. I have noted that this is a common problem
and is easily avoided by making sure the LinkChildFields is set correctly,
this needs to be fixed (hopefully in SP2) as it is annoying when you are
creating a complex series of similar subforms.

I like Access 2003 indeed it is now being used in preference to Access 97
for our new developments, just this is annoying.

Does anyone else have this experience? I wonder will it be fixed in SP2?

--
Slainte

Craig Alexander Morrison

Note: Track Name AutoCorrect is Off and all SubDatasheets are set to [none]
 
Hi Craig

Have never experienced the problems with the table you describe in A2003, so
I am wondering what the difference is. You say that the problem recurs until
you compact, so I'm wondering if it is related to this issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;291556

The problem with the subform may be related to an issue in A2002 and 2003
where Access can crash if the field named in the LinkChildFields is not
represented by a control on the subform. (The problem seems to be related to
objects of type AccessField, so you can work around the problem by giving it
an object of type Textbox.)

You say that the subform problem is triggered by copying a subform and
renaming it. I recently saw a problem where I selected a form in the
Database window, and used Ctrl+C followed by Ctrl+V to make a copy. After
renaming, the project went corrupt. The new name did not show correctly in
the Database window, and was not found in the AllForms collection. However,
the new name *was* found in the MSysObjects table, and was listed in the
Documents collection (DAO). I have not experienced that kind of corruption
in versions before A2003, but it the corruption was repeatable in A2003,
i.e. following the same steps in the same mdb (even after compact/repair and
decompile) caused the same corruption. Don't know if this relates to the
problem you are experiencing.

Yes, having Name AutoCorrect turned off is super-important for this kind of
problem. If you are not familiar with decompile, it could help with the
forms issue, but would not solve the issue you have with the tables.

HTH

--
Allen Browne - Microsoft MVP. Perth, Western Australia.

Reply to group, rather than allenbrowne at mvps dot org.

Craig Alexander Morrison said:
Any developers notice how Access 2003 keeps crashing when they are
designing
tables and making a series of updates to table structures.

Many a time I would add a few fields to an existing table then close it
being prompted to save the table, clicking yes and..... Sorry Microsoft
Access has encountered.... It does seem to happen more often if you open
the
table and make a design change and then save it and open it again to make
another change.

It never seems to cause any corruption. I can recreate the problem until I
do a decompile and compact. I have tried to recreate the problem in Access
97, it never crashes, do you know I do not think Access 97 has ever
crashed
since I started using it nearly 10 years ago.

I also get this sometimes when I change a subform, and it does not quite
work, usually by copying one subform, renaming it and then changing the
recordsource and the link fields. I have noted that this is a common
problem
and is easily avoided by making sure the LinkChildFields is set correctly,
this needs to be fixed (hopefully in SP2) as it is annoying when you are
creating a complex series of similar subforms.

I like Access 2003 indeed it is now being used in preference to Access 97
for our new developments, just this is annoying.

Does anyone else have this experience? I wonder will it be fixed in SP2?

--
Slainte

Craig Alexander Morrison

Note: Track Name AutoCorrect is Off and all SubDatasheets are set to
[none]
Click to expand...
 
Allen I have used decompile long before it was general knowledge.

The crash with the tables can occur on a completely fresh mdb with one table
and no data. I will have a look at the link you suggest.

It has never happened with A2 or A97, and we moved from A2002 to A2003 in
the space of few months.
 
Have never experienced the problems with the table you describe in A2003,
so I am wondering what the difference is. You say that the problem recurs
until you compact, so I'm wondering if it is related to this issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;291556
Click to expand...


Allen it's definitely not that, thanks for your response anyway.

As I say it is just an annoyance it never causes any real problems. It is
just that I have gotten into the habit of designing my databases using
Access as the design tool for draft designs and then building them formally
in Access/SQLS/DB2.

Access 97 was always a great tool for creating and documenting schemas,
indeed Access 2 was better (paradoxically) for the larger designs in view of
the less restrictive limit for indexes.
 
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