Can I get an explanation for this Access behaviour?

[Dennis Snelgrove]

I'm running Access 2003 at my workplace. I've got a front-end/back-end
set-up. Recently our back-end had about 15 records corrupted in a
table; we were getting "Invalid bookmark" errors whenever anything was
done that involved those records. So, I ran the usual "Compact/Repair"
on the mdb file. This cleaned out the corrupted records, but
introduced a new problem. When I ran the front-end again, one form we
use has a combo-box on it whose list source is another table in the
back-end, and this box wouldn't give anything but "#Error" as its list
on the screen. I did a number of things, but eventually I simply did a
table refresh for all the tables. I didn't change where any of them
were pointing, I just refreshed the links to where they already were
pointing. That worked like a charm.

Why would refreshing the table links to the same tables cause this to
work again? Any explanations or insights?

Thanks...

 

[Banana]

Do you have by any chance the "Name AutoCorrect" (which is known as
AutoCorrupt ) turned on? If so, create a new blank database, turn off
the AutoCorrupt and import in all objects. See if this fixes the problem.

Next, do you have any wireless connections? If there's a client using
wireless connection the corruption is much more likely and may even
manifest in other clients' connection. This is also true of a faulty NIC
or deteroiating cable.

 

[Jerry Whittle]

You database was obviously corrupted and the links were also corrupted. One
of the things a C&R does is to fix internal problems; however, it often can't
fix them all. JetComp, free from Microsoft, often does a better job.

Personally I wouldn't trust that MDB file. You may want to create a new file
and import everything into it. That usually fixes any other problems, or if
something won't import cleanly, let's you know that there's other toubles.

Tony Toews has an excellent web page on database corruption.
Http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/corruptmdbs.htm

Allen Brown also has excellent info on corruption.
Http://allenbrowne.com/ser-47.html

I have a white paper in a Word document named Fix Corrupt Access Database
towards the bottom this page:
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/OtherLibraries.asp

 

[Armen Stein]

Why would refreshing the table links to the same tables cause this to
work again? Any explanations or insights?

You've gotten some other good answers, but I thought I'd throw in that
Access caches some information about tables in the link, including
field names and such. That information can get corrupted or become
out of date. That's why refreshing the links will sometimes solve
problems like this.

Armen Stein
Microsoft Access MVP
www.JStreetTech.com

 

[John W. Vinson]

I did a number of things, but eventually I simply did a
table refresh for all the tables. I didn't change where any of them
were pointing, I just refreshed the links to where they already were
pointing. That worked like a charm.

Just to add one observation to the comments you've gotten, I've found that
sometimes Tools... Database Utilities... Linked Table Manager can leave bad
links intact, even when you specify "always...". It's sometimes necessary to
delete the links from the frontend and use File... Get External Data... Link
to create new links.