How to update the split database?

[Guest]

I'm getting ready to secure & split my database for mulitple users.
At this time, only one portion of the database will the users utilize, & I
plan on continuing the development of the database adding tables, forms, etc.

How can I do this w/o interrupting what they are viewing, & still update the
database?
Do I work on the backend? Do I make a back up & copy & paste each day after
I have updated the database? Is this where "Replication" comes in?
This is my first big project like this & I want to do it right from the
beginning without crashing.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Guest]

In a perfect world, you would not release the database until it is 100%
ready. Ha! Reality check time.

The BE first. If you are going to be near the BE, for example not 400 miles
from it like in one of my projects, you can make minor changes when the users
aren't on the database. That's why a lot of DBAs work nights and weekends. If
the database is going to be far, far away I recommend adding a few extra
text, number, date, and even memo fields in each table. That way you won't
have to create them when something needs to be added. If you need to make
changes to the BE, do it first on a copy; make notes on what you did; then
test; then make the changes in production.

Now for the FE. I place a copy of the production FE out on the network where
all users can get to it. I don't allow them to use it. Rather during the
startup of their computer it is copied to the PC either through a login
script or something in the Autoexec.bat file. This way when booting up in the
morning, the users get the latest and greatest. Also if their FE corrupts for
some reason, they are only a reboot away from a fix.

Very Important! Do NOT do development using the production BE. You could
mess up the data or really slow things down. You want to develop on a test BE
database. For this to work you either need to work on a separate development
network that mirrors production's drive mappings OR relink the tables to the
production BE before putting the new FE out where it is to be copied. What
ever you do be very, very careful not to mess with production data. Also do
some version control; I put a version number on a label on the Switchboard
form. Also make frequent backups of both your test and production .mdb files.
Nothing beats a recent backup when things get strange.