Stop unauthorized use of a database

[quinto via AccessMonster.com]

I would like to set a database to self destruct after March 1, 2008

I will not be at the location when the company is being assumed by a
govermantal agency and they have refused to conpesate for the database. I
must stop unauthorized use of it.
I can set certain parameter in the tables but that can be easely removed or
changed.
Any suggestions?

Quinto

 

[Larry Daugherty]

There are lots of ways but they could also be used by someone with a
grudge to crash the database after s/he is safely gone.

For the most part they can also be found and neutralized by a m
knowledgeable Access developer.

 

[mscertified]

You could put in some code to delete all the queries and empty the tables.
However, if the user had a backup of the database, they could easily go back
to the backup and figure out what happened.
This type of tamperioing might open you up to legal action.

 

[John W. Vinson]

I would like to set a database to self destruct after March 1, 2008

I will not be at the location when the company is being assumed by a
govermantal agency and they have refused to conpesate for the database. I
must stop unauthorized use of it.
I can set certain parameter in the tables but that can be easely removed or
changed.
Any suggestions?

Quinto

You don't have a technical problem. You have a legal problem. I would
(strongly!) suggest that you use negotiation, and if necessary legal action,
to ensure that you're fairly compensated for your work. Sabotaging the
database will just get you on the wrong side of the law, and as noted
elsethread can be circumvented by anyone skilled in Access (or else make your
database useless for anyone).

 

[Jerry Whittle]

The best, safest suggestion is to get over it and let them have the database.

Other than that, I would convert it to an MDE and remove all the original
..MDB files that you can find. That way the database was still usable when you
left; however, they won't be able to make any changes to forms, reports, and
modules as needed. Then any legal problems aren't that you sabotaged the
database so that it wouldn't run. Rather it's who owns the source code.