I created 3 replicas of my database. I then gave them to others to
be filled in. When I got them back, I synchronized them with the
master. Each time the replica replaced the master with its own
set of info. I don't want that, I want to be able to decide if I
want the info coming in to replace what is there. Am I using the
wrong thing? Is there a better way?
Well, first off, distribution of a replica is a one-way operation.
Once you sent out your copy to the user, it should have been left
there.
Secondly, the whole point of synchronization is, well,
synchronization. Any two replicas are one synch away from having
identical data in them. That means two people can edit two different
replicas in two different locations, and when the two users are
connected to the same network, the two replicas can be synched so
that the data changes are merged and the two replicas then contain
identical data.
Now, in the case of conflicting edits, both can't win -- only one
edit can be the final winner. In Access 97 with Jet 3.5, conflicts
were resolved by row, so that even if two different columns were
edited in the same row, one of them would be lost.
In A2K and later with Jet 4, column-level conflict resolution was
implemented, so that edits in two different columns will not
overwrite each other. That is, if UserA edits ColumnA of RowA in
ReplicaA, and UserB edits ColumnB of RowA in ReplicaB, there will be
no conflict -- the result of a synch will be that both users edits
will be preserved.
But if both users edit the same column, then only one can win, and
that will depend on a number of factors (including but not limited
to replica priority; the Design Master is priority 100; replicas
created directly from the DM are 90% of its priority, or 90;
replicas created from a priority 90 replica will be priority 81,
etc.).
But it sounds to me like you didn't synch them, but just copied over
top of them.
Explain more about what you're doing and what the environment is and
then we can offer more assistance.
Also, you might find it useful to go here:
http://dfenton.com/DFA/Replication
and review the page linked under "Resources for learning about
Replication." If you haven't read all the white papers and FAQs and
Trigeminal.com, you probably started replication too early.
