MS Access Bug Thread

Uncle Gizmo

Uncle Gizmo

Nifty Access Guy
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Over the years we get MS Access users who have problems with their MS Access database caused by MS Access Issues/Bugs... The recent bug with a back-end on a server was just Mentioned HERE:-

Split database prevent multiusers

Gents, Im confused one day my splitted database work fine with multi-users and suddenly the multi users features stop working. 1- i have given all full control 2- I update the access program The access programs was on a network server. If i take the access program out of the network server...
www.access-programmers.co.uk

Solution Reported HERE:-

Split Database

I have a database that i split to be located on my work server it has worked for months now all of a sudden I am getting a message on some computes accessing the database saying could not use\......\jobflowaccdb;file already in use. I have noticed that on each desktop their is now a locked file...
www.access-programmers.co.uk

My first idea was to start a thread for reporting bugs and issues. Users would have to to subscribe to this "BUG REPORT" thread to get the report. However this would result in every subscriber to the thread getting a message every time someone joined the thread!!! Not Good....

However what might work is if it was a "Locked Thread" ... people cannot comment on it, but hopefully they could "Watch the Thread" by pressing the "Watch Button" hence they would get a message if anything was added to the thread...

This would make the essence of a simple bug reporting system for Access World Forum members.

So the first question is can you watch a locked Thread?

Are there Existing Alternatives?

Possibly Microsoft or some other system already provides this service so it's unnecessary...

There is the issue of maintenance who updates the thread when necessary?

Just thought I'd throw it out there and see what response I got!!!
 
Last edited:
Like the idea of a "known bug" forum - but I think we would need to restrict it, because if users see anything that doesn't work the way they wanted it to work, they would call that a bug - and we would never get problem posts in the traditional forum topics. Not that I'm against the idea, but if you had folks posting willy-nilly to the Known Bugs forum inappropriately, that adds things for moderators to have to move elsewhere. Which leads to the awkward situation of a moderator second-guessing the OP as to where a particular question belongs.

So... count me generally in favor but with a suggestion of some thought about restrictions before actually implementing it.
 
perhaps it could be a locked thread only mods can post to. So post a thread titled 'millennium bug'/whatever. a summary of the symptoms and the fix. Both of these can be copy/pasted from an existing thread where a bug is identified plus relevant responses. Or simply include a link back to original threads.

Perhaps an alternative is not have the bug forum but if possible modify the algorithm that populates the similar threads section so if the title includes the word 'bug', only threads with the word 'bug' used are returned - sorted by latest on top
 
Message for @Jon re this thread on posting information about the latest MS Access bugs into a locked thread. Do you have any observations?
 
What is the goal of a locked thread for bugs?
 
Jon said:
What is the goal of a locked thread for bugs?
Click to expand...

Anyone who watches The Thread will get a notification (posted to the thread by a moderator) identifying a new bug or threat in MS Access.
 
So who creates the bug list?
 
NauticalGent said:
Sounds like Tony volunteered from the git-go
Click to expand...

Any moderator will be able to post informing the "thread watchers" of impending doom!

I don't think it would be a major burden on anyone, as there are few and far between problems with Microsoft Access, unless I'm missing something!

The question remains, is it necessary?
Are there any alternative systems?
Does it fit in with Jon's vision of Access World Forums?
 
Ok, my view is this. I want to stick to one sticky thread per forum. I dislike a proliferation of sticky threads, which become a slippery slope for each additional "useful" idea. In my opinion, it impairs the user experience. We used to have loads here back in the day!

A potential solution would be this...

Add a bug list link to this thread: https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/threads/general-access-database-essentials.309328/

Anyone who wants to be kept informed of bugs can subscribe to that sticky thread. The bug list link would be to a free floating thread.

Thoughts?
 
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Uncle Gizmo said:
Any moderator will be able to post informing the "thread watchers" of impending doom!

I don't think it would be a major burden on anyone, as there are few and far between problems with Microsoft Access, unless I'm missing something!

The question remains, is it necessary?
Are there any alternative systems?
Does it fit in with Jon's vision of Access World Forums?
Click to expand...
In the world according to John:
1. Yes
2. Not really, and a dedicated Forum/Thread would streamline the process
3. Of course!
 
This is what I mean...

1642430988728.png
 
From my perspective of Microsoft bugs that COULD affect Office elements, here are the stats I remember when I was working as a systems admin and security admin for the U.S. Navy. (Over 5 years ago so I'm going to gloss over this a bit.)

The U.S. Navy published Information Assurance Vulnerability Alerts (IAVAs) twice monthly, from 20 to as many as 40 per round. Of those, maybe 1/2 to 2/3 were Windows-O/S related. Every so often we would get an Office-related notice or two in the mix. So call it 15-20 Windows "oopsies" every half-month and one or two Office "oopsies" for the entire month. Of the 15-20 Windows problems, perhaps half of those were network-related and sometimes the call-out was for a specific utility. Not that many were for the file system.

Where am I going with this? The frequency of publication for these little "gotcha" cases was very high, over 600,000 per year, but the ones that would be specific to Office were MUCH less - and the ones that affected Access specifically or inclusive with other parts of Office? Very few and far between (once Access switched away from .MDB and Workgroup security and MDAC libraries).

There is also the issue that it takes patience and persistence to verify that a given patch even slightly affected something. I used to be responsible for entering the IAVAs into our security action tracker that let us know which of our machines were still vulnerable and which were not. At least a dozen factors went into the initial posting. (e.g. if an IAVA is for XENIX, post it for all machines but mark "Not Applicable" on the ones running Windows.) Trust me when I say that to do this with any degree of thoroughness, you need someone dedicated to examining the problem.

There is a lot of effort in doing the verification for something that will occur with relatively lower frequency than many other posts we see. I am all in favor of the idea of tracking things like this, but there has to be a balance in how much effort you are willing to put in vs. how much you will get out of it.

Don't misunderstand me here. I did NOT expect anyone to do tons of research on this anyway. My post here is to warn you that there is a big bottomless pit out there for Windows security issues. So if you are going to do this, walk in with the knowledge that you will need to either show a lot of restraint or maybe think carefully about the intended scope of these notices. I've been there, done that, knitted my own T-shirt, wore it 'till it was threadbare, and now have absolutely no interest in diving back into the swamp. (HINT: ... means I'm not volunteering for this one except as maybe an occasional contributor.)
 
Beware of giving yourself unnecessary overhead!
 
So, with the new bug(s) associated with version 2204, can this idea be re-visited?
 
I have an idea. The Access FAQ section might be a good location to have a thread for Access bugs. I could make an exception to the one-sticky-thread rule for this. The thread could be called: Access Bugs. It would always remain at the top of the forum. Those interested could Watch that thread if they want updates anytime something new gets added.

Thoughts?

BTW, I've already added it so you get the gist.
 
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