Solved How to use access file on two laptops at the same time (1 Viewer)

khodor

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Hi everybody,
First of all, I thank you for the quick help you give everyone
What I want to ask about today is how can I work on one Access file with two devices in the same room at the same time.
I searched the site for that and I found answers that, unfortunately, I did not understand, so I hope the explanation is simple
 

arnelgp

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You need a switch + network cable.
Create a simple peer2peer network.
One pc ip: 192.168.1.1
The other: 192.168.1.2

Enable sharing on both device.
Create a shared folder on one pc and put the BE there.
Each pc has its own FE.
 

isladogs

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As @arnelgp clearly stated, you need to split the database and provide each user with their own copy of the FE.
Do not allow both users to simultaneously run the same copy of the FE.
That would be like having two people simultaneously driving your car. It will lead to a crash.

Also, each laptop needs to be hardwired to the network you set up.
Do not allow the use of WiFi as that will lead to corruption when the connection is interrupted at some point whilst data entry is taking place.
 

The_Doc_Man

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You've gotten good answers so I will just add emphasis to what was said.

Do this with split Front-end/Back-end databases (with distributed front ends) because otherwise you will corrupt the (single) database due to file-locking conflicts.

Don't do this over Wi-Fi because over Wi-Fi there is a significant probability to corrupt the back-end database due to incomplete file operations when (not if) the Wi-Fi "hiccups" - which it WILL do.

With a hard-wired connection and a split database with distributed front-end files, this should work like a champ. Without that setup, you risk corrupting the (single) database and would also risk corrupting the back-end of a split DB.
 

SalmanZeiad

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Can you show me a video clip that explains what you say easily and is free of complexity and safe

** Partial division of the base and so on
You need a switch + network cable.
Create a simple peer2peer network.
One pc ip: 192.168.1.1
The other: 192.168.1.2

Enable sharing on both device.
Create a shared folder on one pc and put the BE there.
Each pc has its own
 

Pat Hartman

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Splitting the Access database into a FE (front end) and BE (back end) is talked about here endlessly. It is the ONLY option if you care about protecting the data and avoiding update conflicts to the FE. There is an option on the ribbon to do it for you.
SplitAccessDB.jpg
.


You probably won't find a video on how to split Access on a peer-to-peer network. That is simply too uncommon these days so here goes.

This will be slightly different for your peer- to-peer network than it is with a LAN. Normally you would have all FE's linked to the shared BE using the same path. I.e. M:/serverdrive/mybe.accdb. However. Since one of the PC's will be hosting the shared file, the BE will be on that PC's C: drive and from the perspective of the other PC, it will be on a "remote" drive. So split the db on the "host" PC. The FE will be linked to the new BE from the perspective of that PC. Then copy the FE to the other PC. Open it and relink the BE using the linked tables manager.
 

Gasman

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Couldn't you use the UNC path, so it remains the same for both laptops?
 

The_Doc_Man

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Yes, Gasman, UNC mapping is always a decent idea; sometimes even a NECESSARY idea if, for example, you have a network based on DHCP assignment of addresses. However, in the OP's case, a fixed pair if addresses is possible because of using a "poor man's network."
 

Pat Hartman

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Gasman, unless you can partition the drive of the host computer, there won't be a common name for the shared folder. Of course it's been 30 years since I created one of these peer-to-peer networks so I may be wrong.
 

Gasman

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Gasman, unless you can partition the drive of the host computer, there won't be a common name for the shared folder. Of course it's been 30 years since I created one of these peer-to-peer networks so I may be wrong.
Well I have just mapped a shared folder on my laptop in the same laptop as J:, so I dare say it could just as easily be done using drive mapping.?
 

isladogs

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Gasman, unless you can partition the drive of the host computer, there won't be a common name for the shared folder. Of course it's been 30 years since I created one of these peer-to-peer networks so I may be wrong.
As long as the folder is shared, it will work. In fact I use this approach all the time.
I'm fairly sure it also worked 30 years ago 😏
 

Pat Hartman

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So, On my computer which is the host of the shared file. The folder is:
C:\mydatabase

What is that on the other computer? It is certainly not on their C: drive? When they map a drive on the network, they will refer to my c: drive as x or whatever they choose but it won't be "c" because they already have a "c" drive.

If you have a THIRD computer which no one uses to access the database and you put the BE there, we can both map the BE as "X" or whatever. But again, the third drive sees the BE as C:\mydatabase unless there is a way to map a drive on your own computer. There may be. I just am not aware of how that might be done.
 

isladogs

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\\PatHartmanPC\C\MyDatabase\
 
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Gasman

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So, On my computer which is the host of the shared file. The folder is:
C:\mydatabase

What is that on the other computer? It is certainly not on their C: drive? When they map a drive on the network, they will refer to my c: drive as x or whatever they choose but it won't be "c" because they already have a "c" drive.

If you have a THIRD computer which no one uses to access the database and you put the BE there, we can both map the BE as "X" or whatever. But again, the third drive sees the BE as C:\mydatabase unless there is a way to map a drive on your own computer. There may be. I just am not aware of how that might be done.
Well when I map a drive, I never use any drive letter already used by the computer? These days A & B are freely available as well. Plus I would never put anything in the root of a drive unless it had to be there, like autoexec.bat in the old days. :)

All I am saying is that it could be achieved easily without having to relink tables each time.
 

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