LDB File problem

[cajsoft]

Hi,
I have a multi user Access 2000 DB on a network share.. the database has started to give me problems recently. Sometime when the first user access's the database, the LDB file is created.. allowing other users to enter the database too.. but 3 out of 5 times the first person who access the database, the LDB file is NOT created.?? I have no idea why this is happening.. I have checked the database for corruption cant see any problems.. all users have the same network rights as me on the share..

anyone shed any light on this problem
thanks
Craig.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I'm not going to swear to this because it has been too long since I checked into this detail, but...

If someone has Open Exclusive rights on the database object (An Access permission, not a Windows permission), they open the database and lock it in a way that nobody else can open it at all. I don't recall that the .LDB file shows up in that case.

Another symptom of a different problem is if they get in without an .LDB file, they are read-only.

Can you do a little exploring to clarify the symptoms seen by a user who gets in without the .LDB file?

To short-cut part of this, you need each user to have every permission in the folder EXCEPT perhaps the ones that let you control ownership and set security on the files. In the "general" security dialog box, this is the MODIFY check-box. In the "advanced" security, you would see the stuff about ownership and setting security.

If your app is in a folder, the folder must grant these permissions to each user. (Best way to do this unequivocally is to define a group, then make your users a member of that group.) IF the application touches sub-folders, allow the group permissions to propagate. If the folder is not a high-level folder (very near the drive root), all parent folders must allow either READ (on the simple dialog) or PASSTHRU (on the advanced dialog).

Also, remember that network shares are touchy. Whereas other permissions are additive (vis-a-vis groups), network shares MINIMIZE their permissions against the folder's normal permissions. Be sure that nobody committed the abomination of doing a "DENY" on anything, because you have to remember the old rule: One DENY cancels ten thousand ALLOWs. (Sorta like aw-shoots and attaboys...)

 

[ghudson]

Just to confirm...

The .ldb [record locking] file will not be created [visible?] if the db is opened exclusively. But, anbody else trying to open the file will get a message like "Could not use X:\your\database.mdb; file already in use" .

 

[cajsoft]

Hi,
Thanks for your input.

I agree about network rights/permissions but I have taken this out the equation and tried to open it myself.

I have full administrator rights for the network share and when I open the database, the LDB file is not created.. I checked Tools, Options, the database is set to Shared and NOT exclusive.. I also tried repairing the database.. but nothing works. However, if I change the name of the db. it appears to be create the LDB file for the new database name??.

Yesterday I was getting symptoms like 1 out of 5 times the LDB file would be created when I opened it.. Today , so far, the LDB file has not been created after several attempts to open the file.. this is really confusing me.

thanks.

 

[cajsoft]

any ideas?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

What you describe makes no sense unless it is an Access permissions issue, which means it relates to the .WKG file (Workgroup). Open Exclusive is something that is set up from the Security dialog box for individual objects. But it is STORED in the WKG, not in the DB.

You can get inconsistencies of behavior depending on who does or does not join the workgroup. This is because, in their infinite wisdom (choke, choke), Microsoft gurus decreed that each user is "connected" to only one workgroup at a time, and this connection is managed in the machine's registry. Of course, being in the registry, this means that each machine has its own set of workgroup pointers. So if the machine's user doesn't join the right workgroup, there is no telling whose permissions you are looking at.

Also, I believe that Open Exclusive is the default case for a "virgin" workgroup file, which by itself could be enough to explain the behavior you describe. In this "virgin" file, the current user is ALWAYS Admin, who is ALWAYS a member of the Admins group, has no password (technically, a NULL password), and Open Exclusive permission on the database object.

Look up "Workgroup" in the Access Help files and search this forum for that same topic to find out a lot more about proper workgroup setup.