Less chance of corruption with MDE??

[RCurtin]

Hi,
With my database I have actually distributed the mdb file to 2 of my users so that they can make their own reports. I have secured it so that these users cannot delete/modify anything they shouldn't.

However every so often it seems to get corrupt. I did decompile it and I tried importing everything into a new DB and secured it again. It seems to be working again but I wasn't able to find what was corrupt so I'm not completely confident that its fixed.

Would it be better if I gave them the MDE file - would it lessen the chances of it becoming corrupt??

When I leave the job I guess I will need to show someone how to decompile it in case there is a problem?

Thanks

 

[RCurtin]

Hi Pat,
My users do have their own local copy of the FE. I accept your point about making it easier to maintain/ give them new versions of the FE if I have a separate DB for their reports.

What I'd really like to know though is - will giving them a MDE rather than the MDB lessen the chances of corruption in the FE??

 

[Pauldohert]

Then they can't make reports though?

 

[RCurtin]

I think they have made all the new reports they need for now - or I can do as Pat suggested and have a separate database for their extra reports and let them link to the backend.

BUT will giving them the MDE lessen the likelyhood of corruption??

 

[RuralGuy]

Perhaps this link will be helpful. Preventing corruption

 

[RCurtin]

Thanks for that Pat and RG,

Yes I'm pretty certain I am experiencing corruption - I can't see any other reason for it. Both my users have an their own copy of the FE on their hard drive. These are linked to the BE on the server.

Their is one form where they enter new drawings - a drawing can have one or more revisions.
-If the drawing already exists it jumps to it
-If its a new revision it goes to the drawing record in teh main form and clears the subform to add the new rev info
etc
This is done through VBA and was thoroughly tested and working perfectly. (I have made changes to other parts of the database but have not touched this code). Now everytime I add a new revision of an existing drawing it crashes. There is no error message - just the 'Microsoft do you want to send an error report' screen.

I've attached a screen shot of the contents of that error report.

This has been starting to happen for a while now but is practically unusuable now. I have tried decompiling and recompiling the code, I've imported everything into a new DB and resecured it. I didn't get any error messages about corrupt forms or anything.

I've followed pretty much all of the tips in the Preventing corruption web page RG posted. I've read extensively about corruption. I can't think of anything else to try at this stage?

 

[RCurtin]

Hi Pat,
Thanks for that. I imported everything into a new DB again and resecured it. I ran the JET utility on it to compact it also. This worked and didn't give me any errors - does that mean its ok? It seems to be working all right so far..
To answer your questions:
1. Is the corruption happening to both users?
Yes - but in slightly different ways.
2. Are there any timer events in the database?
No - there are no timer events.
3. Is your network connection prone to blips?
I don't think so.
4. Do the users keep the db open for long periods?
Yes - they often have it open when they are not using it - I will tell them not to do this.
5. Are their diskdrives set to "sleep" when no activity occurs for a period of time?
Not certain- where would I check this?
6. Do the users shut the database down properly when they are done.
Yes - they do shut it down properly.

By the way - maybe I am wrong in thinking that the corruption is in the FE. Maybe it is in the backend? Is there any way I can find out what is wrong and where the corruption is? I'm just nervous of this happening again when I'm no longer working here..

 

[RCurtin]

Thanks again Pat,
I don't have any memo fields in it at all and I'm not using the standard Switchboard - the startup form is an unbound form.
I'll try to get them to close any other forms when they are not using them.

I imported everything into a new DB again and that seemed to do it - still don't know where the problem was - I just hope it stays working..

Thanks again for your help,
R.