Making changes to the front end Access 2003

[orangepie]

Hey,

I have a rather large multiuser database. It is spit up (according to this article www(dot)access.qbuilt.com/html/gem_tips1.html#SplitDB) into a

1)front end (which contains forms, queries, and reports, and links to the tables in the back end),
and
2) a back end (which only contains tables).

Now, I'd like to make some changes to the forms/reports.

Does anyone know how i would go about doing this? Do i have to make a change, then make sure everyone uses that version of the front end? Or...Is there a way i can make the change, and everyone's front end receives the update?

Thanks so much!

--Jeff

 

[John Big Booty]

Welcome to the forum.

Make your changes in a your copy of the Front End (FE) (if you need to test your changes {which you will} connect your development copy of the FE to a copy of the Back End (BE)) your users can continue to use your old FE with live data until you are ready to distribute your new FE. once you are satisfied that it is working to your satisfaction, distribute the new FE to all you users. You will need to reconnect them with the BE containing the live data.

 

[orangepie]

Hey John,

Thanks for responding.

This is great advice! However, the front end (FE) is a .mde file, and i cannot open reports/forms in design mode. And therefore can't make any changes. Is there a way to change the forms/reports?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[DCrake]

The Mde was made from the mdb do you have access to the mdb? If so make thechanges to the mdb and recreate the mde and distribute that.

 

[ChipperT]

Hey John,

Thanks for responding.

This is great advice! However, the front end (FE) is a .mde file, and i cannot open reports/forms in design mode. And therefore can't make any changes. Is there a way to change the forms/reports?

Thanks,

Jeff

You will need to locate the orignal MDB file to make the changes and then compile the new MDE for distribution. You always have to have the MDB on hand for development so be sure to back it up and store it securely.

 

[orangepie]

I have access to the MDB file. However, the forms, reports and querys are not stored in the MDB, they are stored in the MDE file.

So, i figured i'd just import the forms reports and querys into the MDB, however when i try they are all "greyed" out in the import menu. Is there a way i can get them into the MDB in order to make the required changes?

Thanks for your help!

 

[DCrake]

What is in your mde? not the tables?

The normal setup is to have the tables in an mdb then another mdb that has the forms,reports,queries,etc. along with the links to the tables in the othr mdb, known as the back end. The front end is then converted to mde which is distributed to the user.

What setup do you have?

 

[orangepie]

Correct, The MDE doesn't have the tables.

My setup: I know there is an MDE (FE) that has forms, reports, and querys. Then there is one MDB with the tables. I am unaware that there is another MDB that contains the forms reports and querys. Although there very well be, and i'm just unaware of it's location.

So i'm looking to find a second MDB? Is there a way to track it down (like see what MDB the MDE was made out of)

I appreciate the help!

--Jeff

 

[ChipperT]

The MDB for the front end will likely have the same name as the MDE. I don't think there would be a way to import the forms, reports, etc from the MDE. If you can find out the originall author of the database, that is where I would go looking for the source MDB.

 

[DCrake]

Do a search for all files with the same name as the mde. Obviously you did not build this in the first place or you would know of its whereabouts. May need to ask the author of the application.

Without the mdb you will not be able to amend the mde.

 

[orangepie]

Okay, The computer is doing a search now.

Just to make sure this is correct:
There is actually 3 files to my database?
2 MDBs. (One for tables, Other for Queries, Reports, Forms)
and 1 MDE (Made from the MDB with Queries Reports and Forms).

If the above is true, this is starting to make a lot of sense!

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[ChipperT]

Okay, The computer is doing a search now.

Just to make sure this is correct:
There is actually 3 files to my database?
2 MDBs. (One for tables, Other for Queries, Reports, Forms)
and 1 MDE (Made from the MDB with Queries Reports and Forms).

If the above is true, this is starting to make a lot of sense!

Thanks,

Jeff

You are correct. If all else fails, you can look at the following links. One is a link to software that MAY unlock the MDE to allow changes to forms and reports although VBA modules will still remain inaccessible. The second is a link to a discussion that points to yet another software solution. I have not tried either so your mileage may vary.

http://www.soft411.com/company/EverythingAccess-com/Access-MDE-Unlocker.htm

http://database.itags.org/ms-access-database/56130/

 

[orangepie]

You guys are doing a great job helping me out with my little problem.

So, it seems i've found the MDB that contains the forms reports and querys. So, i make the changes, turn it into MDE, and distribute it to the users?

--Is there a standard procedure for this? Thanks!

(By the way, this isn't my normal job. My company just needs a few quick changes, and i was drafted to figure it out.)

-Jeff

 

[DCrake]

first thing to do is to make a copy of the mdb and put it somewhere safe.

Next make the changes to the existing mdb and test.

When happy choose to make it into an mde. This does not phyiscally rename the mdb it makes a compiled copy of it and gives it an mde extension. The original mdb is still intact.

If all goes well then again save this in a safe place giving it a revision number or something that you can relate to in the future. This is just in case you need to roll back one or more versions.

Glad you found the mdb in the first place though.