Opening Exclusive (1 Viewer)

[PeterWieland]

Hi Guys,

I know that this issue has been addressed before, but I have tried all the tips and nothing makes any difference.

Let me start at the beginning. For the past 3 years I have been running a big A97 split database with no major problems. When we changed over to A2K (beyond my control), after conversion the old database had so many compile erros that I decided to re-write from scratch. I now have the following set up:-

A2K installed on users PC
Novell Application Launcher distributing FE to users PC and running from there.
BE on shared NW drive.

The first user to open grabs the BE in exclusive mode, and when they log out, the next user then gets it exclusive. I have checked all the PC's and default is set to shared, and all of the network rights are OK. I do not want to use security as it is far too complicated for the situation that doesn't have sensitive data in it anyway.

I think it is caused by the way access opens the link to the BE, but I cannot figure out how to alter this.

Sorry about the long description, but I wanted to explain the situation properly.

Any ideas considered, if I don't get this fixed I am about to get attacked by 20 irate users!


Pete

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but as long as no one has to log in through Access security, I think you will ALWAYS have this problem in a Novell environment. I won't swear to it, but you would probably also have the same problem in a pure MS network, if such a thing can EVER be described as "pure." (OK, I'm not a fan of Bill Gates products in general... can you tell?)

By default, if you haven't logged in through a workgroup, you are user ADMIN, who by default has OPEN EXCLUSIVE rights on the database. First thing I would look at is a simple-minded security setting that puts EVERYONE into a workgroup. To make it painless, do this:

Find out their Novell account name.

Enter each account name to the workgroup as a User. Make their password clear. (It is a button on the User Accounts dialog box.) That way, they will log in but won't have to remember a password.

For Users group, give them everything you want EXCEPT Open Exclusive.

Now, create an account for yourself that is NOT named ADMIN. Make that account a member of the ADMINS (note the trailing S) group. Make account ADMIN (note no trailing S) a member of the Users group ONLY. Do these two steps in the order I stated or you will never administer the DB again.

Now, from this point forward, you have minimal security that will trap users who bypass the login.

OK, here's where you have a selling job. Tell your irate users that by forcing a login by account name you can fix the Open Exclusive problem. By leaving the passwords blank you can minimize the intrusiveness of enforcing security. Don't tell them that you have set traps for users who fail to use the security.

Remember to NOT repeat NOT use the .MDW file in the windows /SYSTEM32 directory. Copy this file to the directory where you keep your DB file, rename it, and tell all users they must join this workgroup only ONCE (unless they wipe and reload Office). You won't be lying - it goes into their registry file when they join. The MDW file name persists across system reboots precisely because it IS a registry entry.

 

[PeterWieland]

Thanks Doc,

That seems to work, but I am at home now and I have only tested it on my home network, but it should be OK.

I have not done it quite the same as you describe, because as a school, I have roaming users, so it would be a pain for them to keep joining the group whenever they ran on another PC. I 'joined' all of the users on one machine, and I now distribute the registry keys and the .mdw with the FE. Seems to work ok.

Thanks again

Pete

 

[PeterWieland]

HELP! I was wrong. It doesn't work.

I have just spent 4 hours on this, and I have come to the conclusion that Access is ignoring the group permissions.

The .mdw file is being picked up, as I am being asked for a login, but the DB (FE and BE) are still being opened exclusive. If I start Access then use file/open and pick read only, the FE opens in the correct mode, but the BE is still opening exclusive. I have checked and double checked all the settings, all the defaults are for shared, and the only exclusive permission is for group Admins. I have removed all rights from the group Users. The registry key has been set to look to the new .mdw file. I have also checked that every workstation I have tested on has the correct version of the FE and .mdw file, and I have copied the .mdw file to the shared folder with the BE in it. Is there anywhere else Access can pick up an over-riding default from?

This is driving me crazy! Please help!

Pete