Out of Memory errors on network (1 Viewer)

[keith_pyrasoft]

I am experiencing inexplicable 'Out of memory' errors from an Access 97 mde front end on a peer-to-peer network. The backend is located on a user PC, and only the networked front ends give the error. The PCs concerned are running WIN98 SE, and have 256Mb RAM. The error does not seem to be restricted to any one particular process. The greatest number of records in any one table on the back end is c. 40,000.

Can anyone help please?

Thanks

Keith

 

[Roni Sutton]

I have had a similar experience.

Except it is a 2k fe w/a 97 be on a Windows 98 ops sys and a Novell LAN. Shortly after they changed our network we began experiencing all sorts of oddball problems with our Access dbs. In this particular case, I did the following - I repaired and compacted the backend AND the front end. I also checked the references in the frontend (the back end contained no vba). There were several missing ones. We haven't had the issue since. I suspect the problem was the missing references, but why that would produce an "Out of Memory" error, I don't know. Good luck.

 

[IgorB]

Your procedure or query involved is too complex or wrong.
I had the same problem few times.

 

[keith_pyrasoft]

Thanks for the responses.

IgorB, the problem occurs erratically, so that I don't see how a particular query might be causing it....

Roni, very interested to read your experiences......... I have now checked for unresolved references, but there are none.

However, it all helps with the lateral thinking.....

 

[Roni Sutton]

OK - now check for this

If you have both ado and dao references delete them both and add them back in the opposite order. I don't know why this makes a difference, but we have occasionally found that 'switching the order' of the references in the list stopped the error. This is really grasping at straws, here, but we often get this error when a developer in another city with different references opens the database and changes something. It seems to save his access reference list as opposed to the one that was originally created when the database was made.

 

[GTC]

I am currently having the same experience and there is next to no code.

It's all forms, controls and linked tables. I'll get out of memory problems at random periods and the screen doesn't redraw properly. Controls go missing, status bars don't update and a shut down/restart is the only option.

And why is it these things can never be replicated on the developer's PC!!!

 

[The_Doc_Man]

If you are running a reasonable copy of Win98, you have a System Monitor tool (or some similar name) under menu path Accessories>>System Tools. Run that. Look in the memory resources you can monitor. You want to find out if you are running low on resource memory, swap space, or physical memory for non-swap items.

Issues that could contribute to this problem include opening a lot (A REALLY BIG LOT) of recordsets explicitly or implicitly. Every recordset implies a memory-resident data structure to control it AND a set of buffers to hold the actual records.

Then there is the issue that it is a FE/BE situation, so you also need a pot-load of memory for the file buffers.

Now, one last little "gotcha" that sometimes is a really BIG "gotcha" is the number of files. Yes, Win98 is supposed to be Windows, where you don't worry about that stuff - but the truth is, it is a disguised MS-DOS 7.x, and the CONFIG.SYS file really means something. See what it has for its FILES= statement. You can see this from Accessories>>System Tools>>System Info. If you have insufficient FILES= buffers pre-allocated, that could get you into trouble too.

 

[keith_pyrasoft]

Thanks everybody for your remarks. It's a big relief just to know I'm not the only one experiencing the problem...

The_Doc_Man - I take your point about the FILES statement, and I'm checking it out. I just hadn't thought of that.

 

[iancampbellian]

out of memory

two things to do.

1. improve the query so it is only asking for the records you need (i.e. filter it)

2. up the VIRTUAL MEMORY setting on your PC's.