security!

[bpaquette]

alright, i know this question has been addressed DOZENS of times before, but I've yet to see a definitive answer. i screwed with securities at one point or another but abandon that path. however, now my database randomly opens exclusively, meaning no one can use it... why is this? the following things things are selected in the advanced tab of options:

"Shared", ""No Locks", and "Open Database using record-level locking"


Are any of those the culprit? this is a really big problem as i am going online with this database in a week and this is the only thing i have yet to fix. i thought i fixed it a dozen times over by deselecting the open exclusive privelige for the admin user name and deselecting the admin privelige, but it still screws me up.

does anyone know for sure what's causing this? it creates the lock file (mde?) in the dir whenever the db is open, i know that's indicative of SOMETHING.


anyone out there feel my pain? :\

 

[GumbyD]

What version of Access are you using? If you are using a version that is later then Access 97 then you may be having a Passive Locking problem. A passive lock is created when a user opens up a form or report in design view. This will cause users who try to log in after that user to get an error that says something like " the database has be placed in a state by user "" that ..." Sadly, Microsoft does not see this as a problem so there is no fix available. The other thing to check is to make sure all of your users have enough permissions to add or delete a file on the directory where the database is located. If they cannot delete a file then if they are the last person out of the database the locking file (.ldb) will not be deleted and the database will continue to think users are accessing the database.

Good Luck!

GumbyD

 

[Pat Hartman]

Sadly, Microsoft does not see this as a problem so there is no fix available

- It is not only not a problem, it is by design. The updating of objects by multiple users is NOT allowed unles you install a product such as SourceSafe to handle source control and change management.

 

[mission2java_78]

I dont think this is a problem at all.

 

[GumbyD]

Jon -

You must not have multiuser / server based databases with users who like to design reports! It is a drag if you do. Not only can't you save your work when another user is in, but other users can't get into the database when have a form or report open in design view. Access 97 was the best version because it did not have this restriction!

GumbyD

 

[Pat Hartman]

Java and I are in 100% agreement on this. Allowing users to update/add objects in a multi-user db is a real NO-NO. If your users want to create their own reports, give them their own empty db with links to the shared tables. I wouldn't even let them make changes in their own copy of the fe. If you do that, you'll have issues when you need to install new versions.

 

[mission2java_78]

What if your end user who wants to create a report creates a query mistakenly using a cartesian product where the number of rows was originally supposed to be 240 and all of a sudden is 254,000 rows?

What if one user deletes a report / query mistakenly?

What if a user steals all of your source code / worse modifies it?

What if your end user starts linking to tables you did not want linked to your application?

Ack way too many what ifs. I'd agree with Pat in giving them a link to your tables. That way all the objects sit on a seperate db, you can later on go look over the report / query in question and import if needed.

Or there is source safe.

 

[bpaquette]

so if i, or anyone else, isn't in design mode, it wont lock it like that?

 

[mission2java_78]

If you are the only person developing and you go into design mode and your the only single user you wont receive a message. However, say Joe Blow is entering records into your db..and you go in and try to go into design mode..youll get a message so you cannot save your changes.

I dont see the big deal..you should be working on an offline version and uploading say nightly.

 

[bpaquette]

er that's not really my concern. im just trying to determine whether or not this 'exclusive open' mode applies only when the person w/ the db open has it in design mode...

 

[GumbyD]

Are there any message boxes or errors that the users are getting and what is the exact text of the message?