Distributed version of split database won't open on other peoples' computers

Question

I work in an office where I don't have internet access so I have to do this from home.

I have, at work, created a database in Access 2007 that I want to make available to other users in the office.  I have put the database on a server to which my intended users have access and I have split the database so that data are in the back-end database while the forms, queries, reports, etc. are in the front-end database.  It all works fine for me and I have checked that the Access Options include the databases being shared.  A previous version worked fine but I added some enhancements last week and now the other intended users can't open the system.

One of my intended users has Access 2007 on her PC and she can open the new back-end database but not the front-end.  My intention was that all users other than me would use a read only version of the front-end, so I changed it to a .accdr file.  When other users try to open the front-end database it looks as if it will open but then it just goes away - no error message or anything.

I have emailed copies of both the front-end and back-end databases to myself at home where I have Access 2010.  I'm able to open the back-end database but, once again, the front-end won't open.

I'm sure the problem has to be something to do with permissions but I can't find anything that's different in terms of permissions in this version from the previous version - which worked fine.

Any help will be gretaly appreciated.

Answer 1

I would suspect corruption, but since it works fine for you, that's less likely.  However, you could compact and repair, and also try copying everything into a fresh new database - that can solve weird problems.

The most likely differences between the working and non-working scenarios are references, Access version/service packs, and permissions.

Are you logging in to the other PCs under your network user?  That would help clarify any permission issues.

When you use the ACCDB, can you shift start it and see which area fails?  Have you looked at the references on the failing PCs to see if they're identical?

Are the Access programs on all PCs patched to the same levels?  Look in Help About.

Also, I would try deleting all linked tables from the front-end and relinking them again.

Answer 2

Daniel, Scott & Bob,

Thank you for your advice.  Unfortunately I'm no further forward.  There are, currently, three intended users of my database: two Receptionists plus me.  If I can get it working properly then there will probably be another ten or so users.  I have put both the front end (in .accdb, .accdr  and .accde forms) and the back end databases in the same network directory to which all of us have identical permissions.  I can open and use any of the databases fine but the other two users can't.

I had a previous version of this database located in the same place and it worked fine for all of us.  I made some changes which included adding several new Date/Time fields to a key table and removing from the same table some Yes/No fields.  The purpose of this was to allow logging of a series of inductions in relation to the 1500 or so people whose records live in the database.  I had, originally, set these up as Yes/No fields to simply indicate whether an individual had been inducted or not.  The changes were made so that I could record the dates of inductions and their respective expiry dates - so that I can generate reports to management indicating people who have inductions refreshers due in the near future.

These are about the only changes I made from the original, working, version of the database.

I have a feeling there's something that should be obvious that I've done wrong but I can't work out what it is. Would it help if I posted a copy of the front end database somewhere that you can get at it?  It's about 3 megabytes in size.  I could also post a copy of the back end database - I would have to put fictional records in place of the real ones, of course.

Any ideas will be much appreciated.

Answer 3

If you use an ACCDR, like Scott says, it isn't read only but it is like the runtime, so if it is like the runtime you have to provided a startup form and any Ribbons that you need, AND if it wasn't made into an ACCDE (compiled) then it will also need bullet-proof error handling so that unhandled errors don't cause it to just crash.  An ACCDR can be made from both an ACCDB and an ACCDE, so that is also important to note.

Answer 4

Making the file an accdr does not make it read only, it only forces Access to load it as if only the runtime version was installed. This restricts what the user can do,

I would change it back to an accdb, then try loading and see what errors you get. r put better error trapping in.

Answer 5

You talk about permissions, how is your database secured?

Have you put in place proper error handling?

Have you verified your references on your user's computers?  I have had such issues in the pass with databases closing without any message, and it was simply a reference problem (one of the biggest problems with distributing software - you may want to look into late binding code instead of early binding using references)