ACC: Design Change Not Visible to All Users of Shared Database

• Microsoft Access versions 7.0, 97

SYMPTOMS

Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.

When using Microsoft Access in a shared network environment in which all users of a database have the ability to create and modify modules and create and modify form and report objects that contain modules, newly created or modified objects will have the following behavior.

In Microsoft Access 97

   New or modified modules and new or modified form and report objects that
   contain modules will appear in the Database window, but other users will
   not be able to open the objects or see the changes made to existing
   objects until they close and reopen the database.

In Microsoft Access 7.0

   New or modified modules and new or modified form and report objects that
   contain modules will not appear in the Database window for other users
   of the database until they close and reopen the database.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem do one of the following.

In Microsoft Access 7.0

   Users who create or modify modules or form and report objects that
   contain modules in a shared database will need to make sure other
   users of the database close and reopen their copies of the database
   when changes are made.

In Microsoft Access 97

   Users who create or modify form and report objects that contain
   modules can take advantage of the new lightweight forms and reports.
   Lightweight forms and reports do not contain class modules. Therefore,
   lightweight forms and reports can be created or modified while the
   database is open and still be available to other users of the database.

   Users who create or modify modules will need to have all users close
   and reopen their copy of the database when changes are made.

MORE INFORMATION

Some of the problems that may be encountered when users are sharing a database in a multiuser environment and all users are creating new objects or modifying existing objects are as follows:

• If one user creates an object in a shared database, another user may unknowingly create the same object.
• One user's changes can supersede another user's changes.
• If one user makes a change to a Visual Basic for Applications procedure, other users can't run the updated Function or Sub procedure until they close and reopen their copy of the database.
• If one user makes changes to objects that are dependent on one another, other users may open inconsistent versions of the objects.
• In Microsoft Access 97, newly created objects appear in the Database window, but they cannot be opened.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. Share the sample database Northwind.mdb on your server. To do this, do the following:

       a. Set up a shared folder on a network server. You may need to obtain
          your network administrators help to do this.
   

       b. Place a copy of the sample database Northwind.mdb on the network
          server.
   

       c. Make sure the database is set to open in a shared mode.
   

   NOTE: This option is set on the Tools menu under Options.

2. Connect to the network server from two computers.

3. Open the Northwind.mdb database on both computers.

4. On computer one, make a copy of the Customers form and saved it as Customers1.

5. On computer two, click the Forms tab to see if the copy of the Customers form (Customers1) appears in the Database window. You should see the following behavior.

   In Microsoft Access 7.0:

         The newly created object does not appear in the Database window.
   

   In Microsoft Access 97:

         The newly created object appears in the Database window, but you
         cannot open it.
   

6. Close and reopen the shared copy of Northwind.mdb on computer two.

REFERENCES