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All,
Back when I knew less about Access than I do now (which isn't saying
much if I'm being honest), I asked for help from our company's IT
staff to support multiple users from a network shared drive. However,
the IT "experts" decided the solution was to split the database and
then put both the back end AND front end on the server and use a third
file on the server, a .mdw, to control user permissions.
They asked me to have my users download a shortcut file that has
workgroup options embedded in the shortcut properties: "C:\Program
Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\MSACCESS.EXE" "\\apfs\projs\psm\SM-2
Production Status Metrics.mdb" /WRKGRP "\\apfs\projs\psm\Secured.mdw"
The app works, but is extremely slow. It also has a recurring error
message advising any user after the first user connection of the day
that he/she doesn't have exclusive access, etc. The odd part is that
the user must click 'OK' exactly 31 times to make the error message go
away. Not sure what correlates to the number 31, but it works, and
we're suffering through it until I can figure out how to fix it. (Of
course, there's no budget available to have the IT guys go back and
fix their own work.)
My question is, how do I "un-split" the database and unlock the front
end so I can distribute it anew?
Thanks,
Tom
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Tom
No need to unsplit ... separating the front-end from the back-end is a good
idea.
However, putting a single copy of the front-end on the LAN for all users to
share is a formula for ... disappointment!
Instead, the preferred approach is to put a copy of the front-end on EACH
user's PC, linked to the back-end on the LAN.
Regards
Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP
"Tom" <thomas.utley[ at ]gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8591bccf-4016-46fb-bc7c-a6863d557687[ at ]f40g2000pri.googlegroups.com...
[Quoted Text] > All,
>
> Back when I knew less about Access than I do now (which isn't saying
> much if I'm being honest), I asked for help from our company's IT
> staff to support multiple users from a network shared drive. However,
> the IT "experts" decided the solution was to split the database and
> then put both the back end AND front end on the server and use a third
> file on the server, a .mdw, to control user permissions.
>
> They asked me to have my users download a shortcut file that has
> workgroup options embedded in the shortcut properties: "C:\Program
> Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\MSACCESS.EXE" "\\apfs\projs\psm\SM-2
> Production Status Metrics.mdb" /WRKGRP "\\apfs\projs\psm\Secured.mdw"
>
> The app works, but is extremely slow. It also has a recurring error
> message advising any user after the first user connection of the day
> that he/she doesn't have exclusive access, etc. The odd part is that
> the user must click 'OK' exactly 31 times to make the error message go
> away. Not sure what correlates to the number 31, but it works, and
> we're suffering through it until I can figure out how to fix it. (Of
> course, there's no budget available to have the IT guys go back and
> fix their own work.)
>
> My question is, how do I "un-split" the database and unlock the front
> end so I can distribute it anew?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tom
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I concur with Jeff. As for the 'click OK 31 times', that's caused by an
Adobe addin.
Control Panel, Add/remove programs, find Adobe, click Modify -> create Adobe
PDF. Expand to Acrobat PDF Maker and expand to locate Access; deselect the
add-in for Access.
--
Joan Wild
Microsoft Access MVP
"Tom" <thomas.utley[ at ]gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8591bccf-4016-46fb-bc7c-a6863d557687[ at ]f40g2000pri.googlegroups.com...
[Quoted Text] > All,
>
> Back when I knew less about Access than I do now (which isn't saying
> much if I'm being honest), I asked for help from our company's IT
> staff to support multiple users from a network shared drive. However,
> the IT "experts" decided the solution was to split the database and
> then put both the back end AND front end on the server and use a third
> file on the server, a .mdw, to control user permissions.
>
> They asked me to have my users download a shortcut file that has
> workgroup options embedded in the shortcut properties: "C:\Program
> Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\MSACCESS.EXE" "\\apfs\projs\psm\SM-2
> Production Status Metrics.mdb" /WRKGRP "\\apfs\projs\psm\Secured.mdw"
>
> The app works, but is extremely slow. It also has a recurring error
> message advising any user after the first user connection of the day
> that he/she doesn't have exclusive access, etc. The odd part is that
> the user must click 'OK' exactly 31 times to make the error message go
> away. Not sure what correlates to the number 31, but it works, and
> we're suffering through it until I can figure out how to fix it. (Of
> course, there's no budget available to have the IT guys go back and
> fix their own work.)
>
> My question is, how do I "un-split" the database and unlock the front
> end so I can distribute it anew?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tom
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Tom <thomas.utley[ at ]gmail.com> wrote:
[Quoted Text] >My question is, how do I "un-split" the database and unlock the front
>end so I can distribute it anew?
FWIW I specifically created the Auto FE Updater utility so that I
could make changes to the FE MDE as often as I wanted and be quite
confident that the next time someone went to run the app that it would
pull in the latest version. For more info on the errors or the Auto
FE Updater utility see the free Auto FE Updater utility at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm at my website to keep the
FE on each PC up to date.
Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/
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On Oct 21, 4:06 pm, "Tony Toews [MVP]" <tto...[ at ]telusplanet.net> wrote:
[Quoted Text] > Tom <thomas.ut...[ at ]gmail.com> wrote: > >My question is, how do I "un-split" the database and unlock the front > >end so I can distribute it anew? > > FWIW I specifically created the Auto FE Updater utility so that I > could make changes to the FE MDE as often as I wanted and be quite > confident that the next time someone went to run the app that it would > pull in the latest version. For more info on the errors or the Auto > FE Updater utility see the free Auto FE Updater utility at http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htmat my website to keep the > FE on each PC up to date. > > Tony > -- > Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP > Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can > read the entire thread of messages. > Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm> Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/
Thanks to all so far. Just to be clear, I do understand splitting is
the right thing to do, and that distributing the front end is exactly
what I want to do. My concern is simply how to "unlock" the existing
front end that's currently tied up by the .mdw file.
Right now, I can't even open the FE as a stand-alone file, much less
remove the existing security from it. How do I extract the app from
the setup with the Secured.mdw filter between me and my front end?
Thanks,
Tom
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Tom,
You Can't open a secured FE with out using the .MDW security file
other wise it wouldn't be secure. All you should have to do is move
the front end to the local computer and change the path of the short
cut for the FE like;
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\MSACCESS.EXE"
"C:\SM-2Production Status Metrics.mdb" /WRKGRP "\\apfs\projs\psm
\Secured.mdw"
The only way to remove the security is to open the existing
database(with the password), create a new database while it's open and
import everything into the new database.
Hope that helps.
Rick
[Quoted Text] > Thanks to all so far. Just to be clear, I do understand splitting is
> the right thing to do, and that distributing the front end is exactly
> what I want to do. My concern is simply how to "unlock" the existing
> front end that's currently tied up by the .mdw file.
>
> Right now, I can't even open the FE as a stand-alone file, much less
> remove the existing security from it. How do I extract the app from
> the setup with the Secured.mdw filter between me and my front end?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tom- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
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Do you really want/need to remove the security?
If you put the frontend on each person's computer, you don't need to remove
security. Just modify the shortcut to reflect the new location of the FE
(the mdw can stay with the backend on the server).
"path to msaccess.exe" "path to frontend" /wrkgrp "path to mdw"
If you really want to remove the security, you need to login as a member of
the Admins Group. Grant full permission to every object (don't forget the
database object) to the Users Group. Exit Access, then restart it (not
using your shortcut - you want to be sure you are using the standard
system.mdw that ships with Access). Create a new mdb and import everything
from your old frontend. This new frontend is unsecured.
If the backend is also secured, you'll need to follow the same procedure
with it.
--
Joan Wild
Microsoft Access MVP
"Tom" <thomas.utley[ at ]gmail.com> wrote in message
news:348b4102-6523-4667-aabb-9bb77d8b26b1[ at ]l33g2000pri.googlegroups.com...
On Oct 21, 4:06 pm, "Tony Toews [MVP]" <tto...[ at ]telusplanet.net> wrote:
[Quoted Text] > Tom <thomas.ut...[ at ]gmail.com> wrote: > >My question is, how do I "un-split" the database and unlock the front > >end so I can distribute it anew? > > FWIW I specifically created the Auto FE Updater utility so that I > could make changes to the FE MDE as often as I wanted and be quite > confident that the next time someone went to run the app that it would > pull in the latest version. For more info on the errors or the Auto > FE Updater utility see the free Auto FE Updater utility > at http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htmat my website to keep the > FE on each PC up to date. > > Tony > -- > Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP > Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can > read the entire thread of messages. > Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems > at http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm> Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/
Thanks to all so far. Just to be clear, I do understand splitting is
the right thing to do, and that distributing the front end is exactly
what I want to do. My concern is simply how to "unlock" the existing
front end that's currently tied up by the .mdw file.
Right now, I can't even open the FE as a stand-alone file, much less
remove the existing security from it. How do I extract the app from
the setup with the Secured.mdw filter between me and my front end?
Thanks,
Tom
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"Rick A.B." <rick.bresin[ at ]minneapolis.edu> wrote in message
news:59d194b1-d4e3-470a-a15f-8e1162ec03e3[ at ]y71g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
[Quoted Text] > The only way to remove the security is to open the existing
> database(with the password), create a new database while it's open and
> import everything into the new database.
Well not quite Rick, see Joan's response. :)
Keith.
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On Oct 23, 3:22 am, "Keith Wilby" <h...[ at ]there.com> wrote:
[Quoted Text] > "Rick A.B." <rick.bre...[ at ]minneapolis.edu> wrote in message
>
> news:59d194b1-d4e3-470a-a15f-8e1162ec03e3[ at ]y71g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
>
> > The only way to remove the security is to open the existing
> > database(with the password), create a new database while it's open and
> > import everything into the new database.
>
> Well not quite Rick, see Joan's response. :)
>
> Keith.
What Joan says is correct if you where not going to unsplit the
database. But if you are going to unsplit the database and bring
everything into one database then what I recommended works fine.
Rick
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But your approach will not completely remove security, since it doesn't
change the owner.
Split/unsplit doesn't change how to remove security. If you want to
unsplit, you'd need to also unsecure the backend, anyway.
--
Joan Wild
Microsoft Access MVP
"Rick A.B." <rick.bresin[ at ]minneapolis.edu> wrote in message
news:e5e05b17-5219-44e3-934f-938baff1f564[ at ]x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
On Oct 23, 3:22 am, "Keith Wilby" <h...[ at ]there.com> wrote:
[Quoted Text] > "Rick A.B." <rick.bre...[ at ]minneapolis.edu> wrote in message
>
> news:59d194b1-d4e3-470a-a15f-8e1162ec03e3[ at ]y71g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
>
> > The only way to remove the security is to open the existing
> > database(with the password), create a new database while it's open and
> > import everything into the new database.
>
> Well not quite Rick, see Joan's response. :)
>
> Keith.
What Joan says is correct if you where not going to unsplit the
database. But if you are going to unsplit the database and bring
everything into one database then what I recommended works fine.
Rick
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"Rick A.B." <rick.bresin[ at ]minneapolis.edu> wrote in message
news:e5e05b17-5219-44e3-934f-938baff1f564[ at ]x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
On Oct 23, 3:22 am, "Keith Wilby" <h...[ at ]there.com> wrote:
[Quoted Text] > "Rick A.B." <rick.bre...[ at ]minneapolis.edu> wrote in message
>
> news:59d194b1-d4e3-470a-a15f-8e1162ec03e3[ at ]y71g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
>
> > The only way to remove the security is to open the existing
> > database(with the password), create a new database while it's open and
> > import everything into the new database.
>
> Well not quite Rick, see Joan's response. :)
>
> Keith.
> What Joan says is correct <snip>
What Joan says *is* correct.
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