Access 97 problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter D. Eilenberger
  • Start date Start date
D

D. Eilenberger

Folks..

This weekend I spent a full day at a clients shop fixing
their W2KServer/W2KPro (workstations) setup.. which had
been plagued with slow network response.

I believe I finally tracked it down to a badly setup pair
of network cards on the W2KServer (they were not setup to
team - so the network continally reported a name conflict)
and the network was a DHCP network - picking up the DHCP
assigned addresses from a router - not the server. I
reassigned all the machines (there are only 14 client
machines) fixed IPs - and speed increased dramatically
(plus the DNS on the server finally recognized the client
machines).

That's the background.. the client is running a database
application done in Access97, where the data files live on
the server, and the main application file lives on each
persons desktop. The main app file has pointers in it to
each datafile - using a mapped drive scenerio (ie:
N:\somedatapath\file.mdb)

The customer now is complaining that people are being
dropped out of the application at random, leaving the
index file matching the application file on their desktop,
which must be deleted in order to re-enter the application.

Any thoughts? I know the info above isn't complete, I
haven't been there yet to observe what's happening from
the server end. I had installed the JET database engine
update about a month ago, which improved record locking
capabilities, and this hadn't caused any problems.

Thanks much in advance!

Don
 
Dave - sorry that it's vague.. but I'm not near the
machine or application at the moment.

It's a home grown Access97 application, which uses linked
Access files for various lookups and reports. The pointers
are to the location of the Access files on the server
(using a mapped drive scenerio).

I got additional info from the users - that it's giving
a "Disk or Network Error" message.. but once they delete
the lock/index file on the client desktop - they can go
right back into it, so it appears they haven't lost
connectivity to the server. It appears to happen at about
10 minute intervals (which isn't making them very happy)..
and it happens to everyone using the application.

I'll be at the machines tonight - and hopefully something
will show up in the server error log that is
understandable..

Thanks!

Don
 
Not sure, but it sounds like an Access front-end. You'll be better off to
not use the mapped drives; and use UNC paths to the linked tables instead.
To do so when you create the links, File|Get External Data|Link Tables, then
"Files of Type:" *.mdb, then from the "Look in:" dropdown instead of
choosing the mapped drive choose Network Places|Entire Network|Microsoft
Windows Network, and drill down to the location of the database back-end.
Link the required tables. Then you'll see in the front-end's hidden table
MSysObject "Database" column that you're using a UNC path instead of relying
on the existence of the mapped drive.
 
David - thanks.

When I first moved this application to the W2kServer (from
an NT4 Server) - I did use the UNC paths. The client then
complained about the access time for the tables to open.

I'd asked in one of the newsgroups about this - and it was
suggested that I use mapped drives instead of UNC paths. I
changed the pointers in the main program, and found a
definate speed improvement.

Since then I've made other changes - such as the update to
the Jet database engine on the server and the locking
settings in the Access front end - so it might perform
well with the UNC pointers now.

I'll give it a try..

Thanks much!

Don
 
David - (Sorry for the mis-name.. it's been a rough week)..
-----Original Message-----
Eilenberger - It's possible that it may be due to poor programming in that
database objects aren't being closed properly in any VBA. Also be aware that
by default Windows 2000 installs Jet4.0 which doesn't support DAO 3.51 So if
the Access front-ends have a reference set to DAO 3.51, then this needs to
be changed to at least DAO 3.6
Click to expand...

Thanks - I have to find my notes (there are volumes of
them by now) - I did do a change to the Jet DB engine back
when people had problems getting into the files, with
apparent locking problems. I'll have to try to determine
which version is on the server. Is there any easy way to
tell?

I'd also changed the server (JetDB Engine?) to
allow 'opportunistic' locking - which seemed to help the
lock-out problem that they'd been experiencing previously
(a month or more ago)

I wonder if with the speed increase I'm now seeing by
getting the network cards sorted out into a correct 'team'
if this setting might have to be tweeked.

Again - sorry for the mistake on the name..
In general, Access doesn't do well as a back-end in a multi-user
environment.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately - that's what I'm stuck with.
Running the front-end from the server is a bad idea.
Click to expand...

I thought in a prior note - you had suggested this... I'm
guessing I've misunderstood?
MSDE is free.

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/msde/howtobuy/default.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?
Click to expand...
FamilyID=a0dac778-60a6-4b11-8aa8-
bf12261a303a&DisplayLang=en

Thanks - headed there now..
Regards,
Click to expand...
Dave Patrick
Click to expand...

Don
 
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