Access limits again -- Note to Rick B

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Hi Rick

Thanks for you reply of a week or so ago. Starting right after that I have
been unable to make a post to reply. Apparently it was some problem at
Microsoft which has now been resolved.

My question concerned limits in Access relative to a maximum on the number
of controls, forms, subforms that can be active at one time. You (Rick0
suggested that I look at Specifications in the Access help. I did look and
those do not really address my problem. The database I am working on has
about 150 form, 25 modules, 100 linked tables and about 530 stored queries.
The total number is well within the max of 32000 allowed. The file size is
around 12M when compacted. The real issue however is that I am seeing a
runtime limitation rather than a design time issue. Each of the forms
involved works fine when opened separately. The problem comes when I try to
open several at the same time. Eventually, the error that occurs is that
subform controls fail to load the respective forms. E.g. a statement such
as Set frm = sfrmCtrl.Form fails with an error saying that the Form
object is missing or invalid. This same form opens correctly when opened
alone or before too many other forms are opened. I would like to hear from
anyone that has seen the same problem.
 
This same form opens correctly when opened
alone or before too many other forms are opened. I would like to hear
from
anyone that has seen the same problem.
Click to expand...

Hum, I have many systems in use where I open 7 x 6 grids of sub-forms (that
is 42 sub-forms in ONE form). The application is also quite small (in the
range of what you got (ie: 160 forms, 27,000 lines of code, etc).

I had zero problems, and never hiccup.

I also got many applications that allow multiple instances of the SAME form
to be opened, and that form ahs several sub-forms. Again, I had zero
problems.

As for using the runtime vs the full version, again, the vast majority of my
applications are deployed using the runtime. Besides, the runtime is really
the same version of ms-access anyway.

I do always deploy a mde to my users, since then any un-handled error does
NOT re-set all local (and global too) variables. You might try using a mde
for your applications, as it sounds like you got some un-handled error, or a
variable going out of scope.
 
Thanks for the letter. I mislead you with the reference to runtime. My db
is an .mdb with the full version. My reference to runtime meant that problem
occurs when the forms are opened( runtime) as opposed to some design time
limitations. The forms in question were tree structures each with around 70
subfoms . Two of the forms would open with a total of around 140 subforms
but trying to open a third with another 70 or so subforms failed. I have
since redesigned the forms to get around the problem by using a smaller
number of subforms but I would still like to know why this is happening.

JB
 
Hum, I would say that 70 subforms is a lot, and certainly a more then any
application I used.

Is it possible to leave the source of the sub-form control empty until you
need it?

A sub form is of course simply a control, and you can "set" whatever form
that control will display. So, often, in place of having 10 tabs, and 10
sub-forms, you can have ONE sub-form control, and simply "set" what form
that control displays. This approach could perhaps reduce the large number
of sub-forms you are loading. (and, this also tends to reduce form load time
by a large factor).

It is certainly possible you are hitting a limit, or some type of wall here.
If I were to guess, an application with more then 50-60 sub-forms is a
rather RARE occurrence.

I just tested a sub-form with 126 sub-forms, and it does load and run fine.

I should note that there is a office update, and this update is a result of
"crash" analyses. While a2003 was good out of the box, all those people
hitting the "send" report button when a crash occurs made MS release sp1.
And, after a another year or so of people hitting "send report" also made ms
release sp2.

SP2 contains significant enhancements, and stability improvements based on
these crash test reports. So, I have been responding here assuming that you
have installed the updates...as they really are a good help (I mean, MS has
released a bunch of bug fixes...it is up to us to install them!!).

So, I got to say that a2003 out of the box was one of the best, and most
stable editions I ever used. After you install sp1, and sp2 for office, it
is even better.

So, I would turn off track auto name correct (as that is a know feature to
reduce stability). I would also ensure that you installed both sp1, and sp2
for office.
 
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