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I have a database on my PC and a Replica on the network because two other
people are entering data into it and I synchronize. Now I need to give two
other people access to ONLY some forms and the corresponding reports. I have
read about Splitting, Switchboard, Workgroups, etc. At this point I am
thouroughly confused. I need to know which way to go for the SIMPLEST
solution. I apreciate your responses.
 
Sam,

I'm certainly no expert, but I used to have the same setup as you and have
switched to a split database and workgroups with different permissions.

I used this article to setup the security:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;289885

In my case I have the backend database (which contains only tables) on the
network. My front end is on my pc (and laptop) and contains links to the
tables in the backend, the queries, forms, reports, etc. The front end can be
different for every user based on what forms/queries they need.

For security I have two groups (other than admin) with different levels of
access. There are many users but they all belong to one of the groups, so
security is based on the group, not the user. Both frontend and backend use
the same security file (system.mdw) but have permissions set differently. I
linked all my forms to a query of the table rather than the table itself.
That way I can prevent anyone but an administrator from changing the tables,
but everyone can still use them via the queries. You just set the queries to
run with owner's permissions instead of user's permissions.

Hope that helps!

KT
 
Thank you sooo much. This does indeed help. It will take me awhile to fully
absorb it and I am sure I will have more questions One of the things I need
is to restrict what info the users can see in a table. Using Queries would
allow that, correct?
Again, thank you.
 
Sam said:
Thank you sooo much. This does indeed help. It will take me awhile
to fully absorb it and I am sure I will have more questions One of
the things I need is to restrict what info the users can see in a
table. Using Queries would allow that, correct?
Click to expand...

Yes it would. I would caution you about your current setup. You don't need
to replicate, and in fact you shouldn't replicate anything but the tables.

The first thing you want to do is synchronize the replicas and then
unreplicate.

Then split it as KT suggests, and give each user a copy of the frontend.
 
Thank you! Can you tell me why it is not good to Replicate? Also, if I have
Lookup fields in a table then the table would have to be linked and not just
the query, correct?
 
Sam said:
Thank you! Can you tell me why it is not good to Replicate? Also,
if I have Lookup fields in a table then the table would have to be
linked and not just the query, correct?
Click to expand...

I didn't say it wasn't good to replicate, I just said in your situation it
wasn't needed. You have LAN so all the users can connect directly.
Replication is meant for users that are on a WAN or occasionally connected
(eg. a salesman offline with a laptop).

From your post, it sounded as though you replicated a mdb file (i.e. all the
objects in the mdb). You should only replicate tables.

I don't understand your final question. You can only link tables to your
frontend. You will find that lookup fields will cause you grief. More
details at
http://www.mvps.org/access/lookupfields.htm
 
Thank you. I understood KT to say that they linked the forms to Queries
instead of Tables. That was my point on the last question regarding lookups
and links. I think when this is fully absorbed I will be redesigning my
whole database. It's working, but I am beginning to see a much more
efficeint way of doing it. The reason for replicating the queries, forms and
reports is because I am the one designing them and when I make changes they
only have to be made one place. Isn't this a good thing?
I truly appreciate your responses. These boards are life savers!
 
Sam said:
Thank you. I understood KT to say that they linked the forms to
Queries instead of Tables.
Click to expand...

OK that means that the form's recordsource is a query rather than a table.
The reason
for replicating the queries, forms and reports is because I am the
one designing them and when I make changes they only have to be made
one place. Isn't this a good thing?
Click to expand...

No it isn't. Replication is meant for data (tables) only! You run a risk
of corruption if you replicate other objects.

You should split the database. You'll have a copy of the frontend on your
machine where you can make design changes. (if you need to make design
changes to the backend, you'd open it directly when no one else is using
it). Once you have your copy of the frontend updated with changes and
you've tested it, then you'd roll it out to the users. There are ways of
automating this. See Tony Toews site for one method.
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm
 
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