Sharing conflict when using Access 2000 and 2002 together

  • Thread starter Thread starter Daniel Lundin
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Daniel Lundin

The database I am using is made in Access 2000. All users
have Access 2000 except one, who has Access 2002. When this
user opens the database, other users can't open it at the
same time. It sais that the database is already opened by
the administrator and therefore it cannot be opened by the
client.

When creating the database, no special rights where
assigned, which means that all users should have the same
rights.

Perhaps it could be something else that is causing the
error. I strongly suspects that it is Access 2002 that is
causing it though, sence Office never has been very
compatible between different versions. Before I "downgrade"
the user back to Office 2000, I would like to be certain
about what it is that is causing the problem.

I am also looking for a documentation over which bugs each
one of all those Access service packs fixes. Does such a
list exists?

Thanks in advance,
Daniel Lundin
 
The major issue between Access 2000 and 2002 is a development one, (fixed in
a service pack) not a user one. The only user issue between versions that
I'm aware of is the references of other Office apps. That should never be a
problem once each user has his own copy of the front-end. If you are not
using a split database with the data only running on the server and all the
rest of the application running as a separate database on each desktop, then
your problem will be solved by doing so.

BTW, One of the hallmarks of Microsoft's success is the backward
compatibility of its software. Access 2002 has significantly higher
stability during development than 2000, which alone would enough to make me
want to use it.
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
Microsoft Access
Free Access downloads:
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access
 
Thanks for your fast reply.
The best way would indeed be to have the database running
on a server. But that is a rather big step, sence the users
are used to the current, not-so-good method. I guess I'll
try to change the user's installation back to Access 2000
and hope that it will solve the problem.

I don't agree with you that MS is very successfull with the
compability of it's software. Just look at Word, it isn't
compatible with anything as soon as it gets more advanced
than plain text. Not to mention the problems when trying to
make a program compatible between different Windows
versions... that is one of MS's largest problems.
 
I think you may have misread Arvin's reply. Nowhere did he say the database
should be running on the server. What he was talking about is that your
application should be split into a front-end (containing the queries, forms,
reports, macros and modules), linked to a back-end (containing just the
tables). The back-end sits on the server, and every user has his/her own
copy of the front-end on their hard drive. As long as your users have a
shortcut today to open the application, this should have no impact
whatsoever on them: they shouldn't be aware of the change.
 
Well... never the less I would have to spend some time
(which I don't have) on doing it. I would rather just have
it working, sence it always has before. If I take the step
and put the tables up on a server I might as well do a
major change and switch to SQL Server or some similar DBMS
more suited for such a task.
 
The "server" can be any machine that the users connect to to share the data.
My point is that ONLY the data tables should be shared, not the rest of the
application. Use linked tables to connect the data to individual copies of
the code/forms/queries/reports which should run on each machine. There is a
database splitter wizard that will even do it for you.

I'm not sure I agree with your compatibility comments. I can and have
opened/edited/saved Word 2.0 documents from Word 2000 (I've not had occasion
to edit in later versions.). I can convert and run Access 2.0 databases in
Access 2003 running in Windows XP Pro. I do have to convert and/or rewrite
16 bit APIs as 32 bit APIs, but that generally doesn't take very long. The
code is also different between 16 bit and 32 bit versions, but all that I've
written was upgradeable.
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
Microsoft Access
Free Access downloads:
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access
 
I don't know how many users you have, but even manually splitting a database
rarely takes more than 10 minutes. Using the wizard generally takes 2 or 3
minutes. Connecting the front-end to the backend is done by the wizard, so
the only time left is copying the linked front-end to each workstation. That
never takes more than a minute or so per workstation. So unless you have
more than 35 or 40 workstations, you can't spend less time doing it right
than using the single file uninstalling Office 2002 and reloading Office
2000 on a machine. That would take about an hour to uninstall, clean the
registry, and then install the earlier version. Even then you should still
split your database as it makes it more stable and less likely to cause
corruption. Have a look at the following KB article:

http://tinyurl.com/yvb8d

Switching to SQL-Server will require that you split your application first,
or entirely rewrite it as a split application. You gain some security,
scalability, and robustness by doing so. But that comes at an expense of at
least 3 to 6 times the cost (in time and money) of the Access application.
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
Microsoft Access
Free Access downloads:
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access
 
I strongly suspects that it is Access 2002 that is causing it though....

Possibly. Check the default open mode on this installation of Access. Click on Tools >
Options and select the Advanced tab. The default open mode should be set to Shared.

Also, all users need to have RWCD privileges for the folder. Verify that this is so.
Your lone ranger with Access 2002 may not have create privilege on the file share. I
believe this will result in opening the database in exclusive mode, since the .LDB file
cannot be created. See Introduction to .ldb Files for more info.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=208778

Forcing this user to downgrade to Access 2000 will be a total waste of your time, and
could be hazardous to your health. I know how I'd react to you, if you insisted on
downgrading me!! Access 2000 and 2002 can peacefully co-exist when hitting the same
back-end data. And yes, you *really* do need to split that database. Sharing an entire
database was identified by Bill Ramos, an Access Program Manager, as the # 1 cause of
database corruption in a half-day seminar that I attended on the Microsoft campus this
past May.
I am also looking for a documentation over which bugs each
one of all those Access service packs fixes. Does such a
list exists?
Click to expand...

The service packs are for Office, not just Access. Search the Knowledge Base, available
at http://support.microsoft.com. There are very detailed KB articles available that list
this information.

The other thing that I recommend doing is to ensure that all of your PC's are using the
same service pack level of JET (should be SP8):
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=239114


Tom

________________________________


The database I am using is made in Access 2000. All users
have Access 2000 except one, who has Access 2002. When this
user opens the database, other users can't open it at the
same time. It sais that the database is already opened by
the administrator and therefore it cannot be opened by the
client.

When creating the database, no special rights where
assigned, which means that all users should have the same
rights.

Perhaps it could be something else that is causing the
error. I strongly suspects that it is Access 2002 that is
causing it though, sence Office never has been very
compatible between different versions. Before I "downgrade"
the user back to Office 2000, I would like to be certain
about what it is that is causing the problem.

I am also looking for a documentation over which bugs each
one of all those Access service packs fixes. Does such a
list exists?

Thanks in advance,
Daniel Lundin
 
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