? best way to push FE changes

W

Will

I have made some changes in forms and macros on my Access 2003 front end and
would like to get all of those changes out to 24 other user's front ends.

That seems very time consuming to go to each workstation and import those
changes from a shared database file. Each front end is basically the same,
but each one have minor differences, so I can't just copy the whole file to
all users.

I'm sure others have experienced the same issue, and with many more
workstations than 24. Does anyone have experience with that?

What is the preferred method of "pushing" changes to front ends?

Thanks in advance, and Happy Holidays,

Will
 
B

Bruce M. Thompson

I have made some changes in forms and macros on my Access 2003 front end and
would like to get all of those changes out to 24 other user's front ends.

That seems very time consuming to go to each workstation and import those
changes from a shared database file. Each front end is basically the same,
but each one have minor differences, so I can't just copy the whole file to
all users.
Click to expand...

Normally, all the front-ends would be the same and it would be relatively easy
to propagate them to all the appropriate users. Any differences are usually
dealt with programmatically within the application, often using Access
User-Level Security or a custom login functionality in order to obtain the
username/workgroup for the desired interface manipulation or actions to be
taken.

What type of differences are you talking about? If this can't be dealt with in a
manner similar to what I have mentioned above, it's possible that there is no
*easy* way to do what you ask.
I'm sure others have experienced the same issue, and with many more
workstations than 24. Does anyone have experience with that?

What is the preferred method of "pushing" changes to front ends?

Thanks in advance, and Happy Holidays,
Click to expand...

Happy Holidays to you, too. :)
 
J

John Vinson

That seems very time consuming to go to each workstation and import those
changes from a shared database file. Each front end is basically the same,
but each one have minor differences, so I can't just copy the whole file to
all users.
Click to expand...

I'd suggest that the frontends should all be identical. If users have
local tables, or individualized routines, they could be in a separate
(local) backend database and/or a library database respectively.

John W. Vinson[MVP]
 
L

Larry Daugherty

Bearing in mind John Vinson's good observations; to wit: "The front ends
must be identical", choose your method of obtaining identity and then look
into Tony Toews's FE Updater at http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

You are still probably going to have to visit each station to bring it into
conformance with your new paradigm. Then, if you use the FE Updater logic,
each time you fire up a local front end it will touch bases with the master
copy on the server and will download a new copy of the front end if the
local copy is out of date.

HTH
 
D

Dirk Goldgar

John Vinson said:
I'd suggest that the frontends should all be identical. If users have
local tables, or individualized routines, they could be in a separate
(local) backend database and/or a library database respectively.
Click to expand...

I agree -- that's the way it *should* be. But I have a client that
insists on doing it their own way, which includes users creating their
own special queries in their own copies of the front end. That means
that whenever I install an update, I have to go to each of a small
number of users, install the new front-end, and import that user's
special queries. That's not how I'd prefer to do it, but since I'm
billing them for my time and they pay without complaining, I can live
with it.
 
T

Todd Shillam

There still is a way, but its a little cumbersome--however, it sure beats
updating a bunch of computers using the old 'sneaker-net' method.

Regardless, ideally all front-ends should be identical--trying to maintain
duplicate copies of the front-end starts getting really time consuming.

That's not to say you cannot customize your program for each user; however,
your program should be identical on every machine.

For example, I have a switchboard (main menu) form. On this form I have a
button to access a report menu; however, the button will only work for
specific users, not all of them.

Are you comfortable with VBA scripting and a little DOS batch scripting? If
so, I can give you some details on how to update front-ends with a little
scripting work.

Best regards,

Todd
 
B

Brendan Reynolds

Regardless, ideally all front-ends should be identical--trying to maintain
duplicate copies of the front-end starts getting really time consuming.
Click to expand...
<snip>

And error-prone. When there are variations of the front-end application, it
is all too easy for changes made to one copy to be over-written by changes
made to another.

--
Brendan Reynolds (MVP)
http://brenreyn.blogspot.com

The spammers and script-kiddies have succeeded in making it impossible for
me to use a real e-mail address in public newsgroups. E-mail replies to
this post will be deleted without being read. Any e-mail claiming to be
from brenreyn at indigo dot ie that is not digitally signed by me with a
GlobalSign digital certificate is a forgery and should be deleted without
being read. Follow-up questions should in general be posted to the
newsgroup, but if you have a good reason to send me e-mail, you'll find
a useable e-mail address at the URL above.
 
T

Tony Toews

Will said:
I have made some changes in forms and macros on my Access 2003 front end and
would like to get all of those changes out to 24 other user's front ends.

That seems very time consuming to go to each workstation and import those
changes from a shared database file. Each front end is basically the same,
but each one have minor differences, so I can't just copy the whole file to
all users.

I'm sure others have experienced the same issue, and with many more
workstations than 24. Does anyone have experience with that?

What is the preferred method of "pushing" changes to front ends?
Click to expand...

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.

In a Terminal Server or Citrix environment the Auto FE Updater now
supports creating a directory named after the user on a server. Given
a choice put the FE on the Citrix server to reduce network traffic and
to avoid having to load objects over the network which can be somewhat
sluggish.

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
 
W

Will

Just got back from the holidays today and I have read all of your comments.

Thanks for everyones input.

I thought one of the advantages of split FE's was that every user would have
their own FE tailored to meet their needs. I found I could "clean up" some
users databases by deleting queries and forms of other users that they didn't
need.

So I will look into creating a master copy for everyone.

Also I will look into getting the app that will push updates out to the FE's
when they are opened.

Thanks again

Will
 
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