"Could not use ..." error message

[Mark]

Before I complain to my IS person about Windows Network privileges, I wanted
to see if anyone knows of a problem with Access 2000 (running within Access
2002) which might explain the following:

We have three computers which have just been networked:

A-XP ... Win XP, Access 2000 (running within Access 2002); file server
B-XP ... Win XP, Access 2000 (running within Access 2002)
C-98 ... Win 98, Access 97

The database is split (2 Access 2000 FEs and 1 Access 97 FE); the BE is
Access 97 and is located on the A-XP machine.

All FEs open in Shared mode, with record-locking at the record level.

The folder itself is shared, not just the mdb file.

I created a table in the BE with one (text) field. Each FE has a hidden
form which opens at start-up and which is bound to that table. (I heard
this helps on mixed, 98/XP networks. I hope I did this correctly).

Problem:

The B-XP machine can only open in read mode -- regardless of whether either
of the other users have opened the database.

The C-98 machine can read and write, regardless of the status of the other
two machines.

If the A-XP machine (the file server) is the only one open, then it can read
and write to the database. If the C-98 machine comes online, however, then
the A-XP machine can read, but no longer write to the database.

If the C-98 machine comes online first, then the A-XP machine cannot open
the database at all -- it gets the message: "Could not open (path/database);
file already in use".

.... I finally got frustrated and for the heck of it (and against the IS
person's wishes) reconfigured the whole thing so that the BE resides on the
C-98 machine and that machine acts as the file server. I didn't mess with
any of the Windows Network privileges. Now everything works as it should.
The three machines can open in any order and all three can read and write.

Is this most likely a network privileges problem, or something to do with
Access 2000/2002, or something to do with it being a mixed platform?

One other issue while I'm at it. I've heard that the Subdatasheet Name
property should be set to "None", instead of "Auto". This doesn't apply
where the BE is version 98 does it?

Thanks much for any help.
Mark.

 

[Cheryl Fischer]

There's a rule in Access about Network Privileges: Any user who will
open/run an Access database that is located on a Server *must* have full
permissons - Read, Write, Create, Delete, Execute - to the folder in which
the database is located. This is because in Access the LDB file for the
database which contains information users, sharing, locking, etc., must be
created, modified and deleted as users open and close the database.

hth,

 

[Mark]

I know I had asked the IS person to grant each user "full" permission for
the shared folder, but perhaps we were understanding "full" to mean
different things. I'll have to check with him about that. Thanks for the
response, Cheryl.
Mark.

 

[Mark]

Cheryl,
A question occurred to me which you may know the answer to; namely, what was
happening in terms of privileges to A-XP (the file server) to cause it to
stop being able to write to the database (but still be able to read it) just
because the '97 computer (B-97) came online? Was something changed in the
ldb file which then partially locked out A-XP?

Also, did you have any comment regarding the question I posed at the end of
my original post --
I've heard that the Subdatasheet Name property should be set to "None",
instead of "Auto". This doesn't apply where the BE is version 98 does it?

Thanks again.
Mark.

 

[Cheryl Fischer]

I've heard that the Subdatasheet Name property should be set to "None",
instead of "Auto". This doesn't apply where the BE is version 98 does it?

From what I understand, the Subdatasheet Name prop should be set to "None"
in each table in the back-end. And, according to the article at the
following link, this should be done on an Access 97 BE.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=261000

 

[GVaught]

The subdatasheet attribute is not related to the type of OS you are running.
It has to do with the version of Access.
Since Access 97 does not have subdatasheet capabilities then they should be
turned off in Access 2000/2002 until you upgrade the 97 version.

 

[Mark]

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=261000 just mentions Access 2000, and
when I open an Access 97 table (which I'm using on the server), there is no
subdatasheet Name property listed in properties. So, I guess I don't need to
worry about this slowing down the database ... right?

 

[Mark]

Do you mean that I turn off the LOCAL tables in the 2000 FE's?? I can't do
anything with the linked 97 tables can I?

 

[John Spencer (MVP)]

Pardon me, but I don't recall that Access 97 has subdatasheets.

Did I miss something?

 

[Joan Wild]

You may want to look at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;300216
Particularly, it recommends that you don't have the backend on a 98 machine
with XP clients.

 

[Mark]

Thank you Joan. Our IS person found that he hadn't set the privileges as he
thought he had. Monday I'll put the BE back on the XP file server. I
suppose I need to ask him to change the Registry settings for Opportunistic
Locking, also?

Could you clarify GVaught's suggestion that:
"Since Access 97 does not have subdatasheet capabilities then they should be
turned off in Access 2000/2002 until you upgrade the 97 version." Am I to
do this for the unlinked tables in each of the XP FEs?

Thanks for your help.
Mark.

 

[Joan Wild]

The subdatasheet property does not exist in version 97. You cannot change
this property in a linked table, so you can't do this in the XP frontends.

As for Opportunistic Locking, I'd suggest you leave as is and see if
problems develop.

 

[Mark]

 

[Tony Toews]

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=261000 just mentions Access 2000, and
when I open an Access 97 table (which I'm using on the server), there is no
subdatasheet Name property listed in properties. So, I guess I don't need to
worry about this slowing down the database ... right?

Actually A2000 in the absence of this property defaults it to [Auto].
So you should run the code mentioned in this article anyhow.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
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