form only opens for one user at a time

R

Redbeard

I'm using Access 2000. I've posted on this once before, but now I've
checked all of the settings that were suggested in the previous thread.

I've read through two pages of googled results. I've checked both the
front-end and back-end databases. tools/options/advanced is set for
Shared access, record-level locking is checkmarked on both. All users
have full permissions for the folder where the back-end is located.
The individual forms show no locks in the properties section. The
forms all use queries (from the front end) to populate the form.

I can open the main switchboard on multiple machines, but when I try to
open a data entry form, only one instance can open at a time. When I
try to open the same form on a second machine, it just hangs until the
form closes on the first machine.

Other than a good stiff drink (already taken care of), I don't know
what else to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
A

Albert D.Kallal

Ok, first:

You install the FE on EACH computer...right?

next, did you check the record locks setting of the form? (changing the
settings in tools->options does NOT change all of the existing forms). So,
check the "data" tab of the form, and note the record lock settings.

So, the above is two more things to check off.....

Obviously, if you do have to change the forms record lock settings, you will
have to re-deploy the new FE to your users....
 
L

ldiaz

in Tools>Options>Tab Advanced in "Default Open Mode" check Exclusive ..


I hope this help you..

Ldiaz
 
R

Redbeard

Yes, the FE is installed on each computer.

Yes, in the properties of each form, the setting is for No Locks
 
R

Redbeard

If I check Exclusive won't that do just the opposite of what I want? I
want multiple users to be able to open the form, not just one. But all
I can get now is one user at a time.
 
K

Krizhek

If your source for the form is a query that may be the problem. Try using
the table as the source instead of the query.
 
R

Redbeard

I should mention that the database works fine for one user at a time.
I just can't get two users working simultaneously.

Could the default database folder have anything to do with this? I
have it set to the folder where the BE is located. I can see where
that might cause a problem since only one .LDB file could be created.
 
D

Douglas J. Steele

???

I always use queries as the recordsource for forms. Why do you think that
may be a problem?
 
V

Van T. Dinh

Do the users have (file) Create / Delete permission in the Back-End folder?

If they don't, it is *possible* that the "first" user opens the Back-End in
exclusive mode since he/she cannot create the LDB file. Hence other users
cannot access the data.
 
R

Redbeard

Van said:
Do the users have (file) Create / Delete permission in the Back-End folder?
Click to expand...
Yes. I've triple-checked to make sure that all users have full
permissions.
If they don't, it is *possible* that the "first" user opens the Back-End in
exclusive mode since he/she cannot create the LDB file. Hence other users
cannot access the data.
Click to expand...
The database works fine if only one person is trying to use it. As I
understand things, if they didn't have enough permissions, it shouldn't
work for them at all. Is that wrong?

I have checked and the .LDB file is being created. I can see it in the
folder with the BE whenever someone has the database open. Can two LDB
files be created in the same folder? Maybe that is keeping multiple
users from being able to use the database.
 
R

Redbeard

I don't. I just mentioned that since some other posts have mentioned
that their forms are directly connected to the form. I'm in way over
my head here and I'm hoping that someone who knows Access better than I
do (just about everyone here) will see something that will help them
help me.
 
K

Krizhek

I am just giving my opnion. I have never used or saw the benefit of using a
query instead of table. I will try it out and see how it affects my own
databases.
 
D

Douglas J Steele

The benefit of using a query is that you can control how many fields are
included, as well as the sort order. You can also alias fields as required.
 
R

Redbeard

In my case, the form needs to access data from multiple tables. So I
need the query to get that data gathered together.
 
K

Krizhek

Thanks for the reply. I don't really see the benefit in either of your
points since the form will be used for data entry. If I was building a form
to view previous entries then what is decribed below works great.

Red I have racked my brain trying to figure out what type of issues you are
having with this database. Unfourtuntily when I came up with a similar
problem, I had users who when multiuple people accessed the files one person
would lock up the file until they went to a new record. I had to just make a
brand new one. Which worked out great because I added new features and made
it easier for me to program. And when you have something you made your self
its just that much easier to fix later on.

Also I have read your previous post and I beleave you had an unanswered
question about upgrading to access 2003. I think that it would not help you
out with this problem but I did like going from access 2000 to 2003. So you
may want to upgrade for other reasons.
 
R

Redbeard

Krizhek said:
Thanks for the reply. I don't really see the benefit in either of your
points since the form will be used for data entry. If I was building a form
to view previous entries then what is decribed below works great.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if you are referring to what I wrote, but I don't know how
I'd create my form without a query. I have to get student data from
one table, textbook data from a second table and enter data into a
third table so it corresponds to an individual student. If I linked
the form to the student table, I'd have nothing to enter data into. If
I linked it to the third table, I wouldn't know which student each
record represents (unless I had 1500+ student ID numbers memorized, nor
would I know which textbook the student needs. The query lets me see
student names, by course, and lines them up with a field to store
textbook data.
Red I have racked my brain trying to figure out what type of issues you are
having with this database. Unfourtuntily when I came up with a similar
problem, I had users who when multiuple people accessed the files one person
would lock up the file until they went to a new record. I had to just make a
brand new one. Which worked out great because I added new features and made
it easier for me to program. And when you have something you made your self
its just that much easier to fix later on.
Click to expand...
I did make this database myself. So if anyone screwed it up, it was
me. I'm NOT really "qualified" to do this. I took one month-long
Access class back in the Access 95 or 97 days, and I teach a high
school programming class. Together, those make me the most qualified
person to create this, but that is a loooong way from knowing what I'm
doing. Heck, I'm not even getting paid to do it!

The strange thing is that none of my users would ever be accessing the
same record - same tables, but different records. Everything I see
indicates that the only locks are record-level. The queries are
identical, but since they are in the FE, I'd guess that technically,
the users wouldn't really be using the same query.

FWIW, I've also checked the properties in the queries. They all are
set to "No Locks", just like the forms.

I also tried to go the other direction and checked the "Exclusive"
selection. I was hoping that would at least give the second person a
warning that the DB was locked. No such luck. It behaves exactly the
same way. The switchboard form will come up for multiple users, but
when I try to open the same form on two machines, Access on the second
machine just hangs until the form closes on the first machine, then the
form opens.

Anyway, thanks for trying to help.
Also I have read your previous post and I beleave you had an unanswered
question about upgrading to access 2003. I think that it would not help you
out with this problem but I did like going from access 2000 to 2003. So you
may want to upgrade for other reasons.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback.
 
G

Gdub

Sorry that I just came upon this now and I'm not certain that it
applies to your situation but it might be worth a go:

I ran into the hang problem with a group of 20 users on an Access 2002
database. After much head-scratching (I should clarify that it was my
head I was scratching) and web-searching, I found a great solution
which cured the hang problem:

1. Create a 1-field table. (I named my table tblDummy)
2. I named the field DumField as Text
3. I typed the word "dum" into it and locked the field.
4. I built a form called DumForm, using my new tbldummy as the Control
Source.
5. I created a Macro which opens the DumForm in "hidden" window mode.
6. To have the macro auto-start during database opening, I named it
AutoExec.

With this form hiding behind the scenes, it wondrously allowed
multi-users to move about freely without hanging AND the form has never
become any sort of nuisance.

Hope this helps somebody..It took many weeks of failure until this gold
nugget came along.

Geoff
 
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