keep 2 copies of a DB in synch with Access 2007

[David W. Fenton]

By the way my earlier comment about solar power would have been
obvious to anyone using solar power

And that would be how many of the people reading your post?

If you want good answers, you have to write your posts so that they
don't have hidden Easter Eggs for the cognescenti, unless the only
useful answers you're interested in are from the cognescenti.

 

[KumbiaKid]

Hi again,

They don't necessarily work on their PCs during normal working hours at all.
The users are botanists and a very large portion of their work is in the
field and a lot of their DB work (but certainly not all) is after hours. The
PCs, as I said, are not on at predictable times and will not be left on when
not in use. I have, however, made progress with the DB owner and I believe I
may have, with the info I've gained from this thread, convinced her that a
VPN connection is a reasonable prospect. So, if:
1. It is given that neither PC can be assumed to be on when the other user
needs to work on the DB; and
2. There's not an available "always on" server; and
3. We can convince both users that a VPN is OK, then
what is the best solution? (Custom programming is not an option -- no one
available has the skills.) Is it, after all, replication that is the best
solution, assuming the replica is created via the VPN and synched via the
VPN? You guys have convinced me to stop using replication via "sneaker net".

Thanks again to you all for your input!!!
KumbiaKid (male, no solar power -- on the grid with frequent power failures,
PCs all on UPSs)

 

[David W. Fenton]

And watch out who you call pointy-haired-boss. You might be
insulting somebody we know.

Me worry about insulting someone? Hah!

 

[David W. Fenton]

"I am fully aware that this is not how replication is supposed to
work and that moving replicas to different directories on
different PCs is technically a no-no"

KumbiaKid was "fully aware" it was a really, really bad idea
before posting here because KumbiaKid found that out while doing
research. This info isn't in the Microsoft Access help files.

The Access help files and Microsoft's replication documentation
don't explicitly say it's wrong to do that, but they also don't tell
you it's a bad idea to pour gasoline over your computer and throw a
match at it.

There is nothing in any of Microsoft's replication documentation
that even remotely suggests that copying replicas promiscuously
through the file system is a good idea.

 

[David W. Fenton]

Thanks again to you all for your input!!!

I would say the best solution is to host the app on a Windows
Terminal Server that is someplace other than where the users are
working. This eliminates the need for replication (which is not
something you want to get into if there's no programming skill in
place), and removes any of the solar power problems.