Linked Table Add In - is it pretty bullet proof

G

G-Man

Greetings,

I am maintaining anumber of Access 97 databases (Ueah, I know -Upgrade. Will
happen soon)

All DBs are Front End Pointing to back ends. There is one major backend and
several others.

Typically, when I am working on a FE, the first thing I do is point it to a
"not live" copy of the main backend. That way I can play. I do this many
times a week.

The real BE is on the network. The Dummy BE is on my computer. Have there
been any cases of the Link Table manager NOT making a change event though it
said it has?

I always check the AFTER of this operation and make sure I see C:\ . . . .
instead of the network in the Linked Tables manager window. when I KNOW
these are all pointing to the correct dummy daya, is there anything else I
need to do??

I haven't seen any problems. It's just that I rely very very very much on
this feature working. Anyone heard of any horror stories
 
S

Susie DBA [MSFT]

Linked Table Manager doesn't update the connection strings for SQL
Passthroughs.

MDB shouldn't be used by anyone for any reason

ADP are a much much simpler archtecture
 
G

G-Man

Thanks.

I don;t know why . . .but today, I just thought "Man, if this ever doesn't
work I could do some real damage."

I generally make a backup of the main back end once a day . . . . but not
necessarily in connection with every different session I am working. I
re-direct the links and drive on.
 
D

Damian S

Hi G-Man,

The way I go about it is to update the data in my dummy back end so that I
can tell by looking that it is the DEV or TEST database - I do this by
appending (DEV) or (TEST) to the main fields, and by setting all email
addresses to my own address. That way I can tell by looking exactly what
data I am looking at.

To do this with SQL is simple - something like this:

update TABLENAME set FIELDNAME = FIELDNAME & " (DEV)"

Hope this helps.

Damian.
 
G

G-Man

I see. Makes sense. But as long as I know I am working in an FE only, I
simply link the FE to a dummy BE and then add DUMMY Data to the startup
Description. I never add "Dummy Data" until I have changed the links.

I always look at the Application Description Bar when I am in a database. If
I don;t see "Dummy Data" in the name, I know I am working with a FE that is
linked to live data.

Works for me.

Thanks for the idea, however. may need to incorporate it if things get busier.
 
P

Pat Hartman \(MVP\)

I do something similar except that I have the application check the name of
the back end automatically. If it is not the production back end, the menu
shows the name of the actual back end in red.
 
T

Tony Toews [MVP]

G-Man said:
I always check the AFTER of this operation and make sure I see C:\ . . . .
instead of the network in the Linked Tables manager window. when I KNOW
these are all pointing to the correct dummy daya, is there anything else I
need to do??

I haven't seen any problems. It's just that I rely very very very much on
this feature working. Anyone heard of any horror stories
Click to expand...

I have some code, on startup, which checks the connect string of all
linked tables and ensures they are the same. In addition if the
database is an MDB and the connect string is on a server, that is \\
present, then I change the background colour of the main menu in
orange. The users only ever see an MDE.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
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