printing problems with A97 on XP Pro and A03

[jay lavelle]

We have numerous A97 databases running on NT4.0(SP6). We now have some
XP-Pro boxes with Office 2003 (approximately 7% of users). When some
of the A97 databases are opened in A03 either 1.) reports print
headings, text boxes and lines but no data, or 2) the Preview and
Design buttons on the Reports screen of the database window do not
work. There are no error messages. The reports are, of course, fine
when opened in A97 on NT. Thanks.

 

[Nikos Yannacopoulos]

Jay,

I'm afraid mixed environments are always tricky. A97 to A03 is quite a
leap, and some problems like the one you are facing are expected.

I suppose the current 7% of upgraded machines is bound to increase
toward a 100% in the foreseeable future, right? Again, I suppose this
means you will be upgrading your application anyway at some point? Why
not start now?

I also have a mixed environment, and although I had no
incompatibilities, I chose to do something about it so the users of
upgraded machines can take advantage of the increased speed of A03 (vs.
A2K, my old version). Here's what I did: I upgraded my front end to A03,
leaving the back end to the previous version (you can do the same with
A03 FE and A97 BE). I put both versions of the FE on the server, where
it is copied from on users' machines. I amended my installation and FE
refresher .exe 's to look for C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Office11, which only exists if the Office version is 2003; if
found, the A03 version is copied, otherwise the A2K version is copied.
Even if you don't employ an installation program or some FE refresher
program, you can just manually copy the right FE on each machine.

HTH,
Nikos