Hello Amber,
A front-End(FE)database file may reside anywhere you want
to put it on the User's workstation .... but since you are
probably the person who will be doing the updates and
changes to that FE file, it probably would be best to
place it in the same location on each workstation. Use a
seperate folder such as 'C:\My Documents\Database\' on
each machine. This will make it easy for you (or your
backup person if you aren't in the office) to find the
file quickly.
Also, assuming a common FE file on all of the
workstations, you should put a 'compiled' 'boilerplate'
copy of the FE file on your server. This will allow you to
replace the FE file on a user's workstation quickly when
it gets corrupted (& it will corrupt once in a while).
Also, with a boilerplate copy, you can modify the code,
forms, reports, queries, etc. and put the changes into
only one FE file (the boilerplate), then copy the
boilerplate to each user's system instead of putting the
changes into each user's copy.
Next item. ** DO NOT DEVELOP OR FIX PROBLEMS WITH THE
PRODUCTION FE OR BE (Back-End File)! **
Put together a test FE & BE environment for development
and repairs. This will allow you to work without
interferring with the production environment and without
causing data problems if a query or some other piece of
code doesn't work correctly.
Last Item (but not the least!)
BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP - both the Production and Test
environment BE & FE files to at least two seperate
environments; ie. a second server, your system, a tape or
optical backup medium, etc. This will allow you to
recover quickly (& you will need to at some time in the
future!).
Hope this helps, Pete
(e-mail address removed)
