Can several users access one front end?

[Obeide]

I have created a database which needs to be accessed by 5-8 people. The
problem lies with how our network is set up. It is not possible to install a
front end on each computer as most staff 'hot desk'; each person has a 'home
drive' on the network that is not big enough to hold the front end.
Is it possible for several people to access one front end held centrally on
the network?
Thanks.
Access 2007

 

[Keith Wilby]

I have created a database which needs to be accessed by 5-8 people. The
problem lies with how our network is set up. It is not possible to
install a
front end on each computer as most staff 'hot desk'; each person has a
'home
drive' on the network that is not big enough to hold the front end.
Is it possible for several people to access one front end held centrally
on
the network?
Thanks.
Access 2007

One way around this is to give users a shortcut that points to a batch file
on the server. The batch file can be coded to copy the FE from the server to
the user's profile and then launch it. Post back if you'd like sample code.
*Don't* let users share a FE as you risk data corruption.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

I have created a database which needs to be accessed by 5-8 people. The
problem lies with how our network is set up. It is not possible to install a
front end on each computer as most staff 'hot desk'; each person has a 'home
drive' on the network that is not big enough to hold the front end.
Is it possible for several people to access one front end held centrally on
the network?

Why isn't it possible to put a copy of the FE on the local hard drive?
So what if there are 3 or 5 copies in the various users Local
Applications folder?

How much space are they allocated in their home drive then?

How big is your FE? Are there graphics or other images embedded
within it?

Yes, it is possible but highly not recommended as you are at great
risk of corrupting the front end on the server.

See the "Splitting your app into a front end and back end Tips" page
at http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/splitapp/ for more info. See the
free Auto FE Updater utility at http://www.autofeupdater.com/ to make
the distribution of new FEs relatively painless.. The utility also
supports Terminal Server/Citrix quite nicely.

Tony

 

[Obeide]

Keith,
Thank you for your response, Could you please send me a sample code to try.

Many thanks.

 

[Obeide]

Tony,
Thank you for your reply. As most staff 'hot desk' they don't have their
own machine. Each person's local applications folder is wiped clean whenever
they log off. Each person has a 20MB space on their 'home drive' and I
actually have three dbases that they would need access to, totalling 23MB,
there would be no space for any other files to be stored.

 

[Keith Wilby]

Keith,
Thank you for your response, Could you please send me a sample code to
try.

Many thanks.

Try something like this, replacing generic paths and names as appropriate:

ECHO OFF

DEL "%temp%\MyFolder\*.*" /Q
RD "%temp%\MyFolder"
MKDIR "%temp%\MyFolder"

DEL "%userprofile%\desktop\MyShortcut.lnk"
XCOPY "X:\MyPath\MyShortcut.lnk" "%userprofile%\desktop"

XCOPY "X:\MyPath\MyFE.mde" "%temp%\MyFolder" /I
START "MyDb" /MAX "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\MSACCESS.EXE"
"%temp%\MyFolder\MyFE.mde" /wrkgrp "X:\MyPath\MyWorkgroupFile.mdw"

This will delete any existing copy of the FE and shortcut then copy new ones
from wherever you've stored them. Note this is for A2003 so you may also
have to modify the path to the Access executable.

 

[John W. Vinson]

Thank you for your reply. As most staff 'hot desk' they don't have their
own machine. Each person's local applications folder is wiped clean whenever
they log off. Each person has a 20MB space on their 'home drive' and I
actually have three dbases that they would need access to, totalling 23MB,
there would be no space for any other files to be stored.

As cheap as disks are these days, a 20MB limitation is frankly absurd. Can you
persuade the Powers That Be that this is 2009, not 1999, and that more space
should be made available?

I absolutely agree: sharing a single unitary frontend is very dangerous and
will almost surely lead to corruption, bad performance, and conflicts between
users.

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

As most staff 'hot desk' they don't have their
own machine. Each person's local applications folder is wiped clean whenever
they log off. Each person has a 20MB space on their 'home drive' and I
actually have three dbases that they would need access to, totalling 23MB,
there would be no space for any other files to be stored.

Ok, so lets deal with the Local Applications folder as that is the
best location anyhow. Each time they log in and use the app they
will have to copy down the FE MDBs/MDEs. 23 Mb would only take 5 or
10 seconds. Not a big deal then. Slightly irritating but not too
bad.

The Auto FE Updater will handle that situation quite nicely. For more
info on the free Auto FE Updater utility see
http://www.autofeupdater.com to keep the FE on each PC up to date.

Tony

 

[David W. Fenton]

I have created a database which needs to be accessed by 5-8
people. The problem lies with how our network is set up. It is
not possible to install a front end on each computer as most staff
'hot desk'; each person has a 'home drive' on the network that is
not big enough to hold the front end. Is it possible for several
people to access one front end held centrally on the network?

The restrictions you've described in this and later posts mean one
thing:

YOU CAN'T DEPLOY AN ACCESS APPLICATION.

It's really that simple.

Either you replace the Access application or you get some changes in
the deployment restrictions.

There's no other alternative.

(stupid f*ing IT morons!)

 

[Keith Wilby]

Each person's local applications folder is wiped clean whenever
they log off. Each person has a 20MB space on their 'home drive' and I
actually have three dbases that they would need access to, totalling 23MB,
there would be no space for any other files to be stored.

Try using my batch file method. In my organisation, the "Temp" folder does
not count towards the user's profile size.

Keith.

 

[Obeide]

Thanks to everybody you all for your posts on this, I am forwarding your
suggestions to the IT department and hopefully we can come up with a
solution. As a last resort I am planning to make several copies of the front
end (one for each person) held centrally on the network and give each person
a shortcut to 'their' front end. A very inelegant solution though. I will
let you know how we get on.

Many thanks again.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

If by "inelegant" you mean "not very simple", remember that for nearly every
problem there is a simple solution ... that's wrong!<g>

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Thanks to everybody you all for your posts on this, I am forwarding your
suggestions to the IT department and hopefully we can come up with a
solution. As a last resort I am planning to make several copies of the front
end (one for each person) held centrally on the network and give each person
a shortcut to 'their' front end. A very inelegant solution though. I will
let you know how we get on.

That too is a solution that would work. I've used it myself for a
client running Citrix where they didn't want the FEs installed on the
Citrix server. So we kept the FEs in a server folder named by the
userid.

The Auto FE Updater handled that situation quite nicely.

Tony