Front End Bahaviour -server off

[Tom]

I am about to split a large Access 2000 DB. The BE end will reside on a file
server with 4 versions of FE distributed to a variety of users on their
desktops. What should I expect from the FE when the server is off line? Will
the FE still function and update tables when the BE is available?

My next step is to make the FE available on laptops, will these update when
next connected to the file server via our LAN?

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

If the BE isn't accessible, your FE will not work.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

There may be some confusion about "splitting" an Access database.

Once you've placed all the (non-data table) objects in one .mdb file, and
placed all the data-table-only objects in another, you have split your
database into front-end, and back-end, respectively.

In order for your database/application to work, you then need to "link" from
the front-end to the tables in the back-end. Note that this is NOT the same
as keeping a copy of the data/tables in the front-end.

So I'm confused how you expect your application to work, if there is no
connection to the data?

If the place where the data portion (i.e., the back-end) resides is
inaccessible, your application won't work.

Or am I totally misunderstanding your question?

Jeff Boyce
<Access MVP>

 

[Jack MacDonald]

If you require that your notebook computer users are able to
manipulate the database when disconnected from the LAN, then you
should be looking at database replication. That technology *will*
allow the users to synchronize their data with the main database when
they reconnect to the LAN. Replication and splitting are compatible --
in fact, you should ONLY replicate the BE portion of a split database.
It is unwise to replicate a database that contains forms, reports,
queries (ie, the FE portion)

I am about to split a large Access 2000 DB. The BE end will reside on a file
server with 4 versions of FE distributed to a variety of users on their
desktops. What should I expect from the FE when the server is off line? Will
the FE still function and update tables when the BE is available?

My next step is to make the FE available on laptops, will these update when
next connected to the file server via our LAN?

**********************
(e-mail address removed)
remove uppercase letters for true email
http://www.geocities.com/jacksonmacd/ for info on MS Access security

 

[Tom]

Thanks Jeff.
Perhaps my question was incomplete.
I intend to split and have the tables linked in both the BE and FE. The data
will therefore be available in the FE. My concern is twofold:

1. Will the FE function while the server is off? (It will contain tables
linked to the BE)

2. Will changes made in the FE while the server is off update the BE when
the server is connected?

My aim is to make the application available while the server is down which
is a recurring problem in the envronment where the application is installed,
while maintaining a sigle source of data.

Thanks again.

 

[Lynn Trapp]

I intend to split and have the tables linked in both the BE and FE. The

data
will therefore be available in the FE.

PMFJI, but I don't quite understand what you mean when you say you will
"have the tables linked in both the BE and FE." By definition the BE holds
all the data and the FE holds the other objects in your application.
Sometimes, developers will put some actual tables in an FE, but that is the
exception rather than the rule. Your "linked" tables in your FE are merely
pointers to the actual tables in the BE. There is NO data in the linked
tables.

1. Will the FE function while the server is off? (It will contain tables
linked to the BE)

If the server is down, the FE database can be opened but, since the tables
in the BE are no accessible, non of your linked tables will be able to
access that data and, therefore, your application will not work.

2. Will changes made in the FE while the server is off update the BE when
the server is connected?

Not without implementing replication.

--
Lynn Trapp
MS Access MVP
www.ltcomputerdesigns.com
Access Security: www.ltcomputerdesigns.com/Security.htm
Jeff Conrad's Big List: www.ltcomputerdesigns.com/JCReferences.html

 

[Rick Brandt]

Thanks Jeff.
Perhaps my question was incomplete.
I intend to split and have the tables linked in both the BE and FE.
The data will therefore be available in the FE. My concern is twofold:

The above makes no sense. The tables in the front end or either local or
linked. Linked tables are only available when the source of the link is
available. A linked table "in the BE" is meaningless. If there is a link in a
BE file then it is NOT the BE file (for that table).

1. Will the FE function while the server is off? (It will contain
tables linked to the BE)

If the BE is on the server then those links will not work. A link is a pointer,
nothing else. It tells Access to go open "some other file" and get the data
from there. If that other file is not available then the link is not usable.

2. Will changes made in the FE while the server is off update the BE
when the server is connected?

You will only be able to make changes to LOCAL tables in the FE when the server
is down and there is nothing to automatically push that data to the BE when you
reconnect unless you program it in yourself or set up replication.

My aim is to make the application available while the server is down
which is a recurring problem in the envronment where the application
is installed, while maintaining a sigle source of data.

Then you need two identical set of tables and a mechanism for copying the data
back and forth.

 

[Tom]

Thaks Jack, and all who contributed to the solution. I have enough to proceed.
It seems replication of the tables is the way to go, at least until we have
a more reliable server and then I will split for the destop users and
replicate for notebook users.