HELP: child records are being randonly deleted

[Ken]

We just discovered that our customer prospecting database is randomly
picking contact records and deleting all phone numbers for that contact.
One day the phone numbers are there and the next they are not.

There are only 3 users accessing the system, and I am one of them. These
users only have access to the objects I allow via a series of menus, so it
can't be something they are doing. The db is split with tables in one mdb
and the other objects in another. The tables mdb is in an Access 97 mdb.
Two computer access the tables mdb with WinXP (running Office XP) and one
with Win98SE (running Access 97).

I am not using any code to create the records, Access is
doing all the work based on the relations I set up. Out database allows for
unlimited contacts per company as well as unlimited phone numbers and
addresses per contact.

The only items that look questionable is why (seven years
ago) did I use ContactID and PhoneNumbType as dual keys, rather then just
making the AutoNumber ID field the key like I did all the rest. Also
neither of these were indexed fields. Could this be my problem?

 

[Ken Snell]

Your primary key setup is very unlikely to be the cause of your problem. If
you're not running any update queries in your database, then my first guess
is that you may be having problems because of the use of scroll wheels on
the mice. Scroll wheels in ACCESS will cause a form to move from one record
to another. If someone does this by accident while in the main form, it
might mean that the child table's data are being deleted or overwritten as
someone realizes the error and then closes down the form.

This is just a guess, but I'd be more likely to see that as the cause than
some random deleting by the database.

 

[Ken]

Thank you. I'm pretty sure that no uses the scroll wheel to advance through
records. I know they do in the notes field however. I've tried using the
scroll wheel to move through records but it flys through several at once, so
I never do it. I'll tell everyone to stop using it all together and see
what happens.

Have a nice week.

Ken

 

[Ken Snell]

I have seen that using it a multiline textbox can cause the same problem.