one form, multiple users

[Arne]

The situation: a number of product silo's to which product is added batchwise
by operator processing (user 1) and from which product is drawn by operator
packaging (user 2), also batchwise. Both users have access to the same
network on which I would like to run a database which contains information
about the product batches. User 2 uses input from user 1 for correct
packaging of the product. The way I see it is that I present to both users a
form which represents the actual content of the silo's, and therefore it is
important that changes to the state of the silo's by one user is updated on
the form the other user sees. Is that possible (perhaps through the contents
of a table)?

I am new to VBA-programming in Access (but not in Excel). Are there good
books on the subject?

Thanks in advance,

Arne

 

[Daniel Pineault]

There are several issue to cover:

1. when deploying any database over a network to multiple users, you must
split the database. Basicially, you separate the db into 2 distinct units:
the back-end which will contain your tables (data) and the front-end that
contains all the rest (GUI). There are a multitude of reason to do this.
Splitting your db is very simple as Access has a build-in function to do so
(Tools - Database Utilities - Database Splitter).

2. If the network is open to other user you should then consider
implementing security on your db. Evenif you think you can trust everyone,
believe me one day you will lern you cannot (even if accidental). You'll
always have one individual that gets nosy and accidentally does something to
delete, change... your db. Think about it, it will save you headaches in the
long run.

2. As for ensuring the changes entered by user 1 be visible to user 2, once
user 1 commits the data it will be updated in the underlying tables. If user
2 is going to open a form and simply leave it open for a long period. The
issue will be that user 2 would need to continuously refresh there form to
ensure they see any changes. It would then be best to add some code to
automatically requery the form every x minutes. However, if user 2 will need
to pullup a specifc silo each time, then when they retrieve the information
it will always be uptodated as of the moment they look at the info. So as
you can see, it depends on work methodologies a little bit.

Also remeber to create a backup prior to doing a split or any major
operation to your db. Better safe than sorry!
--
Hope this helps,

Daniel Pineault
http://www.cardaconsultants.com/
For Access Tips and Examples: http://www.devhut.com/index.php
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