Read-only mdb file

[McMapper]

My mdb files keep being turned into read-only when they're stored in a folder
on my local drive. when i work with the same mdb file that's stored on a
network folder location i have no read-only problem. the attribute is not
checked off to be read-only and i have placed the folder in the Trusted
Locations list in the trust center in access. I can only work on my file if
i save it as a different name and then i can edit it. but because i'm trying
to use this mdb file through ArcGIS (a mapping software that uses access
databases to save the spatial data in), it's not a good work around to
constantly save as a different name. does anyone know why this keeps
happening? Is it likely due to a back up program running at night? or an
incompatibility with the new access 2007? Please help.
Thanks!
Michele

 

[Chris Mills]

Reasons I can think of for an mdb (a Front-End) being Read-Only, are these:

-) The file has the Read-Only attribute set. This can happen if copied from CD
(though WinXP tends to reset it)

-) The file is in use by either some other PC, or some other instance of file
usage perhaps on the same PC.

-) In consideration of the last reason(s), I have occasionally had to reboot
an entire network to get a file freed-up. Fortunately, this is not often.
However, not only a PC but an entire network can get screwed-up in reporting
who is still using a file. The only definitve answer to this, so far as I
know, is an entire reboot (or perhaps, taking the PC where the file resides
off-line)

What is the exact error mesage you get? For instance "In-Use" or such-like is
different from "Read-Only" or such-like.

Quite frankly, your description (whilst not stating the Access version), does
already address some of the questions I posed, and I can't make sense of it
either.

Are you signed on to your PC as "Administrator"? Regardless of what
permissions you think you have set, I believe this is the ultimate holder of
"Windows permissions".

Because you can rename the file and work on it, it sounds more like some
aspect of the "system" has it open, rather than your PC itself.

If this is of no help, the newsgroup, I am sure, would like to hear your
resolution.

Chris

(You mentioned mapping software, and I have a long-standing interest in GPS
software since I have a yacht. At one stage, I downloaded world-wide land
outlines from [some USA govt site, not sure which at this moment] and used
MS-Access to convert the data to my own binary format for my own C++
chart-plotting program. Very complex, involved resolving a bunch of random
vectors out-of-order into a continuous coastline! Since then, of course,
better charts are available with any standard modern GPS chart-plotter! I
would have been better earning money from hours in my standard business to pay
for my hobby of chart-plotting! I could find out myself I s'pose, but can you
give me a URL for ArcGIS? And for that matter, what exactly have you written?
[not that I'm any threat!])

 

[McMapper]

Chris,
Thanks for your reply.
the read-only attribute is not set, nor is the file in use by anyone else.
I am not logged on as Administrator, however the IT person here has tried out
everything he can think of on his end, logged on as admin. since the problem
only occurs when the file i'm working on resides on my C drive, (and i have
no problem when working off the network), i'm not sure that the network
reboot solution will do anything. Also, i've tried rebooting my machine to
resolve the problem, but to no avail. BTW the message i get when i open the
mdb file directly in access is : "Read-only This database has been opened
read-only. You can only change data in linked tables. To make design changes,
save a copy of the database." Then there's a button to "Save As" in the
message. I know i'm not choosing the option to explicitly open the file as
read-only in the open dialog's options. I welcome any more suggestions and
will certainly let the newsgroup know if i resolve the issue.

As far as mapping goes, the software i use is made by ESRI www.esri.com.
They have a huge suite of mapping products for every level of mapping and
also have online mapping tools and programs. The software can get pretty
pricey depending on the level of the hierarchy of the software you are
getting. There are some free viewing downloads you can get and there are
tons of 3rd party scripts and extensions to the software available too. The
software will read GPS data no problem, but you may need to convert it first
depending on what format you can output it from your GPS. You can read all
about everything you'd ever want to know on that site and they've got tons of
forum threads for everything too. Good luck!

Michele

Reasons I can think of for an mdb (a Front-End) being Read-Only, are these:

-) The file has the Read-Only attribute set. This can happen if copied from CD
(though WinXP tends to reset it)

-) The file is in use by either some other PC, or some other instance of file
usage perhaps on the same PC.

-) In consideration of the last reason(s), I have occasionally had to reboot
an entire network to get a file freed-up. Fortunately, this is not often.
However, not only a PC but an entire network can get screwed-up in reporting
who is still using a file. The only definitve answer to this, so far as I
know, is an entire reboot (or perhaps, taking the PC where the file resides
off-line)

What is the exact error mesage you get? For instance "In-Use" or such-like is
different from "Read-Only" or such-like.

Quite frankly, your description (whilst not stating the Access version), does
already address some of the questions I posed, and I can't make sense of it
either.

Are you signed on to your PC as "Administrator"? Regardless of what
permissions you think you have set, I believe this is the ultimate holder of
"Windows permissions".

Because you can rename the file and work on it, it sounds more like some
aspect of the "system" has it open, rather than your PC itself.

If this is of no help, the newsgroup, I am sure, would like to hear your
resolution.

Chris

(You mentioned mapping software, and I have a long-standing interest in GPS
software since I have a yacht. At one stage, I downloaded world-wide land
outlines from [some USA govt site, not sure which at this moment] and used
MS-Access to convert the data to my own binary format for my own C++
chart-plotting program. Very complex, involved resolving a bunch of random
vectors out-of-order into a continuous coastline! Since then, of course,
better charts are available with any standard modern GPS chart-plotter! I
would have been better earning money from hours in my standard business to pay
for my hobby of chart-plotting! I could find out myself I s'pose, but can you
give me a URL for ArcGIS? And for that matter, what exactly have you written?
[not that I'm any threat!])

My mdb files keep being turned into read-only when they're stored in a folder
on my local drive. when i work with the same mdb file that's stored on a
network folder location i have no read-only problem. the attribute is not
checked off to be read-only and i have placed the folder in the Trusted
Locations list in the trust center in access. I can only work on my file if
i save it as a different name and then i can edit it. but because i'm trying
to use this mdb file through ArcGIS (a mapping software that uses access
databases to save the spatial data in), it's not a good work around to
constantly save as a different name. does anyone know why this keeps
happening? Is it likely due to a back up program running at night? or an
incompatibility with the new access 2007? Please help.
Thanks!
Michele