Where should I define relationships for external tables?

[chas]

I have an Access 2000 database, split into front- and back-end.
Following the advice given here and in many other places,
relationships are defined in the back-end.
However, it also uses 2 external tables from another Access db.

Am I right in thinking that the relationships between these and the
internal tables should (or must) be defined in the front-end?

Thanks

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

I have an Access 2000 database, split into front- and back-end.
Following the advice given here and in many other places,
relationships are defined in the back-end.
However, it also uses 2 external tables from another Access db.

Am I right in thinking that the relationships between these and the
internal tables should (or must) be defined in the front-end?

Thanks

Well you can define relationships between those two extra tables to each
other in that single backend database. However, defining relationships
between different databases, or different back ends is simply not possible.

I mean what would happen if you decided on your computer to start defining
relationships for some database halfway across the world that sitting on my
computer? It really just can't work that way. the jet database engine can
only defining control integrity on the one database file that it's open, and
all the other database files around the world cannot be affected by this
mere fact.

In simple plain English, only the one file or database can have referential
ntegrity defined and relationships enforced.

You can certainly join data between different databases, but you just simply
can't enforce the relationships. What this means is drawing the relationship
in the front database really is only there for window dressing, and really
doesn't affect the operations of the actual database in real practice.