Merging mdw files. 1

[hughesai]

Recently I have had two versions of a database running at the same time (basically one was a mirror of the other).

However, the mdw files were not being mirrored (and should have been).

I therefore have two different mdw files for the same database, both of which have most users, but each of which have a significant number of unique users.

I need to merge these two mdw files into one.

Does anyone know how to do this without simply deleting one of them and having lots of irate phone calls?

Aidan Hughes

 

[JeremyNYC]

Aidan,

I'm not positive on this, but I'd bet dollars to donuts you're out of luck on this one. I think you'll have to recreate the unique accounts of one mdw in the other and then replace that second one.

Sorry.

Jeremy

==
Jeremy Wallace
AlphaBet City Dataworks

http://www.ABCDataworks.com

Access Databases for Non-Profit Organizations

Please post in the appropriate forum with a descriptive subject; code and SQL, if referenced; and expected results. See thread181-473997 for more pointers.

 

[hughesai]

Thanks Jeremy.

That's what I think too, but I reckon if anyone does know a way to do it, they will be members of this board.

Aidan.

 

[JeremyNYC]

Possibly. You might have better luck getting a definitive answer on comp.databases.ms-access. You could also search the archives at groups.google.com.

Jeremy

==
Jeremy Wallace
AlphaBet City Dataworks

http://www.ABCDataworks.com

Access Databases for Non-Profit Organizations

Please post in the appropriate forum with a descriptive subject; code and SQL, if referenced; and expected results. See thread181-473997 for more pointers.

 

[RickSpr]

The user and group accounts in the MDW are in a system table called MSysAccounts. At the least, you can create a new database, link these tables from the two MDW files, and do a Find Unmatched wizard query to determine the discrepancies. You'll still have to enter them by hand, of course, and there's no way I know of to decrypt the passwords or the personal IDs. (Even if there were such a way, we couldn't very well publish it in a public forum.)

The user-group associations are stored in a system table called MSysGroups. You can use the following query to show all the associations:
SELECT MSysAccounts.Name AS UserName, MSysAccounts_1.Name AS GroupName
FROM (MSysGroups INNER JOIN MSysAccounts ON MSysGroups.UserSID = MSysAccounts.SID) INNER JOIN MSysAccounts AS MSysAccounts_1 ON MSysGroups.GroupSID = MSysAccounts_1.SID;

If you can recreate the missing user (and group?) accounts with the same personal IDs, the existing permissions will automatically apply to the combined workgroup. If you have to assign new personal IDs, you'll have to set the new users' permissions again.

Rick Sprague
Want the best answers? See faq181-2886
To write a program from scratch, first create the universe. - Paraphrased from Albert Einstein

 

[dhaveedh]

what is an MDW file and what does it do?

KISS - Keep It Simple Sugar!

 

[hughesai]

Rick,

Thank you very much. This is exactly the answer I was hoping for. You are of course correct about passwords, but I have been able to identify 8 users who would have been locked out of the database if I had not done this comparison. I have had their usernames recreated - I knew what groups they should belong to already - and avoided 8 uncomfortable phone calls.

Thanks again for your help.

Aidan.

 

[JeremyNYC]

Rick,

As usual, you rock. You've certainly given him a way to get part of the way there--a big part. I had that knowledge somewehre in my brain but wasn't capable of putting it together. Thanks.


Aidan,

After do you the bit Rick described, you can set some wacky password for each user, something unreadable and unmemorizable, and email that to each user, telling them to change their passwords immediately. Because the password is so ugly, they will. It's a bit of work for you, as you have to create the user, log on as the user, get to the change password screen, create the e-mail, type the password (usually a long, random string of keystrokes works out, asdjf4908j324j43fj, for instance) IN THE E-MAIL, and copy and paste the password into the new password box. But it sounds like you'd rather do that work than be faced with your users complaining about lack of security.


dhaveedh,

An MDW is a security file that Jet uses to lock the info in an access database. Quite powerful, a little unwieldy. Check out the Security FAQ on MS's site (there's a copy in the developers' section of my site if you can't find it). If you're going to experiment with security, MAKE BACKUPS.

Jeremy

==
Jeremy Wallace
AlphaBet City Dataworks

http://www.ABCDataworks.com

Access Databases for Non-Profit Organizations

Please post in the appropriate forum with a descriptive subject; code and SQL, if referenced; and expected results. See thread181-473997 for more pointers.

 

[RickSpr]

JeremyNYC said:
you have to create the user, log on as the user, get to the change password screen, create the e-mail, type the password (usually a long, random string of keystrokes works out, asdjf4908j324j43fj, for instance) IN THE E-MAIL, and copy and paste the password into the new password box

FAQ702-4282 defines a form that will let users change their own passwords, and let administrators change anybody's password. That would save you from doing all that logging on/exiting. I recommend creating a new database with this as its startup form. The result is a convenient password change tool you can invoke from the desktop.

Rick Sprague
Want the best answers? See faq181-2886
To write a program from scratch, first create the universe. - Paraphrased from Albert Einstein