MS Access 2003: How to "Lock for editing"

[Pandab2002]

I have an Access database the is on a network drive. Everyone has access to this file and can update it. I want to be able to notify others when the file is opened and being edited by someone else. I'd like to be able to offer to open the file as a read only while it is being edited by another employee. I have seen this with excel files but I cannot figure out how it is done. Can anyone assist?

 

[VicRauch]

Access is designed to be used by multiple users at the same time. It would be good to know what your situation is that causes you to need exclusive access to the database.

Look up the CommandLine options for starting Access. In there, I believe you can cause the database to be opened as exclusive, but allow others to have read access.

 

[Pandab2002]

Thanks for the suggestion. Would the command line be under Tools, Startup?

 

[fneily]

If you post Access questions in the proper Access forums, you would receive more responses and technical advice.

You may want to look at:
How to Determine If a Database Is Open Exclusively

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=210359

How to determine who is logged on to a database by using Microsoft Jet UserRoster

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=285822

 

[VicRauch]

the command line options would be something to lookup in the help, or like I did, use Google with "MSAccess Command Line" The first link took me to Microsofts Knowledgebase article that explains all the options available to you when you start MS Access.

You will also need to look at what fneily suggested to see if the database is already being used. If so, then start it with the /ro option. I believe, but you need to test it, that if you ever use the /excl option, then no one else will be able to use it until after that person with the /excl option closes the database.

Still have no idea why you would want the database in an exclusive use as a normal matter of course.

 

[Pandab2002]

I will try to explain the situation a little better. I have a database that team members go into to log their major activities. It resides on a shared hard drive. If I am in the database updating one of my activities and a co-worker tries to open it to update her activity, she gets prompted to save the database on her locat drive before opening it. If I can eliminate that altogether that would be great, otherwise, I'd want her to be able to know that I am the user who is editing the database.

 

[VicRauch]

If you each open the database using a shortcut created just for this database, and have this shortcut reference BOTH the MSAccess.exe file AND the database on the shared drive, that will cause everyone that uses the database through this shortcut to be signed into the database in a "Shared" mode. Your colleague should not get the message to save the database to her hard drive anymore. And, as long as each of you are dealing with your own records within the database, you should never have any sharing problems.