Front End Opens for Me, But Not Others (1 Viewer)

I split a database and the backend location is on a shared network drive. And even though it takes minutes longer than it should, the front end does open. But when I emailed the 1MB front end to one end user, she got an error message that says it is "not a valid path".

What might I be doing wrong?

[Access 2007]

Does she have access to the network drive? Did you use a mapped drive to link that perhaps she doesn't have (I always use UNC path)?

pbaldy said:

Does she have access to the network drive? Did you use a mapped drive to link that perhaps she doesn't have (I always use UNC path)?

Click to expand...

She and I have access to the same shared drive.

Did you use the Linked Table Manager to set the BackEnd Links?

ALewis06 said:

She and I have access to the same shared drive.

Click to expand...

And the mapped drive question?

@RuralGuy No I didn't use Linked Table Manager. I set the location within the Split Database Wizard. However once she said she couldn't open it, I went back to the Linked Table Manager to verify the backend location and it was correct. So I'm baffled.

Is is set to a UNC value? \\SharedPC\Path...

If both of you map with the same drive letter to the same exact path, then the same front-end file copied to each of your terminals should find the same back-end. However, if there is ANY CHANCE that you have to use a different drive letter for the two copies, you would do FAR better to use UNC mapping.

It's what I do precisely because it happened that our S: drive was used one way for the SP division and a different way for the NA division of our organization. (I have obscured the names intentionally.) With the UNC mapping in place, nobody CARES what your drive letters look like. But if you had mapped using drive letters, the chosen letters would not only have to match but would also have to have pointed to the same share folder. Remember that a drive-letter mapping can point ANYWHERE that a UNC mapping could point, including a place beneath the shared folder.

Also remember that drive-letter mapping is in the registry of each individual system and is not a shared thing. Each user must individually map drives and take steps to automatically re-establish the mapping on system restart. If you don't use UNC mapping, a lot more factors have to come together to get the drive mapping fixed.

I think I see what you all have been trying to tell me. I was concerned about the backend being too embedded and slowing down a database that might already suffer from performance issues by even being placed on a network drive. So I placed the backend directly onto N:\\ but you all are saying that if she uses a different letter for that same mapping location, it won't find the backend.

ALewis06 said:

I think I see what you all have been trying to tell me. I was concerned about the backend being too embedded and slowing down a database that might already suffer from performance issues by even being placed on a network drive. So I placed the backend directly onto N:\\ but you all are saying that if she uses a different letter for that same mapping location, it won't find the backend.

Click to expand...

I think you've got it! Don't use mapped drive letters.

The other question is where the front-end resides.

In our site, the developer / owner / maintainer of the files places the Back End (BE) file on the shared area. Then as a separate act, do the linking via UNC mapping. Then as a third separate act, place the Front End (FE) file on the shared area.

Now each user COPIES the UNC remapped FE from the shared area to their individual workstations. As long as everyone has appropriate network permissions, this will work.

Note that there can be more to it than I just stated. Search this forum for the subject of FE/BE Split with those terms abbreviated, expanded, etc. Also look for Split Database.

Doing this "right" isn't always easy. It can in fact be quite tedious.

One last thing to remember. If you did something to compile, lock, or otherwise protect the file, the shared FE is NEVER the one you update when making changes. In all cases, you keep a local copy, muddle with that, and then when about to publish, make a copy of the master copy, do your compile / lock / protect steps on the staging copy. Keep that one private copy as the master and keep it inviolate. NEVER EVER IN A GAZILLION years would you ever directly muck the shared FE copy.