General questions re:Access front-end

[MWMike]

Hi all,

I'm wondering what a distributed Access front-end looks like. Does it open Access, and show all the tables? I'd prefer if it was one self-contained, tabbed form window, similar to a VB executable. Is that possible? I don't want people messing around with the tables directly. Also, I have username / password info in a table that obviously must stay hidden.

Background:
I'm trying to put together an Access database for use at a small company (up to 15 users). We have a local network server with Server 2003 on it. I really like using Access so far (experience < 1 month) to organize/replace all the spreadsheets and disparate data we had strewn around the server. I can live with the 2GB limit of an all-Access database, but if absolutely necessary I may be able to update the server to SQL Server (but that's pricey...)



Thanks for your time

[Rawb]

There are a several options if you want to distribute an Access database with relative security.

The first, and probably the most common, is to simply install the Access Runtime on any computer that's going to be using your Database. The Runtime is a stripped down (and free) version of Access that doesn't give the user direct access to any of the Tables or other behind-the-scenes stuff.

The other option is to convert the database to an MDE, which is essentially a "secured" version of the database. The problem there is that once a database is converted to an MDE, you can't get back in and make any changes or updates. Any time you want to make changes, you'll need to make them to an MDB version, re-convert it to an MDE, and then copy it to the users. And, if you lose a working copy of your MDB, then you're SoL.

[NTC]

Definitely as you embarc into Access you should obtain an Access textbook in the version you have, easily found at Amazon or any big book store.

Yes, for sure Access has a 'start up' screen feature - that you can control what is presented to the user. Also one can make not visible tables, as well as control the tool bar.

Any of the major textbook contains examples of these tasks and will save you alot of frustration in that no db user/designer interface is easy or intuitive at first attempt. Having the textbook is very helpful.

Hope this helps.

[MWMike]

Thanks Rawb & NTC, this has given me some more understanding of my options. The MDB thing doesn't seem like it's for me. The runtime was what I was thinking of when I started, but one question: What if the user already has Access installed? I can probably just get them to uninstall it if it's a problem (I'm the only one actually using it), but I'm wondering what would happen if they didn't.

Thanks

[Rawb]

If the user already has a full version of Access installed (and it's a version that can open the MDB), then they would have unrestricted access to all of the Tables and programming in the database.

They would be able to see or change anything they wanted without your knowledge or consent.

For that reason I'd STRONGLY recommend limiting the number of people that have full versions of Access to only those that are qualified to make changes to any databases you distribute.

If you cannot limit people to the Runtime version of Access, then you'll have to go with the MDE method. Just be sure you always have a backup of the MDB if you go that route.

[MWMike]

OK, that's what I was worried about. I get it now, thanks!