Compact & repair in Access 2010 causes problems for those still using 2003

[Kat90]

First I would like to say that I am not a programmer by trade and I am trying keep an old database going until we can have it rewritten in something other than Access.

Our office is trying to move from Access 2003 to Access 2010.
A couple of our office computers now have 2010, but most are still on 2003.
We tried to compact and Repair in 2010 for the first time today (to see what would happen)
and when the database is opened in 2003 we get error message
"ACEDOA.DLL Version12.0 database or project contains a missing or broken reference" and it opens up the debugger.
From all appearances everything still works correctly if opened in 2010 or Access Run Time.
I am assuming that the compact & repair changed something to make it work more efficiently in 2010.
We went back to the saved copy we made immediately before the compact and repair.

If I can show that everything still works properly in 2010 after the compact & repair will it be safe to change


over all the computers to 2010 and no longer work from 2003 to make changes or compact & repair, etc?

[CJ_London]

generally speaking later versions of access can run earlier versions, but not the other way round.

What you should have (and it sounds like you don't) is a front end and a backend. The backend can be a (2003) .mdb and contains only tables. The front end is the 'application' containing forms, reports, queries and modules) and can be either 2003 or 2010 (.accdb/e) and each user has their own copy (in the same way each user has their own copy of excel or word).

If all users are sharing the same front end then unless it has been compiled (to produce a .mde) it is quite possible you will corrupt it. Once compiled it will not change is size so the compaction issue will not be a problem. The backend is the bit that needs compacting as and when and should be compactable from either 2003 or 2010 without a problem.

I am assuming that the compact & repair changed something to make it work more efficiently in 2010.

not quite - this is 'code' thing and relates to the front end - 2010 is just using later dlls than 2003. When it runs a 2003 application, it knows to substitute the later version. But 2003 cannot run a later version - bit like excel 95 cannot open an excel 2010 workbook (at least not without a plugin, and a similar plugin does not exist for access)

[JoeM]

From personal experience, trying to run an Access 2003 on multiple users computers, some who have Access 2003, and some who have Access 2010, is a recipe for trouble if you haven't split databases and given everyone their own copy of the front-end. So definitely heed Ajax's advice on splitting it.

[ssanfu]

It sounds like your dB is not split into a FE and BE AND that multiple people are in the dB at the same time.
If multiple people are in the dB at the same time, your dB will be corrupted - not if, just when. With multiple people, the dB should be split, with each user having a copy (NOT a shortcut) of the FE on their computer.


You might try this on the copy that gave you the error message:
Open the dB using A2003.
Press ctl-G to open the IDE
In the menu bar, goto TOOLS/ References
Uncheck any references that have MISSING
Scroll down to "Microsoft DAO 3.6 Object Library" and put check mark in front of it.
Click OK.
Close the dB
Re-open the dB using A2003.