MS Access on a Terminal Server

DatabaseMX said:
>>and really the preferred way - if you can afford it.

Amen to that!  All of the benefits of Access, and none of the problems with pushing and pulling vast quantities
of data over a network.

Do be sure to still split the db, though, and to be safe I would still have different users have their own copies
of the FE on the remote workstation...

What version of Access? 2007 requires a particular version in order to install on TS ... basically one that is "volume licensed".

As matthew indicates, you should still follow standard "best practices" even when working in a TS environment ... each user will have their own desktop, and each user should have their own copy of the FE on the TS box ... I have a small batch file that the users log into the Access app with ... it basically copies a new version of the FE to their own My Documents folder, then launches that file ... makes updates easy, and is virtually transparent.

what does FE mean?

Can anyone tell me if Access had:
- Follow-up alert system?
- Viewable calendar of follow-up dates?
- Alert other users of new leads entered?
- Allow me to edit formats while others are using database?

Thanks!

Access is an environment you can use to build your own data-centric applications ... it's not a ready-to-run application in as much ... you can certainly build all those things into your app, but out of the box no, Access won't do any of those things.

And no, you cannot do ANY editing while other users are in the database.

"FE" means "Front End" ... you should always split your database into BackEnd (data tables ONLY) and FrontEnd (everything else), then link the FE to the BE. If you do this, then you can work on a development copy of the FE while others use their own personal copy of the FE ... when you're done making changes, you just deploy a new FE to the users, which includes all your new changes.

LSMConsulting:

Good to know I can build them in.  I get what your saying about FE/BE now.  Lets say I have a group of 7 people using this.  Can any of them add to the database?  But the changes the user makes wont be seen until they deploy a new FE?  So do the other uses have to logout and log back in to see the changes?

What do you mean by "add to the database"? If you're referring to adding Data, then their data changes/additions would be immediately available to other users.

If you mean that users can add things like forms, reports etc then you'd have to deploy a new FE before users could see those changes. However, I'd STRONGLY encourage you to NOT allow this ... instead, if a user needs to add a report or something to the FE, then they should send their copy to you, and you should import that change into the "master" FE, and then redeploy ... this way you maintain control over what goes into the FE and you don't have people stepping all over each other.

Note also what we said about supplying EACH user their own copy of the FE ... that is, users do NOT share the same copy of the FE, they all have their own copy of the FE, but EACH of those FEs connect to the same BE file ... so when I add a new record, every other user would see that new addition.

buckstaff said:
>>But the changes the user makes wont be seen until they deploy a new FE?

Depends on what you mean by "changes".

Changes to the *data* are immediately available to all users.

Changes to the *application* would have to wait until users got refreshed copies of the FE.

by changes, I meant to the Data.  I'd make sure reports were sent to me first.  Looks like we have to upgrade to Access 2007.  We are currently using Access 2000!

So the FE and BE all come with Access 2007 Pro?

buckstaff said:
>>Looks like we have to upgrade to Access 2007.

Not necessarily.  All of what we just discussed can be accomplished with Access 2000.  Indeed, Access 2007
adds some additional hoops to jump through along with the added features...

Also, to Access, the FE and BE are just files (ignoring *.mde for the moment).  What makes them different is the
types of objects they contain, not the file types...

Sounds like I need an Access for Dummies book.

I didn't think Access 2000 could run on a TS, but I could be wrong.

Yes, Access 2000 can run on a Terminal Server. All users should have a valid, licensed copy of Access 2000 installed on their LOCAL desktop, or the TS owner should have sufficient licensing, but this is strictly on the honor system.

Access does include a "splitter wizard" which can split your database into FE and BE ...

Also: If you're a newbie to Access, you'll find creating and synchronizing calendars, building custom alerts etc to be a monumental task ... these are typically advanced areas. Have you looked to see if an off-the-shelf product exists?

Office 2000 will run on TS, but you need a special installer file when you put any of the Office componets on it.  This is due to the fact that with Office 2000, some features won't work properly, so they get turned off.
Here's the link:
Installing Office 2000 on Terminal Server on a Windows Server 2003-Based Computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283675
JimD.

If you upgrade to access 2007 for your single copy you can use the access 'runtime' for all your 'users'. That way you don't need to buy 7 copies of access or Office and keeps your costs down. As it has been said 2007 makes a fair few changes from previous versions.

I'm using 2007 runtime fine on the TS.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb501030.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d9ae78d9-9dc6-4b38-9fa6-2c745a175aed&displaylang=en

LSM  

you said :

" have a small batch file that the users log into the Access app with ... it basically copies a new version of the FE to their own My Documents folder, then launches that file ... makes updates easy, and is virtually transparent."

could you describe that in more detail, I can post a Q on that for the points ...

I want to have a 'most up to date version' of the FE sitting on a install folder on the server. When a user opens their FE that is on their machine, that FE looks to see if there is a newer versoin on the server, and if so, advise the user and they say yes and the FE gets replaced

It's just a simple batch file:

@Echo Off
FileCopy "source" "destination"
Start "path to my shortcut to launch the application"

thanks Scott ...

I use this in the log on script:

xcopy "\\server\ITResourcesPublic\CustomApp_Update\*.*" "Z:\documents\CustomApp\" /d /s /y

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289483)

clever !