Access offers native support, right out of the box, for multiuser applications. But this
additional power brings with it some additional problems, chiefly
those of coordinating multiple users who may be spread across a large
network. This chapter explores some solutions to common problems in
multiuser applications. You'll learn how to use a
shared database table to help your users communicate with one another
and see how to find out which users are logged in at any given time.
You'll also learn how to implement basic transaction
logging, how to determine who has a record locked, and how to prevent
a user from locking a record for an excessive time period. Because
multiuser applications often use Access security, we also explore the
security system in detail. For instance, you'll
learn how to properly secure your database, how to keep track of your
users and groups, and how to check if they have blank passwords.
You'll also see how you can maintain separate but
synchronized copies of a database using Access replication.
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Several of the examples in this chapter take advantage of the
DAO type
library, rather than the default ADO library used by Access 2002 and
Access 2003. Even though it's less
"modern," DAO provides greater
functionality, and generally better performance. In addition, using
DAO makes it possible for these demonstrations to work in earlier
versions of Access. If you want to try these techniques in your own
applications, make sure you add the DAO reference to your project
using the Tools References menu item from within
VBA?it won't be added by default.
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