ragtopcaddy
Programmer
I ran into a problem on an XP desktop using Tony Toew's excellent Auto FE Updater. I emailed a user a copy of the shortcut, labeled SMDB, with the following properties:
Target:
"\\<Server>\Front Ends\Current\SMDBAll.ini"
Start In:
"\\<Server>\Front Ends\Current\All Access\"
<Server> is a very long-winded UNC with spaces in some directory names.
Here's my ini file:
[Settings]
MainApp=C:\SMDB\SMDB.mdb
Server=\\<Server>\Front Ends\Current\All Access\
;CommandLine=/runtime
Lockout=No
LockoutMsg=Sorry, the SMDB is temporarily unavailable. You will be notified when it is back in service.
SupportMsg=Please contact Curly, Moe or Larry for assistance.
ShortCutName=SMDB
CreateShortCutOnDesktop=No
CreateShortCutOnCommonDesktop=Yes
WindowStyle=MaximizedFocus
ShortCutIconFile=\\<Server>\Front Ends\Current\MSACCESS.EXE
ShortCutIconFileIndex=0
;Debug=yes
;ShortCutIconFileIndex=27;
;ShortCutIconFile=Q:\1_vb\StartMDB\Shell\shell32.dll
;Shell=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 97\Office\MSACCESS.EXE
[Keys]
;Root1=HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
;Path1=SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Access\RefLibPath
;String1=tt_utils.mde
;Value1=$AppPath\tt_utils.mde
(BTW, can I delete all the commented stuff, assuming the ; indicates commented? What about unused sections like [Keys]?)
She copied the shortcut to her desktop and doubleclicked. The app worked as advertised and the front end was copied to her C drive and the fe opened up on her desktop. When we closed the fe we realized there were now 4 SMDB shortcut icons on the desktop. I examined them all, and they all had the same properties. I then selected one of the new icons, not the one that had been dropped onto her desktop from my email, and deleted it. It deleted the icon that had been dropped on the desktop from my email and left the icon I had selected for deletion, along with the remaining 2 icons. Now I attempted to delete a different one of the 3 remaining icons. I got an error msg saying the source file was missing or something. Lo and behold, when I looked at the shortcut's properties, the Target and Start In fields were blank. But I couldn't delete it. All 3 icons exhibited the same conditions and behaviour. Even more curiously, when I dropped the icon back on the desktop from the email a 2nd time, the icon I had previously selected for deletion disappeared!. Now there were 3 icons on the desktop, all 3 restored to their original target and startin values. I then selected another of these clone icons and attempted to delete it. Again, the icon dropped on the desktop was the one that got deleted. The remaining 2 icons were now empty again. I ended up repeating the process 2 more times to get rid of all the ghosts. Obviously, we can't roll out this fe until I get this resolved. I'm praying I'm not the 1st to come across this behaviour.
Bill
Target:
"\\<Server>\Front Ends\Current\SMDBAll.ini"
Start In:
"\\<Server>\Front Ends\Current\All Access\"
<Server> is a very long-winded UNC with spaces in some directory names.
Here's my ini file:
[Settings]
MainApp=C:\SMDB\SMDB.mdb
Server=\\<Server>\Front Ends\Current\All Access\
;CommandLine=/runtime
Lockout=No
LockoutMsg=Sorry, the SMDB is temporarily unavailable. You will be notified when it is back in service.
SupportMsg=Please contact Curly, Moe or Larry for assistance.
ShortCutName=SMDB
CreateShortCutOnDesktop=No
CreateShortCutOnCommonDesktop=Yes
WindowStyle=MaximizedFocus
ShortCutIconFile=\\<Server>\Front Ends\Current\MSACCESS.EXE
ShortCutIconFileIndex=0
;Debug=yes
;ShortCutIconFileIndex=27;
;ShortCutIconFile=Q:\1_vb\StartMDB\Shell\shell32.dll
;Shell=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 97\Office\MSACCESS.EXE
[Keys]
;Root1=HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
;Path1=SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Access\RefLibPath
;String1=tt_utils.mde
;Value1=$AppPath\tt_utils.mde
(BTW, can I delete all the commented stuff, assuming the ; indicates commented? What about unused sections like [Keys]?)
She copied the shortcut to her desktop and doubleclicked. The app worked as advertised and the front end was copied to her C drive and the fe opened up on her desktop. When we closed the fe we realized there were now 4 SMDB shortcut icons on the desktop. I examined them all, and they all had the same properties. I then selected one of the new icons, not the one that had been dropped onto her desktop from my email, and deleted it. It deleted the icon that had been dropped on the desktop from my email and left the icon I had selected for deletion, along with the remaining 2 icons. Now I attempted to delete a different one of the 3 remaining icons. I got an error msg saying the source file was missing or something. Lo and behold, when I looked at the shortcut's properties, the Target and Start In fields were blank. But I couldn't delete it. All 3 icons exhibited the same conditions and behaviour. Even more curiously, when I dropped the icon back on the desktop from the email a 2nd time, the icon I had previously selected for deletion disappeared!. Now there were 3 icons on the desktop, all 3 restored to their original target and startin values. I then selected another of these clone icons and attempted to delete it. Again, the icon dropped on the desktop was the one that got deleted. The remaining 2 icons were now empty again. I ended up repeating the process 2 more times to get rid of all the ghosts. Obviously, we can't roll out this fe until I get this resolved. I'm praying I'm not the 1st to come across this behaviour.
Bill
