Chinese conundrum

[brendoaccess]

I administer a DB with several users over a network. Every now and again I get a record that has some fields filled in with Chinese (I think!) characters - like this:

?????

Any ideas how this happens, and how I can stop it?

Many thanks

 

[Remou]

This is likely to be corruption and can be caused by any number of things. For example, is your database split? Do users close down properly? You many be able to get rid of it with a compact / repair.

 

[missinglinq]

Chinese conundrum; isn't that the hot stuff you put on eggrolls? As Remou said, this is almost assuredly corruption! First off, you absolutley need to back up you db religiously! What corrupts one or two records today could just as easily mess up your entire db tomorrow! There are things that increase the chance of corruption, but pinpointing exactly what's causing a given case of corruption is somewhat nebulous. A multi-user environment is a risk factor, especially so when the front end and backend are on a shared drive, rather than having the backend on a shared drive and a copy of the front end on each user's machine. Users being too lazy to shut down the database properly has also been indicted as a common cause. Sometimes a little snooping and note taking can pinpoint who the culprit is. Allen Browne from down under has a very good paper that discusses corruption, its causes and how to protect against it, located here:

http://allenbrowne.com/ser-25.html

Good Luck

The Missinglinq

Richmond, Virginia

There's ALWAYS more than one way to skin a cat!

 

[brendoaccess]

That's useful - something to take away! (sorry)

 

[TheAceMan1]

How are ya brendoaccess . . .

Have a look here:

Access Database Corruption Repair Guide

Access Corruption

See Ya! . . . . . .

Be sure to see FAQ219-2884:

 

[brendoaccess]

Good to hear from you again TheAceMan1.

I'll check out the link.

Many thanks