Dissecting Form/Subforms/Imbedded Macros

[shepkrm]

Hello,

I searched for this and did not find relevant topics, so here is my issue...

I am tasked with updating core functionality of a form that was built many many years ago. Of course there is no documentation and the original developer has left the company. This form is built of multiple subforms. Due to the user-facing nature of the DB, I am able to get to "Design View" of the form, but have limited capability when it comes to re-sizing the subforms to even tell what is going on.

The user facing database also speaks to a "backend" database that is saved seperately and "archives" that seem to be invoked when my form is open.

I'm wondering if anyone has had to make similar changes and can offer any advice or tips. My goals are to figure out what the heck this form is doing, as well as to delete some fields while adding in new.

Thank you for any assistance you can offer!!
Becky

 

[lameid]

It sounds like Access security has been implemented on the file. The good news is that your can design it which means you have read permissions. If you can not find the developer login or PID for the the developer account, you can strip off the security by importing everything to a new file. For this to work your account must have Read Design and Read Data permission to the objects where applicable.

Then you and likely anyone else will be able to make changes to the file. From here you would need to setup security again. Doing it like it was before becomes a problem because you shouldn't have the Administer permission that lets you see permissions.

If you are looking for the developer's workgroup file or documentation try searching for the extension mdw. Also search text and file names for PID, SID, Security, Workgroup. Ideally you document the PID's when you create files and accounts so you can recreate it with whatever accounts and passwords if necessary later. Then there are also various recovery and hacking tools which I have never used. I think you'll be able to sidestep this if the developer at least documented security and you have the searching support of a domain admin.

Good luck! Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[shepkrm]

Thanks for the help.

I think my security is correct - and I was finally able to dig into the subforms. What happens now is that when I make a change to a subform, I can no longer open the original form.

There are a number of processes called when I open the original form with subforms. I am guessing that when I updated, something in the VB was not updated.

Not fun.

 

[kjv1611]

1. Hopefully you already did this, but Work from a copy of the database, not the original.

2. Probably since you have no knowledge of the database, as far as what is going on in the background, I'd suggest first documenting everything that is going on as best you can. There are database examples and lists out there which layout what events happen when. Perhaps you could get a list of the events and when they occur, and then look for those events in the VB Editor, and fill them in order (descriptions of them) in writing or in a typed document, which you can go back and look at and eventually get some sort of better idea of things.

3. As far as making changes, if you make a change to any control or object (table, form, subform, query, etc), you can search the entire project (code-wise) through the VB Editor, and look for anything that references that object/control by name. Document and/or change as necessary.

4. If you do get this thing fixed, and want to eleviate some of the same concerns for others going forward, make sure you add some documentation into the code, as well as some documentation say in a Word document or something - anything is better than nothing. Especially if there is a large user base.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[kjv1611]

Oh as far as:

What happens now is that when I make a change to a subform, I can no longer open the original form.

Keep notes of EVERY change you make, so you can "unmake" it until you figure out what is happening. Also, you might could post a note here about what change you made, and perhaps someone will be able to help you decipher why it caused the problem, and what solution(s) you can follow.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me