Distributing Access Forms 2

[sophiebean]

Hi there,

I have created a form in Access, and I was wondering how to distribute just the form to many users to enter in their data? I have no clue where to start.

Thank you!
Sophie

 

[jimmythegeek]

You cannot distribute "forms" only to users. Access stores all objects (tables, forms, modules, etc.) as a single self-contained .mdb file. You can distribute a Run-time version of an application, but you cannot distribute a single functional object within a database.

A run-time is a compiled version of the application in which Access will create Set-Up files for you, that can be run as a standard application set-up. This installs the database, as well as the files needed to run the application (Access shell, ocx's, dll's, etc.). Jim Lunde
compugeeks@hotmail.com
Custom Application Development

 

[sophiebean]

So all I have to do is dump the program onto the network so people can use it?

Thank you!

 

[Rohdem]

Depending on your situation and how many users you have, its usually not quite that easy. You have to consider if you want any security on the database, whether it should be split into front end and back end, and whether the front end should be stored locally or on the server. If you don't split the database into a front end(forms, queries, reports, modules) and a back end(tables), then you will have to leave the database on the server, and if you get very many users in it, performance will suffer. Generally, it is best to split the database and put the front end on each user's machine. If you do this, you will probably need an easy way to update each user's machine when you make changes to the database. I use a utility that I found at the following link:

http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm

You also need to determine if you want to set up security on the database using workgroup files. There are several FAQ's in the Access General Discussion forum on security as well as many, many pages on it at microsoft's website, just do a search for workgroups. Mike Rohde
rohdem@marshallengines.com