Problem Sharing Access DB's on an NT Server

[JohnInSeattle]

I'm working on a number of Access 97 databases that reside on an NT Server.&nbsp;&nbsp;For some reason other users are unable to open any of these databases if someone else already has the database open.&nbsp;&nbsp;Access pops up the following error msg:<br><br><FONT FACE=monospace><font color=red>Couldn't use &lt;name&gt;; file already in use. (Error 3045)<br>The specified file is currently being used by another user or session. Wait for the other user or session to finish working with the file, and then try the operation again.</font></font><br><br>With &lt;name&gt; being the name of the database.&nbsp;&nbsp;The databases aren't being opened &quot;exclusive&quot; using the Open Dialogue Box and all have their Default Open Mode set to &quot;Shared&quot; with &quot;no locking&quot; specified.&nbsp;&nbsp;None of the databases have User-Level security.&nbsp;&nbsp;To rule out a VBA based cause I created a new blank database, saved it to the server, and tried to open it on two PCs and got the same error msg during the second open.<br><br>I've worked in other situations with shared databases on NT networks and haven't run into this before.&nbsp;&nbsp;Any light you can shed would be greatly appreciated.<br>Thanks,<br>John

 

[Zelandakh]

Try opening the database twice on the same computer and see if you get the same error.<br><br>Are you using desktops with Access or the run time kit? <p>Zel<br><a href=mailto:zel@zelandakh.co.uk>zel@zelandakh.co.uk</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[JohnInSeattle]

Turns out that the problem is local to one machine.&nbsp;&nbsp;Could it have anything to do with the fact that the person has multiple network drives mapped to the same folder on the server?&nbsp;&nbsp;Thats the only odd thing that stood out while looking the machine over.&nbsp;&nbsp;All desktops are running Access 97.<br>John

 

[michaelh53]

I'm having the exact same problem on a NT network woth all settings for sharing. And I've made the following observations and tests:

1) If the creator of the database opens it first, the temporary *.ldb file is sometimes not created and no one else can then open and share.

2) If a non-creator opens the database first, the *.ldb file is created everytime and everyone else can open and share. ( the creator gets a message about not being able to open Exclusively and then can open and share).

3) I had 3 people create 2 simple databases each using defaults and then attempt to share under various conditions.
Creator A, B and C: Both databases acted Exclusive at first, but later in the day, one each database became shareable. And then both became shareable for Creator A.

Conclusion: It appears that a NT related problem is affecting proper creation of the *.ldb file for the database creator. The cause is unknown. It's almost as if NT premissions are dynamically changing throughout the day.

 

[bookouri]

have you tried running wrkgadm.exe, this utility is used to administer all the security/sharing stuff. You create a system.mdw file and &quot;join&quot; that file on each workstation. This wont help if users are trying to modify database structure etc. but will allow them to run runtime applications.

its been a long time since I set our up and I cant remember if you need the developer tools or not.

hope that helps a bit..

 

[SteelDragon]

Actually to answer the question of database creator, that information is stored in the access file, and the creator gets exclusive permission on the DB when he opens it first. The &quot;error&quot; message you are getting is actually not even an error, it's just informing the creator that someone else has the DB open and he cannot make exclusive chages,ie to the DB structure. If the creator opens the file and no-one else has it opened it gets locked, the reason for this is so that a DB can have administrative tasks done without fear of having someone open it mid way through and corrupting the whole DB. The best way around this I have found is to have a user named DB creator as an NT account and have anyone creating a DB log in as that user. Then any user logged in as themself never has an issue of not being able to open the file, further, you can control who has creator access, and allow others to be the &quot;creator&quot; just by changing logins.

Hope this helps,
SteelDragon