Database on Server (Access 2003)

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I have a small membership type database created in Access 2003 and what to put it on our server so that the other 3 people in the office can access it. Would someone mind giving me the settings I have to do to set it up for a multiuser environment.
Thanks in advance.

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Access is inherently multi-user, so you don’t need to change anything. However, the best way to let several people use a database is to split it into a backend database containing only tables, and a frontend database containing all other database objects (queries, forms, reports, …) plus links to the tables in the backend database. You can use Tools | Database Utilities | Database Splitter to create the frontend and backend.

Place the backend database in a shared location on the network (users should have modify rights in the folder containing the backend database), and give each user his/her own copy of the frontend. If you need to modify the design of forms or reports, do this in your copy of the frontend, then distribute it to the others (overwriting the old version.)

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Thanks Hans,
Will that mean that each user can create there own reports etc?

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Thanks Hans,
Will that mean that each user can create there own reports etc?

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That depends on what you want. I tend to secure my databases so that end users cannot create database objects themselves. However, if you have users that are familiar with Access, you can let them create queries, reports etc. themselves. They would be available to that user only if you use individual front ends. But you won’t be able to upgrade the frontends by simply replacing them with your new version – all modifications by the user would be lost.

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That depends on what you want. I tend to secure my databases so that end users cannot create database objects themselves. However, if you have users that are familiar with Access, you can let them create queries, reports etc. themselves. They would be available to that user only if you use individual front ends. But you won’t be able to upgrade the frontends by simply replacing them with your new version – all modifications by the user would be lost.

Reply | Quote

Access is inherently multi-user, so you don’t need to change anything. However, the best way to let several people use a database is to split it into a backend database containing only tables, and a frontend database containing all other database objects (queries, forms, reports, …) plus links to the tables in the backend database. You can use Tools | Database Utilities | Database Splitter to create the frontend and backend.

Place the backend database in a shared location on the network (users should have modify rights in the folder containing the backend database), and give each user his/her own copy of the frontend. If you need to modify the design of forms or reports, do this in your copy of the frontend, then distribute it to the others (overwriting the old version.)

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