Microsoft KB Archive/90882

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ACC1x: Two Users Can Open the Same dBASE Database Exclusively

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Q90882

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Access versions 1.0, 1.1

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SUMMARY
Two Microsoft Access users can attach the same dBASE file over a network, even though one or both open the database using the Exclusive option in the Open Database dialog box.

MORE INFORMATION
If more than one user attempts to attach a dBASE database file using the Exclusive option in the Open Database dialog box, the attach action completes successfully, even though another user may already have attached that database exclusively.

However, even though both users are able to attach the table, only one of the attached users is able to open the table. If the second user attempts to open the table, he or she receives the error message:

Couldn't Open File

If you start two sessions of Microsoft Access on the same computer and attempt the procedure above, you get the same response, except that you receive the error message:

Database Exclusively Locked

There is no exclusive database lock in dBASE; records in files are locked, not the entire file. In other words, one user can open a database exclusively, and a second user can open it shared or exclusively. Therefore, the exclusive database lock can only be recognized by Microsoft Access when it controls both attempts to open the same file from the same computer.