Knowledge Base

ACC: How to Share a Secured Database on a Network

Article ID: 232390

Article Last Modified on 1/24/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Access 2.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition
Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q232390

Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

SUMMARY

This article shows you how to share a secured Microsoft Jet database on a network. For a group of users to gain access to a secured database, the users must join the same workgroup information file. In Access 2.0, the workgroup information file has the extension .mda. In Access 95 and 97, the workgroup information file has the extension .mdw.

MORE INFORMATION

To Share a Database in Access 95 or Access 97

NOTE: This example assumes that the workgroup information file is named Secure.mdw.

Share the database in a folder that has change permissions for the users (read, write, create).
Share the workgroup information file, Secure.mdw, to a folder that also has change permissions for all the users. This folder may be the same as the database folder if the workgroup information file has a file name that is different from the database file(s).
Create a shortcut that includes the /wrkgrp command-line option, as in the following example

"c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Msaccess.exe" "\\srvr\fldr\MyDB.mdb" /wrkgrp "\\srvr\fldr2\Secure.mdw"

where \\srvr\fldr\MyDB.mdb is the universal naming convention (UNC) path to the database that you are sharing, and \\srvr\fldr2\Secure.mdw is the workgroup information file that you are sharing.

WARNING: To guard against the file becoming corrupted, share only a copy of your Secure.mdw file on the network. Back up a copy for safekeeping. You may want to do the same for the database file(s).

To Share a Database in Access 2.0

NOTE: This example assumes that the workgroup information file is named Secure.mda.

Copy your database and your Secure.mda file to a network shared folder that has change permissions for the users (read, write, create).
Copy the C:\Windows\System\Msacc20.ini file (or the WinNT\System32\Msacc20.ini file for Windows NT) to a new file name, for example, MyDB.ini.
Open the new .ini file in any text editor, such as Notepad, and change the line that begins with SystemDB= to read as follows

SystemDB = \\srvr\fldr\Secure.mda

where \\srvr\fldr\Secure.mda is the UNC path to your custom workgroup information file.
Copy the new .ini file to the same server location as the database.
Create a program item or shortcut that includes the /ini command-line option, as in the following example

"c:\Access\msaccess.exe" "\\srvr\fldr\MyDB.mdb" /ini "\\srvr\fldr\MyDB.ini"

where \\srvr\fldr\MyDB.mdb is the universal naming convention (UNC) path to your shared database, and \\srvr\fldr\MyDB.ini is the UNC path to your custom .ini file.

Special Note for Windows versions: For Access 2.0 on Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4.0, you can e-mail the shortcut. For Access 2.0 on Windows NT 3.51 or Windows 3.1x, have each user create the same program item in the user's Program Manager.

REFERENCES

For Access 95 and 97:

For more information about command line options, click Contents and Index on the Help menu, click the Index tab in Access Help, type the following text

command line

and then double-click the selected text to go to the "Start Microsoft Access with command-line options" topic. If you are unable to find the information you need, ask the Office Assistant.

For more information about securing your application, see chapter 14 of Building Applications with Microsoft Access 97 or Building Applications with Microsoft Access for Windows 95.

For more information about Microsoft Access 95 security, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

148555 ACC95: MS Access 95 Security White Paper Available in Download Center

In Access 2.0:

For more information about customizing the .ini file, see page 10 of the Advanced Topics book for Microsoft Access Developer's Toolkit (version 2.0).

For additional information about Access 2.0 security, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

122036 ACC2: Security Wizard and White Paper for Access 2.0 Available in Download Center

For additional information about the Access 2.0 .ini file, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

122246 ACC2: Sample MSACC20.INI File for MS Access Version 2.0

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