Microsoft Access 2010 Bible

Chapter 21: Building Multiuser Applications

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You can easily change the open mode of an Access database. In the Open dialog box, select the

Open Exclusive option (see Figure 21.1), which directs Access to open the database exclusively

(for single-user access). When you don’t select the Open Exclusive option, the database is opened

for shared access, permitting simultaneous multiuser access to the data.

FIGURE 21.1

By default, Access databases are opened in Shared mode.

Tip
An essential step when working with multiuser databases is to make sure that the database in question has
been opened for shared access. As you’ll see in the “Default Open Mode” section later in this chapter, you can
easily change the default open mode for Access databases.

Caution
As you’ll see in the section “Splitting a Database for Network Access,” a recommended practice is to split your
application into a front-end database linked to a back-end database. Remember that, because it’s the front-end
database that the user actually opens, Open Exclusive only applies to the front-end database, not the back-end
database where the data actually resides.

Listing 21.2 shows the ADO and DAO code necessary to open an Access database exclusively.