Chapter 31: Distributing Access Applications
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l (^) Category 3: Small bugs and minor nits: Category 3 bugs are small issues that don’t
affect the operation of your application. They may be caption or label misspellings or
incorrect text-box colors. Category 3 bugs should be fixed soon, but they shouldn’t take
precedence over Category 1 bugs. They should take precedence over Category 2 bugs only
when they’re so extreme that the application looks completely unacceptable or when they
cause enough trouble for users that a fix is quickly needed.
Categorizing bugs, and approaching them systematically, helps you create a program that looks
and behaves the way its users think it should. Sometimes you may feel like you’ll never finish your
Category 1 list, but you will. You’ll be smiling the day you check your bug sheet and realize that
you’re down to a few Category 2s and a dozen or so Category 3s! Although you might be tempted
to skip this beta-testing phase of development, don’t. You’ll only pay for it in the long run.
Tip
It’s often useful to have a user try to categorize the errors, as the developer may not always have sufficient
objectivity. The users are also better at judging what impact a particular bug might have on their day-to-day
activity.
Tip
Not all Access features are available when an application is run within the Access runtime environment. You
can operate in the runtime environment and use the full version of Access to test for problems with your code
and with the runtime environment by using the /Runtime command-line option when starting your Access
application. Click Run on the Windows Start menu or create a shortcut.
The following command-line example starts Access and opens the Invoices database (if it’s located at D:\
MYAPPS) in the runtime environment (all this text appears as a single line in a shortcut’s Target property):
“C:\Program Files...\MSACCESS.EXE” /RUNTIME
C:\MYAPPS\INVOICES.ACCDB
Tip
Anytime there are spaces in the path name, it’s necessary to include the entire path in quotes. In the example
above, if the path to the database included blanks (C:\Some Folder\Invoices.accdb), it would have
been necessary to uses quotes, as was done for the path to MSACCESS.EXE.
You should always test and debug your application in the runtime environment if you plan to distribute the
application.
New Feature
Access recognizes a database filename extension — .accdr — that automatically starts an application in the
runtime environment when it’s opened. Change your database file’s extension from .accdb to .accdr to
create a “locked-down” version of the application, and change the extension back to .accdb to restore full
functionality.