What are command line options and how do you use them?
	How do you prevent the Autoexec macro from executing?
	When should you repair and compact a database and what do they do?
	What is the Access Service Pack and why do I need it?
	How can I start Access using an alternative workgroup file for security?
	How can eliminate the menu bar when displaying a form?
	What is an easy way to manage my startup forms?
	In Access 2.0, how do I hide the database window?

What are command line options and how do you use them?
Keywords: Command Line
Posted November 18, 1996

You can automatically open a database, run a macro, or supply a user name or password when you start Microsoft Access by entering options on the command line.

For example, the following command line starts Microsoft Access, opens the Northwind Traders database for exclusive access, and runs the Add Products macro:

C:\ACCESS\MSACCESS.EXE NWIND.MDB /Excl /X Add Products

The following table lists the Microsoft Access 2.0 command-line options:

The table below outlines the Access 95 command line options:

How do you prevent the Autoexec macro from executing?
Keywords: Command Line
Posted November 18, 1996

Most custom applications will have an Autoexec macro that initializes the environment when a user opens the database. Sometimes it becomes necessary to prevent the execution of this macro in the course of debugging.

To prevent the Autoexec macro from running hold the shift key down when opening the database.

When should you repair and compact a database and what do they do?
Keywords: Compact Repair
Posted November 18, 1996

With use, the internal structure of a database can become fragmented, leading to wasted disk space which can result in poor performance. Additionally, databases may become corrupted. Corruption typically occurs when users reboot workstations, power goes out, disk drives go bad.

The usual practice is to Repair the database first and then Compact it.

Compacting a database does the following:

1. Reorganizes a table's pages to they reside in adjacent database pages.
2. Reclaims unused space created by object and record deletions.
3. Resets counter fields so the next value allocated will be one more than the last undeleted counter record.
4. Regenerates the table statistics used in the Query optimization process. These statistics can become out of date over time, typically due to transactions that were rolled back or when the database was not properly closed.
5. Flags all queries so that they will be recompiled the next time the query is executed.

Also, To compact the database the following conditions must be met:

1. User must have the "Modify Design" or "Administer" permission for all tables in the database.
2. Sufficient disk space must exist for both the original and compacted versions of the database, even if the database is being compacted using the same filename.
3. Other users must not have the database open.

In Access 2.0 you open Access, but don't open any database. Click the File menu; one of the options is Repair, another is Compact; and each will prompt for a database name.

In Access 95 you open Access, but don't open any database. Click the Tools menu and then click the Database Utilities submenu; one of the options is Repair, another is Compact; and each will prompt for a database name.

What is the Access Service Pack and why do I need it?
Keywords: Service Pack
Posted November 18, 1996

The Service Pack fixes a number of irritating problems that causes an internal database flag that is used to determine the state of data in the database to be erroneously set, sometimes causing the error message "Couldn't open SYSTEM.MDA." In order to work around this problem, customers have to run the repair utility on the database, a process that can be lengthy for large databases. The problem does not cause damage to the database or data in it, but can be inconvenient. The Service Pack also includes updated OLE dynamic-link library (DLL) files that allow third-party OLE custom controls to run in Microsoft Access 2.0, updated Paradox, Btrieve, and xBASE ISAM drivers, and an updated Setup Wizard.

The Service Pack contains The Microsoft Jet database engine version 2.5. This is an updated version of the database engine that ships with Microsoft Access 2.0 and Microsoft Visual Basic version 3.0. The Microsoft Jet database engine has been modified to enhance database repair functionality and to correct the erroneous setting of an internal database flag that in some cases results in the error message "Couldn't open SYSTEM.MDA."

OLE 2.02 is also included and is a minor upgrade to the OLE libraries shipped with Microsoft Access 2.0. These new libraries are included primarily because third-party custom controls will expect to find these libraries installed. Developers using third-party controls or controls distributed by other Microsoft products should install these libraries. The new OLE libraries also correct problems with diminished system resources when printing reports containing embedded Microsoft Graph objects.

The Microsoft Access repair utility has been enhanced so that more databases can be repaired successfully. The enhancement enables the repair utility to traverse a table from beginning to end, and from end to beginning if needed, allowing the utility to recover data pages that could not be recovered before the enhancement. A data page can become damaged if the computer is turned off while a data pages contains changes that have not been saved.

Some of the problems encountered without using the Service Pack are listed below:

1. When you try to attach a DB2 table containing an underscore (_) or a percent sign (%) in its name, you receive the following error message:
   

   Couldn't find object "<tablename>"

   The Microsoft Jet database engine misinterprets the underscore or the percent sign. This causes the Jet database engine to pass an incorrectable name to the DB2 ODBC driver.

2. When you start Microsoft Access, you may receive either of the following error messages:
   

   Couldn't open SYSTEM.MDA OR
   

   <Database> is corrupted or is not a database file. Attempt to repair?

   The Microsoft Jet database engine version 2.0 may erroneously leave an internal database flag set that in some cases results in one of the error messages stated above.

3. When you run a parameter query to find the records in a date range, the resulting recordset is empty.
   The records set is empty because one of the following conditions is true for the parameter query:
   

   - The parameter query references an indexed Date/Time field in the underlying table.
   

   - The parameter query has a BETWEEN...AND operator in the Criteria cell for the Date/Time field.

4. When you are working with an attached Btrieve table, you may receive the following error message:
   

   Unexpected error from external database driver [7]

   Or, a query based on an attached Btrieve table does not return any records in Microsoft Access version 2.0. This same query does return records correctly in Microsoft Access version 1.x.

5. A report that is based on a query that runs quickly seems to run slowly, taking several minutes to finish.

   In certain queries containing many-to-many join fields, Microsoft Access can choose an incorrect index when it interprets the query. Using the wrong index results in poor performance.

6. OLE controls created with the OLE Control Developer's Kit shipped with Microsoft Visual C++ version 2.0 require users to install OLE version 2.02.

   Trying to register such a control in Microsoft Access will cause the following error message:

   Insert Object: <OLE Control> was unable to add itself to your system. Install the control using a separate setup utility.

    

   Using a utility such as REGSVR.EXE or MSAREG.EXE will result in the error message:

   DllRegisterServer in <OLE Control> failed.

7. When you run a query that contains aggregate (totals) functions, you receive the error message:
   

   Reserved error (-1310); there is no message for this error.

   This problem occurs only with queries for which all of the following conditions are true:

   • The query does not contain remote (ODBC) tables.
   • The query contains three or more tables and can be divided into two or more queries to obtain the same results.
   • The query does not have any criteria on the aggregate fields.

   The error is caused by the query optimizer. Any changes made to the query or its underlying tables that cause Microsoft Access to change its query optimization strategy can either result in or resolve this error. Changes include adding criteria to the query, qding indexes to or removing them from underlying tables, adding rows to underlying tables, and then resaving the query, and so on.

How can I start Access using an alternative workgroup file for security?
Keywords: Workgroup Security
Posted November 18, 1996

There are a couple of ways to this in Access 2.0:

1. First, you can create a copy of the msacc20.ini file and change the SystemDB= value to the *.MDA workgroup file you want to use. Then open your database file by using the "/Ini" command line option to specify this new Ini file:

   "c:\...\msaccess.exe c:\...\database.mdb /ini c:\...\new.ini"

    

2. Alternatively, you can use the Workgroup Administrator to change the option in the current msacc20.ini file.

In Access 95, you can use the Workgroup Administrator to either create or join a new workgroup (*.mdw) file. You can then use command line options to open your database using this new workgroup file:

"c:\...\msaccess.exe c:\...\database.mdb / wrkgrp c:\...\new.mdw"

How can eliminate the menu bar when displaying a form?
Keywords: Menu Bar
Posted November 18, 1996

Just add "=1" to the Menu Bar property of the form being displayed.

What is an easy way to manage my startup forms?
Keywords: Startup Forms
Posted November 18, 1996

Typically, many application has a number of forms to be displayed on startup. One way to manage these forms is to create a local table which will contain the name of the form and the mode it should be opened in. You then can call a generic function to loop through the recordset and open all the forms:

The example below is usually called from the Autoexec function of the application:

Function StartupForms (szTblName As String) As Integer

    ''' Function:	StartupForms
    '''
    ''' Comments:	This function loops through the startup table
    '''	and retrieves the form names and mode to open
    '''	then by.
    '''
    ''' Arguments:	szTblName - Name of table which contains list
    ''' 	of forms to open
    '''
    ''' Returns: 	True or False
    '''
    ''' Called by: 	Autoexec macro
    '''
    ''' Keywords: 	OPEN STARTUP AUTOEXEC
    '''
    ''' Date     	Developer                                     Action
    ''' -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    ''' 8/01/96 	Marty Wasznicky                         created
    ''' 8/17/96 	Marty Wasznicky                         modified

On Error GoTo StartupForms_Err

    Dim rstStartup As Recordset, iStartup As Integer
    Dim dbCurrent As Database
    Dim fldName As Field, fldMode As Field
    Dim szProcName As String

    szProcName = "StartupForms"

    StartupForms = True

    ''' obtain list of forms to load at startup
    Set dbCurrent = DBEngine(0)(0)
    Set rstStartup = dbCurrent.OpenRecordset(szTblName, db_Open_Snapshot)
    Set fldName = rstStartup!FormName
    Set fldMode = rstStartup!Mode
    
    
    ''' Determine if any records exist in the form table
    If Not rstStartup.BOF And Not rstStartup.EOF Then
        
        '''Inilize status bar
        rstStartup.MoveLast
        gvReturn = SysCmd(SYSCMD_INITMETER, "Initializing...", rstStartup.recordcount)
        iStartup = 1
        
        ''' Open all forms
        rstStartup.MoveFirst
        Do Until rstStartup.EOF
            DoCmd OpenForm fldName, fldMode
            
            ''' Update status bar
            gvReturn = SysCmd(SysCmd_UpdateMeter, iStartup)
            iStartup = iStartup + 1
            
            rstStartup.MoveNext
        Loop
    End If


StartupForms_Exit:
    On Error Resume Next
    gvReturn = SysCmd(SYSCMD_REMOVEMETER)
    Exit Function
    
StartupForms_Err:
    StartupForms = False
    Call ErrMsg(Err, Error$, Trim$(szProcName))
    Resume StartupForms_Exit
End Function

In Access 2.0, how do I hide the database window?
Keywords: Hide Database
Posted November 18, 1996

Unfortunately, there is no graceful way to hide the database window in Access 2.0. The only way to accomplish it is through the use of SendKeys. This can be called by your Autoexec function. An example follows:

• To hide the window:

  SendKeys "%WH", False

• To show the window:

  SendKeys "%FH{ENTER}", False

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