Rocky Smolin - Beach Access Software
bchacc at san.rr.com
Thu Aug 10 12:29:05 CDT 2006
John: It would seem that putting this front end on a workstation (it's linked to the BE on the server) and using Windows Scheduler would be another alternative. It tried this and it works if I put a password on my account (which is a PITA because now I have to enter the PW when I start up the box and I'm the only user). Do you know of any downside to using Windows Scheduler? Thanks and regards, Rocky JWColby wrote: > Rocky, > > It isn't going to suck up a lot of server time, remember that Access is a > file server database. What will happen is that it will run on EVERY front > end, possibly running more than once if you have several users and each > user's workstation is doing this. You can get around that by causing it to > only run on a single specific workstation but then that workstation has to > be turned on and logged in to. > > I built what I called a "server app", which is an FE that runs on the > server. Since only a single instance is running, it now runs only a single > time per day / hour / whatever time interval you choose here. > > The up side is it runs regardless of who or how many users are running your > application out on workstations, and only a single instance is run. > > The down side is that the server has to be logged in to and that user on the > server has to run the application. If the server reboots and no one logs > in, then the app doesn't run. Access cannot directly run as a service. > > This down side also causes a couple of other inconveniences. Because I set > the server login to run the app in the startup, if I log in remotely, a > second instance starts up. It is not immediately obvious that it is a > second instance since you cannot see tasks already running under another > user without looking at the task manager. I have been known to leave two > instances running accidentally, and I have also been known to shut down the > instance running under the other user (the user logged in from the server > console) and then log off my remote desktop and not fire up the app again > for the still logged in main user. In fact to do that you have to use VNC > to log back in to the main user's login and start the program. > > This method can also cause problems if you use an open table to speed things > up and then want to compact / repair the BE. All of your other workstations > can be out of the db but the ServerApp is still logged in and so the BE > can't be compacted. > > All in all though, this strategy does work and that is how I handle it. > > > John W. Colby > Colby Consulting > www.ColbyConsulting.com > > -----Original Message----- > From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Rocky Smolin - > Beach Access Software > Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 12:09 PM > To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving > Subject: [AccessD] Trigger code every day > > Dear List: > > A client needs to run a program every day at the same time to export some > files. I'm thinking that I use the OnTimer event with some timer interval > (like 5 minutes) and check the clock to see if it's time to do the export. > This app will run all the time in the background and reside probably on > their server. Is this going to suck up a lot of server cycles? Is there a > better way to do this? > > MTIA > > Rocky > > -- Rocky Smolin Beach Access Software 858-259-4334 www.e-z-mrp.com