[AccessD] Externalized Control Information - Slow at Times

Brad Marks BradM at blackforestltd.com
Sat Mar 5 11:47:01 CST 2011


Dan,

Thanks for your insights.

I will discuss this issue some more with our network folks.

I know that I can eliminate the occasional slowness by using a local table or "hard coding" the permissions.  These approaches will make it more difficult to retain the control of the information in the hands of the application administrator, however.

I have given some thought to reading the control file and using it to generate VBA code.  This would, however, require a two-step approach (1) administrator changes the data (2) Access developer uses the data to generate new VBA code and then moves this new code from TEST to PROD.  This is not ideal, but it may be better than the occasional slowness if we cannot find the root cause.

Thanks again,
Brad      

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com on behalf of Dan Waters
Sent: Sat 3/5/2011 10:24 AM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Externalized Control Information - Slow at Times
 
Hi Brad,

My systems I do something similar to allow/disallow actions based on a
user's job role, or if they are an administrator, or the developer (me).
All of the data for these settings is stored in the BE database file in a
variety of tables - but they could also be installed in a separate BE file
just as well.  I think your approach is sound.  And I'm assuming that you
have a client/system configuration (several FE's on client PC's with the
data stored in one or more BE data files on a server).

If your system typically takes only 1/2 second to set the tabs, but
sometimes it takes 15 seconds, I'd have to say the first thing to look at is
a network connection that is causing the delay.  So you'll need to enlist
your IT folks for some help.

HTH,
Dan

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Brad Marks
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2011 2:56 PM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: [AccessD] Externalized Control Information - Slow at Times

We have an Access 2007 application that has several "External Control
Tables" that are stored in a separate accdr file.

The users like this approach because a "system administrator" (end-user) can
control many features of the system without contacting IT.

For example, the system has 10 tabs, but not all users can see all 10 tabs.
If a user is in the HR department, they can only see three tabs.  If they
are in the Accounting department, they can see 5 tabs, etc.  The control of
which tabs a user can see is stored in one of our "External Control Tables".

This approach works very nicely most of the time.  Once in a while, however,
response time is a problem.  For example, usually the Tab control info can
be obtained in about ½ second.  However, occasionally it may take 10 - 15
seconds.  We are not sure why we see this slowness.

We are looking into alternatives.  We want to retain the system
administrator's ability to maintain the "Control Info", but we would like to
eliminate the occasional response time problem.

I am curious if others have built systems that have "externalized control
info".  If so, where is the best place to store this data?  

(If we simply store it in the "Main" accdr file, then we have a problem with
our change management process.  IT works in Test and moves things into PROD.
We don't want IT to have to maintain this info in TEST.) 

Thanks,

Brad

-- 
AccessD mailing list
AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com



-- 
AccessD mailing list
AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.






More information about the AccessD mailing list