I am working on migrating a MS Access Database over to a newer SQL platform.
But, with all of the users who are currently using it, we're migrating slowly/carefully.
The first step is that we are re-writing the VBA code into C#, which is then deployed in a .dll along with the database.
Now, the VBA code calls into the C# to do the business logic, then the VBA continues to do the displays/UI, while Access still hosts the database.
The problem comes in that I have a report that is being run after the business logic from the C# in one place, and apparently MS Access has a cache, which clears every 5 seconds. So, the transaction that occurs in the C# code writes to the database, but the VBA code is still using the cache. This is causing errors, as the records added to the database (which the VBA report is trying to report on) don't exist in the cache yet...
I'm guessing that the C# .dll must be getting treated as a "second connection" to the MS Access database, which is what seems to typically cause this error in my searches (thinks that one process is writing, and the other is reading).
Since the cache is cleared out every 5 seconds, we can just put the process to sleep, and wake it up after 5 seconds, and then run the report, but that's pretty terrible for an end user.
And, making things difficult, the cache seems like it only gets used in the deployed version (so, when running from source / in debug mode, the error never happens).
Doing some searches, there seems to be plenty of people who have said "just refresh the cache." But, the question is: within VBA, how do you refresh the cache?
Any advice would be welcome.
Thanks
I've been fighting the same issue for years as I write a lot of tools around an old Powerbuilder application that has an Access MDB back end.
The cache does exist and it is VERY real. When data is inserted on a different connection than it is queried on, the cache can be directly observed and measured. It was also documented by Microsoft before they blackholed a bunch of their old articles...
Microsoft Jet has a read-cache that is updated every PageTimeout milliseconds (default is 5000ms = 5 seconds). It also has a lazy-write mechanism that operates on a separate thread to main processing and thus writes changes to disk asynchronously. These two mechanisms help boost performance, but in certain situations that require high concurrency, they may create problems.
I've found a couple workarounds that are not the best, but somewhat make due until I find something better or can re-write the app with a better back end database.
The seemingly best answer I've found (that may actually work for you since you say you need VBA) is to use JRO.RefreshCache. I've been trying to figure out how to implement this using C# or VB.net without any luck. Below is a link to a code example where you execute the RefreshCache method on your 2nd connection that needs to pull the data. I have not tested this myself.
https://documentation.help/MSJRO/jrmthrefreshcachex.htm
A workaround I've found that will deliver the query results within 500ms to 1000ms of insert time (instead of anywhere between 500 and 5000 ms - or more):
Use System.Data.ODBC instead of OleDB, with connection string: Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};Dbq=;
If someone knows how to use the JRO.RefreshCache method with OLEDB and C# or VB.net, I'd be forever grateful. I believe the issue is it's looking for an ADO connection to be passed in, not an OLEDB connection.
I not aware of ANY suggesting that some 5 second cache exits? Where did this idea come from????
Furthermore, if you have 5 users, then you not going to be able to update their cache, are you?
In other words, the issue of some cache for one user still not going to solve or work with mutli-users anyway, is it?
The simple matter is if you load up a form with 100 reocrds, and then other users are ALSO working on that 100 rows, then all users will not see other changes until such time you tell access to re-load the form.
You can do this with a me.Refresh in the form, and then it will show changes made by other users (or even your c# code!!!).
However, that not really the soluion here.
How does near EVERY system deal with this issue?
Answer:
You don't, you "design" the software to take the user work flow into account.
So, in place of loading up a form with 100 rows of data? (which you should not, unless SUPER DUPER reason exists for doing that).
The you provide a UI in which the user FIRST searches for whatever it is they want to work on.
In other words, say you just booked a user on a tour. Now, they call the office back, and want to change some details of that tour. But, a different tour staff might pick up the phone. So, now a 2nd user opens the tour?
So, you solve that issue by NOT loading all the tours into that form in the first place.
you provide a search screen, so they can search for the user, find the user, maybe type in a invoice number or whatever.
You display the results in a pick list, and then launch the form to the ONE record (and perhaps detail records from child tables).
So there no concpet of a cache in Access anymore then there is in c#.
However, if you load up a datatable in c#, and then display that data?
Well, what about the other users on that system. They will not see changes to that data ANY MORE then the current access form.
So, if you want to update some data in c#? Then fine, but you need/want to do two things:
First, before you call any c# code that may update the current form reocrd? You need to FORCE a data save of that current record BEFORE you call any code, be it VBA code, or c# code that going to update that current reocrd the user is working on.
You can in Access save the current reocrd in MANY different ways, but the typical approach is:
' single record save - current record
if me.dirty then me.dirty = false
' VBA or c# code goes here.
' optional refresh the current form to reflect changes
me.Refresh
So, in most cases, it is the "design" of your software that will solve this issue.
For example, in the tour example, or in fact ANY system, the user can't work, can't update, and can't do their job UNLESS they first find/search and have a means to bring up that form + record data in the first place.
So, ANY typical good design will:
Ask the user for that name, invoce number or whatever.
Display the results of the search, and THEN allow the user to pick the record/data to work on. When they are done, they close that form and are RIGHT BACK to the search form to do battle with the next customer or task or phone call or whatever.
So, a search form might look like this:
In above, I typed in smi, and then displayed a pick list.
The user can further type in say part of the first name, and thus now get this:
So, maybe they type in a invoice number, customer number, booking number or whatever.
So, you display the results, and then they can select the row or "thing" to work on.
thus, we click on the row (or above glasses button), and then jump to the ONE record.
so, the user does whatever they have to do with the customer. Now, when done, they close the ONE thing, the ONE main reocrd.
This not only saves the data (so others in the office can now use that booking data), but it also means the data is saved. and they are NOW right back at the search screen, ready to do battle with the next customer.
So, not only does this mean we have a VERY bandwith friednly design (we only pull the one main reocrd into that form), but it also is better for work flow.
The Access form's cache thus becomes a non issue, since we only dealing with the one record.
And as I pointed out, if the system is multi-user, then you NOT going to be able to udpate and deal with multiple users cached data anyway, are you?
Think of ANY system you EVER used from a software point of view.
When you use google, does it download the WHOLE internet, and then you use ctrl-f to search megs and megs of data in the browser?
Nope!
you search first, get a list of that search, and THEN pick one!!
And when that list is display, maybe others on the internet are udpateing, and add new data - but if that was cached in your browser, then it would not work!!!
And same goes for a desktop accounting system. You don't load up all accounts, and THEN have the user go ctrl-f to search all the data. You search for the customer, invoice number and PICK ONE to work on.
And it does not make sense to load up a form with 1000 customers, and then go ctrl-f to find that customer. Same goes for a instant banking machine. It does not download ALL customers and THEN let you search. It asks you FIRST to get what you need. So, be it browser based, desktop based, or JUST ABOUT ANY software you use?
You quite much elminate the cache issue, since not pre-loading boatloads of data, but asking and letting the user search for the data they need.
So, in regards to the Access form data and cache?
If you are on a form, and call VBA code, or c# code or whatever?
If that code update the current form, you have NO MORE OR LESS of a issue when calling VBA code, or c# code!!!! If that code updates the current form, and the reocrd is dirty (has pending edits), then you get that message about the current form's reocrd having been udpated by another user!!!
So, your cache issue does NOT IN ANY WAY exist MORE or LESS as a issue in typical Access software.
As a genreal rule, if you are on a form with pending edits, and say want to pop up some form to edit releated data?
You have to ensure that pending edits are SAVED before you launch an form that can edit the same data, or run code that can/may edit that data.
As a result, ZERO cache issues should exist, and they no more or no less exist when calling sql or VBA update code in a form then calling some c# code from that form.
So, write the pending update for that form.
Then run your VBA, SQL, or c# code.
And then do a me.Refresh to display any changes made by those external routines.
there is no documetjion, or ANY article I can find that suggests some kind of 5 seocnd cache or update - it is a urban myth, and your software challenge here in regards to use c# or VBA, or even SQL server stored procedures?
They are all the same issue, and I dare say that often access is used as a front end to SQL server, and ALL OF the SAME issues exist when using SQL server with ms-access.
I'm working on a project that uses an SQL trigger to fire off emails when certain fields are updated, and the emails need to be in HTML format with complex design, something that would be very difficult to pull off using the #body_format = 'HTML' command. As it stands, the only articles I've found have been about formatting the body of the message using HTML in the SQL code, but I'm looking to reference a URL and send the corresponding page as an HTML body.
I know that there's a way in VBScript to generate an HTML page and send it as a message by referencing its URL by using the .CreateHTMLBody command on a CDO.Message object, and that's the kind of functionality I'm looking for in SQL.
I'm using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.
Short answer no.... Long answer yes :)
Ways to do it.
1) If you build your page on the web then just store the html in a table and look it up. If it needs to change all of the time build the html in a template manner that you put some crazy text in certain locations (##FIRSTNAME##) that you will REPLACE with your dynamic content and all of a sudden you are good to go and not too much difficult handling of the html.
2) Build a CLR with your VB code. this is more complex but on a plus side you can also send your message directly from here through an SMTP gateway and I have had issues where DB mail has retried and sent way too many messages to public users so I don't use it for heavy emailing at all!
3) Build a SSIS package and place your VB script inside a script task to generate the email, create a SQL agent job, then use tSQL to execute that job.
4) Call your VBScript directly xp_CmdShell or some other method straight from the trigger. This one is definitely the scariest impact from a security perspective but if you lock down access and only allow for certain user(s) it is not so so bad...... Here is an article that I haven't read in full but looks to be very exhaustive on the subject. https://www.simple-talk.com/sql/database-administration/the-posh-dba-solutions-using-powershell-and-sql-server/
Added benefit to using methods > 1. You can create a threaded application to send several thousand messages very quickly if needed! I literally send 2,000 messages from my DB server to Exchange server in under a minute because of a threaded clr.....
I have an requirement to execute macro-script kept on remote machine. DCOM Configuration setting is not set to allow communication between two computers. Even it's not possible to change the DCOM setting in my scenario.
Can I achieve the same requirement using Remote Desktop connection and then invoking macro script (through VBA code)?
I don't know exactly how to invoke script kept on remote machine using VBA?
Any idea/suggestions welcomed!!
This may not exactly answer your question, but may give you an idea.
I faced a the same problem with an application built in Access and the only way I could achieve this is by programming the macro I wanted to run into the application and then let the application periodically check a table on a share drive for "Go" command every few seconds.
On the share drive there was a table like this:
command_id | user | command
======================================
8 | "john.doe" | "update_me"
And all the applications were checking this table. If the app identified itself as user "john.doe", it decided to run the pre-programmed macro "update_me" and delete the row afterwards to prevent it from running again.
You can easily program more advanced stuff, like parameters, periodical execution etc.
It's not perfect, but it works quite nicely. Currently, I have the table on the SQL server and the command request takes cca 0.01s and I use it very often.
I created a time recording program in vb.net with a sql-server as backend. User can send there time entries into the database (i used typed datasets functionality) and send different queries to get overviews over there working time.
My plan was to put that exe in a folder in our network and let the user make a link on their desktops. Every user writes into the same table but can only see his own entries so there is no possibility that two user manipulate the same dataset.
During my research i found a warning that "write contentions between the different users" can be occur. Is that so in my case?
Has anyone experience with "many user using the same exe" and where that is using datasets and could give me an advice whether it is working or what i should do instead?
SQL Server will handle all of your multi-user DB access concerns.
Multiple users accessing the same exe from a network location can work but it's kind of a hack. Let's say you wanted to update that exe with a few bug fixes. You would have to ensure that all users close the application before you could release the update. To answer you question though, the application will be isolated to each user running it. You won't have any contention issues when it comes to CRUD operations on the database due to the network deployment.
You might consider something other than a copy/paste style publishing of your application. Visual Studio has a few simple tools you can use to publish your application to a central location using ClickOnce deployment.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/31kztyey(v=vs.110).aspx
My solution was to add a simple shutdown-timer in the form, which alerts users to saving their data before the program close att 4 AM.
If i need to upgrade, i just replace the .exe on the network.
Ugly and dirty, yes... but worked like a charm for the past 2 years.
good luck!
What I'm trying to do is seperate my existing MS Access application into a front-end (which will run locally on a user's machine) and backend (which will be hosted on a networked file server) and allow users to choose between "read-only" and "write" modes. The idea is that only one user can use the "write" mode at a time, thus preventing the same piece of inventory being allocated to mutliple customers. My problem is that the application currently handles concurrency by requiring users to open a .bat file which only allows them to enter application if a .ldb file does not already exist (there is no read-only mode currently), so I need to prevent users accessing the production data in "read-only" mode from creating a .ldb file and unessarily blocking out other users.
The biggest challenge to implemnting this is that users must have write access to the temporary tables in the MS Access (.mdb) file installed locally. I have tried to implement this using a linked table, but I'm not sure how I can control when records become locked using linked tables (which creates a .ldb file).
You could change the sharing setting back to Exclusive Mode. Then only one person can access the file at a time. Check out this link and the other sharing options you have.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access-help/set-options-for-a-shared-access-database-mdb-HP005188297.aspx
Side note: Yikes. Using Access in a shared network environment is not fun. I hope nothing important/time sensitive/secure is in this file. The .ldb file not being deleted and blocking other users is something that I use to see happen regularly in this situation. I believe splitting the Access file into a front-end and back-end like you've done is the first step. Then using linked tables to a SQL Server database can help resolve these issues. But if you're going to this level of effort you may want to consider dumping Access and get a COTS product or create a new application.
Depending on which version of Access you are using, theres alot of flexibility in the UI developement. In other words, this sounds more like an "interface" issue as apposed to a "database" issue. Given everybody is able write to a table, you should be able to check in somewhat real time (performance can be an issue with larger datasets), whether a particular has been added to inventory or not.
They I handled this problem is have two tables, an incomming and outgoing log, and set up a query that did the math against the inventory list on the amount of products. And like a general ledger, select set amount of time to "close the log" (monthly, quarterly) so that the query is not taking into account stuff that happened two years ago.
If you need more help with Access related stuff, Access Monster is a good forum site that deal with nothing but access.
My problem is that the application currently handles concurrency by requiring users to open a .bat file which only allows them to enter application if a .ldb file does not already exist (there is no read-only mode currently), so I need to prevent users accessing the production data in "read-only" mode from creating a .ldb file and unessarily blocking out other users.
--> If every user has his own copy of the front-end on his own machine, you'd have to check the .ldb file of the back-end.
I guess it would be easier to give everyone write access to the backend and manage the actual writing programmatically with a "locked by User X" field in the backend:
You said:
preventing the same piece of inventory being allocated to mutliple customers
If this is the only reason for putting all users but one in read-only mode, you could put a "locked by User X" field on the inventory table. If someone starts to modify (or even opens) a piece of inventory, update the record with his user name, and delete the user name again when he's done.
If another user tries to open the same piece of inventory as well, the name of the first user will already be in the "locked by User X" field, so you can put the second user in read-only mode.
If the inventory pieces are not the only problem and all the other users really are not allowed to change anything as soon as someone else already is editing, you can create a new table with only one column and one row and use this as the "locked by User X" field. As soon as there is a user name inside, you can put everyone else in readonly mode.
No matter how you do it, you will have to provide some kind of admin menu, so if someone's front-end crashes while editing, someone else needs to be able to unlock this user's locked data (=delete his username from the "locked by User X" field).