Using a Local Area Network

(To use Microsoft Access on multiple machines requires multiple licenses, one for each machine using the program. You should check to see if multiple-use licenses for the number of machines you want to use are available.)

CB/DB will be installed in your system in two pieces:

	the database (set of related data tables) itself will be in a file named cbw5_be.mdb, and
	all the other database objects will be in a file named cbw5.mdb.

This is called a "split" database. Having it that way accomplishes two things: It allows multiple users to access the single "back-end", and it allows changes to be made to the "front-ends" of the system without disturbing the data tables.

From a practical point, Access is a desktop database, but it can be used on a Local Area Network (LAN) with (according to Microsoft) a maximum of 15 to 20 users (machines), and the database itself can grow to about 200 megabytes, and still be fairly efficient. When you outgrow these levels, it is necessary to go to a different database approach using an SQL server and clients.

Without the split, the client machines would have to read in from the server the tables containing data, and the forms, queries, and reports in order to use them on each of the machines. With the split configuration, only the data must be transferred, and all the calculations and formatting for display is done using the front-end program. Even so, response on the client machines will never be as good as it is on the server. For that reason, you are always best off to have the major jobs run on the server rather than on the client machines. The more you can restrict queries from the client machines to simple stuff, the happier your users will be....

To use CB/DB on a LAN, you must accomplish the following steps:

	Have the hardware installed for the LAN
	Set up the computer nodes on the LAN
	Set up a Shared Folder for the "Back End" database
	Install the Back End in the Shared folder
	Install the "Front End" of the database
	Link the Front End to the shared database
	Copy the Front End part of the database in the other network machines

Depending on whether you have Windows 98, 2000 (ME), or 2002 (XP), you will get at the system facilities a bit differently; however, the following descriptions are based on a Windows 98 system. Your network administrator should be familiar with how these are accomplished on the ME and XP systems.

Have the hardware installed for the LAN

We don't cover this procedure in this help file. Please refer to your Windows operating system's help file or documentation. Ethernet is the most common type of network adapter and is used widely for networking. Ethernet adapters connect through a network hub. If your office is wired for Ethernet, similar to phone wiring, you can connect your computers using Ethernet jacks in the wall. Otherwise, you must use a network hub to connect your computers together. To connect your computers using a hub, you will also need a network cable, called Ethernet RJ-45 twisted pair (10BaseT or 100BaseT). It looks slightly larger than a regular telephone cable.

Please note that if you use the RJ-45 network wires for even one machine-to-machine peer network, you must still have a hub.

Set up the computer nodes on the LAN

Each of the systems on the network must be given a network identity called a UNC (Universal Naming Convention). To do this, you take the following steps:

	Click on Start
	Click on Settings
	Click on Control Panel
	Click on the Networking icon
	Click on the Identification tab

In the Name field, enter a short name for the system, e.g, "SRVR" or "MAIN" for the system which is the server for the other machines, which are called clients. For client machines, a name such as "PSTR" or "SECY1" would work.

In the Group field, you would have a name for the network, such as MSOffice or MSHome.

In the Description field, you would probably identify whose desk the machine is located.

Click on the Access Control tab

Here, you specify whether access control will be on a "share level" or user level basis.

This creates the UNC name for this machine.

Set up a Shared Folder for the "Back End" database

CBW5_be.mdb should be installed in a folder (directory) "Shared Documents" on the c: drive of your server. Once this is done, you make it available to client machines by doing the following:

	Right-click on Start.
	Select & click on Explore.
	Find the Shared Documents folder on your C: drive.
	Right-click on Shared Documents to produce a floating list of options.
	Select & click "Sharing"
	Click on the "Shared As" button
	Give the folder an abbreviated name such as "SharedDocs". Note that there can only be one folder with this particular name on the network. If there is already a shared folder using that abbreviated name, you can change it to something else meaningful, such as "ShrdDocSrvr".

This becomes the UNC name for this shared folder.

Install the Back End in the Shared folder

If not already done in the install process, after you create the Shared Documents folder, CBW5_be.mdb should be moved to this folder.

Install the "Front End" of the database

The CB/DB Front End (CBW5.mdb) should be installed in the c:\cbw5 folder by the setup process, and a shortcut created on your desktop to open it. You open the program by double-clicking on the icon.

Link the Front End to the shared database

After opening CB/DB, you

	Click on the "Tools" option on the main menu line.
	Click on the Database Utilities option.
	Click on the "Linked Table Manager" option. If it is not immediately visible, wait for it to appear, or click on the bottom of the list to expand the list so that it is visible. This will bring up the Linked Table Manager listing of all the tables in CB/DB (CBW5).
	Click on the "Always Prompt for a new location" check box.
	Click on Select All. A check mark should appear in front of all the listed tables.
	Click on OK. An "Explorer" type of box appears.
	In the "File Name" box, enter the UNC path to get to CBW5.mdb. For example, assume that the UNC of the Server is SRVR, and the UNC of the Shared Documents folder is "SharedDocs", then what you would enter is:

\\SRVR\SharedDocs\cbw5_be.mdb

Note that this starts off with a double back-slash, which tells the operating system that this is a UNC and it has to be looked up in its table of UNCs. Also note that there is an underline between "cbw5" and the "be.mdb" which may not be too visible, but it's there.

Once you have done this, the UNC address is imbedded in the front-end cbw5.mdb, and it is now ready to be copied into the other machines on the network (which must have Microsoft Access installed on them).

Copy the Front End part of the database in the other network machines

On each of the client machines, create a folder "c:\cbw5" (simply for consistency - it could also be c:\Program Files\cbw5).

Then, using Explorer from the client machines, locate c:\cbw5\cbw5.mdb on the server machine, and

	Select CBW5.mdb, the rest of the files delivered with it, by pressing Ctl+A (Select All).
	Click Copy (or enter Ctl+C).
	Locate the c:\cbw5 folder on the client machine(s).
	Click the cbw5 folder to select it.
	Click "Paste" (or Edit \| Paste, or enter Ctl+V for paste).
	CBW5.mdb and the other files should appear in the c:\cbw5 directory.
	Right click on the cbw5.mdb entry, and select "Create Shortcut".
	When the shortcut appears at the bottom of the listing, drag it off onto the desktop and drop it there. (Drag means left-click on it, holding the mouse button down. Move the mouse to move the selected item. When it gets where you want it, release the left mouse button and an icon will appear on the desktop. You can open the program by double-clicking on it.)