Fixing Access Annoyances

Chapter 2. Performance, Versions, Security, and Deployment

As Access developers, we love creating elegant user interfaces and solving tough problems with ingenious code. But the evil Borgs who manage people like us know that most of the work goes into an Access application after it’s written. The most effort and the biggest headaches arise during the unglamorous tasks of deployment and maintenance.

In this chapter we’ll delve into the good, the bad, and the ugly of deploying a finished Access application. To start with, we’ll look at how to diagnose and fix various performance issues. We’ll show you how to avoid the embarrassment of having your beautifully crafted user interface become unusable because it can’t handle a measly 10,000 records, and where to look for performance bottle-necks. Next, we’ll step you through the delicacies of coping with multiple versions of Access. Then, since most projects require some form of security, we’ll guide you through the stupefying maze of Access security—and give you the lowdown on just how (in)secure it really is. Finally, we’ll show you how to move a multiuser application onto a network without the corruption that dogs so many projects, discuss best network practices and how to avoid the tedium of manual DSN setup on every user’s machine, and maybe make replication a little less scary.

PERFORMANCE

Database Bloat from Images or OLE Objects

THE ANNOYANCE: We have a tiny employees database, and I thought it would be handy to store our ID photos ...