Knowledge Base

ACC: Determining Which User Has Opened Database Exclusively

Article ID: 169648

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition
Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q169648

Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

SUMMARY

You must use an operating system tool, such as NetWatcher (a utility that comes with Microsoft Windows) or the Windows NT Server Manager, to determine which user has a Microsoft Access 7.0 or 97 database open exclusively.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Access 2.0, you can obtain this information by trying to open the database from the most recently used file list. If the database is open exclusively, you receive the following error message:

The database is opened by user '<username>' on machine '<machine name>'. You can't open this database exclusively.

You can also open the .ldb file associated with the database to see who has opened the database exclusively.

However, in Microsoft Access versions 7.0 and 97, the .ldb file is not created when a user opens the database exclusively. When you try to open the database from the most recently used file list, you receive the following error message:

Couldn't use '<path>\<database.mdb>'; file already in use.

You receive no information about the user or machine name.

REFERENCES

For more information about NetWatcher, search the Microsoft Windows Help Index for "NetWatcher."

For more information about using Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server Manager to view user connections, search the Server Manager Help Index for "viewing: user sessions."

For more information about .ldb files, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

136128 ACC: Introduction to .ldb Files (95/97)

Keywords: kbenv kbinfo kbnetwork KB169648