                                                                           = LabTrack Problems Research

* INTRODUCTION

  This file documents some research which I have done about the problem
  involved in running the 'labtrack' http://www.labtrack.com system with
  an Access database on a network with multiple users.  

  On the internet there is a large amount of material about the problems
  with Access corruptions when it is running on a network.

  Please note: Microsoft dont recommend using Access in a 'high stress'
  environment. See the article at

    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;303519 and look 

  under the heading 'Additional Best Practices for network environments'


* LIMS SYSTEMS

  The labtrack system is called a 'lims' system which stands for 
  laboratory information management system, and an eln system, which stands
  for 'electronic laboratory notebook'.

  http://ihome.cuhk.edu.hk/~b400559/arraysoft_database.html
     A good list of lims software. But seems to be focussed on something 
     called 'micro-arrays', which dont really seem to have anything to do with
     labtrack.
  
  http://gnosis.sourceforge.net (url ?)
    This is an open source lims system, but it is only in the planning
    phase currently.
      
* ACCESS INFORMATION  

  http://www.datarevive.co.uk
    A list of error messages which Access spits out when it has corrupted 
    data.

  http://codetoad.com/vb_compact_db.asp
    A tools to compact a database. This apparently can use the 
    command line, which  would be useful in a script

  http://www.rot13.org/~dpavlin/sql.html
    This the page for the 'exportsql' vba program which create sql data and
    table creation commands from an existing database. This may be useful 
    in order to restore corrupt data

  http://www.mvps.org/access
    An Access FAQ. A Perl OLE with Access example

  http://www.fabalou.com/FullPrograms/Dbbackup.asp
    A program to backup access at scheduled intervals. This is a gui program
    and doesnt really seem to run in the 'background'. 

  http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/corruptmdbs.htm
    A good page on corrupt Access databases.

  http://www.experts-exchange.com/Databases/MS_Access/Q_20850824.html
    A similar scenario to the labtrack one. Multiuser access 97 etc.
    This recommends repairing through:    
    control panel ->administrative tools->odbc sources.  
* ACCESS IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTIONS

  
    
  a-
  Copy the mdb file locally before repairing and compacting.
  Compact after repairing. If the compaction process doesnt work then 
  it means that the repair process probably didn't work
  -
  Create a whole new database and insert objects and records into it
  - 
  Use the /decompile switch with access. This appears to have unpredictable
  effects and it mainly to improve access applications and not data
  -
  Use the latest 'jetcomp.exe' program. This is supposed to be a better version
  of the Access repair and compact utilities.
  
  support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q172733
    An article about Jetcomp.exe and repairing databases. Good.

* WEB SERVERS

  It might be handy to have a cgi web-server to allow scripts to be 
  accessed by anyone in the office. For this reason, a list of small 
  web-servers that can run on NT. Apache seems to be overkill.

  I didnt find anything which I could use without compiling

  'Anti-web' http://www.hcsw.org/awhttpd/  
    cgi ... No windows binary available. You have to compile it.
    not very good web-site

  'abyss' http://abyss.sourceforge.net/
    small multi-platform. Nice simple blocky web-design. 
    No windows binaries available. 


* Misc

  http://www.commandline.co.uk/cmdfuncs/dandt/index.html#gettime
    A function to get the time in NT/XP etc

  To call a shell command from within Access you can use
  -->>
    call Shell(Environ$("COMSPEC") & "/c c:\test.bat", vbNormalFocus)
  --<<
  The /c switch closes the window after executing the command and the 
  'comspec' stuff returns the path to a command interpreter executable
  which is usually called something like 'cmd.exe' or 'command.exe'

  The abyss web-site uses the 'htp' http://htp.sf.net hypertext
  preprocessor.

If you see errors on this page or want to add something you can
"edit this page" http://wagga-cwc.org.au/refurb/webpad/webpad.php?file=%2Fhome%2Fwaggacwc%2Fpublic_html%2Frefurb%2Fdocs%2Flabtrack-research.txt  

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