Section 2: Getting Started > Working with Microsoft Access Databases

Opening an Existing Access Database

If another database is already open then you will need to close that database first before opening a new database (see Closing an Access Database). To open an existing At Your Service Microsoft Access database, click the  button on the toolbar, or select File  Open Database  AYS (Microsoft Access) Database from the main menu. The database must have been created from within At Your Service (see Creating a New Empty Access Database.)

Navigate to the folder where the database you want to open is located and either double-click on the file name, single-click on the file name and then click the Open button, or type the file name in the File name field and then click the Open button. Click the Cancel button or press the Esc key to cancel without opening a database.

Since most companies will only use a single database file, other methods for opening the file may be more convenient:

      When there is no database open, the bottom of the File menu will contain a list of the last four databases that were opened. Select the desired database file from the menu to open it. Microsoft Access database names in the menu will be prefixed with the abbreviation AYS.

      To enable or disable automatic opening of the last database, first close all windows within the main program shell and then select File  AutoOpen Database from the main menu. If this feature is enabled (as indicated by a check mark on the dropdown menu) then the last database that was opened from that workstation will automatically be opened as soon as a user logs in (see Logging In and Out).

      In Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder where the database you want to open is located. Either double-click the database icon,

or click the right mouse button over the icon and select Open from the popup context menu. At Your Service – Repair Centre will start and automatically open the database file.

      Create a Windows shortcut to the database file on your desktop or another convenient location. Double-click the shortcut icon, or click the right mouse button over the icon and select Open from the popup context menu. At Your Service – Repair Centre will start and automatically open the database file.

      Create a Windows shortcut to the program file on your desktop or another convenient location and add a complete database path and filename in quotation marks as a command-line parameter in the shortcut settings. Double-click the shortcut icon, or click the right mouse button over the icon and select Open from the popup context menu. At Your Service – Repair Centre will start and automatically open the database file.

      If a user does not have rights to select which database to open then selecting File  Open Last Database from the main menu will automatically open the last database that was open (see User Security).

(See also Opening an Existing MySQL Database, and Opening an Existing Microsoft SQL Server Database.)

Updating the Access Database Structure after a Program Upgrade

If a program upgrade has been installed since the last time that the database was opened then the database structure may need to be updated in order to be compatible with new program features.

NOTE  Before updating a database structure, you must ensure that all other users are out of the database. This includes temporarily closing the At Your Service – Internet Utility (see Exiting the Internet Utility). A prompt will verify that all users are out of the database before proceeding.

A backup copy of the original database will automatically be made in case there is a need to go back. The backup copy is named the same as the original database but with “-Backup” appended to the file name, and it is saved in the same folder as the original database.

Once a database structure has been updated in a multi-user environment then all users must have their program upgraded to the same version (see Installing on a Local Area Network).

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Closing an Access Database