Maintaining the Application

Just because you have deployed your application to end users does not mean that your job is finished. It is important that you periodically compact the database to keep it in good working order and that you make periodic backup copies.

Compacting and Repairing the Database

You can compact and repair Access databases to reduce the amount of space they take up and to repair problems if Access discovers any. Because Access databases are file-based, records are being deleted and added to the system over time. A large amount of space may have been taken up by an operation that has already been completed or by database records that were already deleted. Compacting the database will recover that space and reduce the file size.

To compact and repair an Access database, select the Office Button Manage Compact and Repair Database. If you have the database open that you want to compact, selecting this option will automatically compact that one. If no databases are open, you will be prompted to specify the name and location of the database to compact.

Making Backup Copies of the Database

If you are like most people, you have probably lost data from some program before. It was certainly frustrating to lose the data and have to recreate it again. The same concept holds true for your Access applications. Access databases are file-based, which means that a lot of the information is contained in the single ACCDB file. Because so much is contained in a single file, and because it would be easy for a user to delete the database file from the network, it is extremely important that you make periodic backups of both the database tables and the user interface. The concept of backups is important for any application, but it is especially true for file-based applications like Access.

To back up an Access database, select the Office Button Manage Backup Database. You will be prompted to specify a file name and path where you want the backup saved. Click OK, and the backup copy will be created.