Running Access over Citrix

[Rob]

I am an Access developer and have done many Access databases in the
standard Front-end on the workstations, backend on the server
(over a LAN) but have never worked with Access over Citrix, though
that situation is coming up for me shortly.

Question: When you run the front-end on the Server, does Citrix clone
the front
end application database file for each user that connects or do they
all connect
to physically the same front-end file?
The real question here is: If user1 adds rows to a table that is
local in the
front-end will user 2 be able to see those records (assuming they have
the
proper table permissions)? If they were running in physically the
exact same
front-end file, they would be able to see each others records. If
Citrix gives
each user their own workspace and a copy of the front-end, they
wouldn't.
Any enlightenment you could provide would be appreciated.
Thanks

[Tony Toews]

si****@ensco.com (Rob) wrote:

I am an Access developer and have done many Access databases in the
standard Front-end on the workstations, backend on the server
(over a LAN) but have never worked with Access over Citrix, though
that situation is coming up for me shortly.

Question: When you run the front-end on the Server, does Citrix clone
the front
end application database file for each user that connects or do they
all connect
to physically the same front-end file?
The real question here is: If user1 adds rows to a table that is
local in the
front-end will user 2 be able to see those records (assuming they have
the
proper table permissions)? If they were running in physically the
exact same
front-end file, they would be able to see each others records. If
Citrix gives
each user their own workspace and a copy of the front-end, they
wouldn't.

While it may be possible that Citrix gives you the option of copying down a new FE
for each user that hasn't been my experience. AFAIK you must do this yourself.

I specifically created the Auto FE Updater utility so that I could make changes to
the FE MDE as often as I wanted and be quite confident that the next time someone
went to run the app that it would pull in the latest version. For more info on the
errors or the Auto FE Updater utility see the free Auto FE Updater utility at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm at my website to keep the FE on each PC up
to date.

In a Terminal Server or Citrix environment the Auto FE Updater now supports creating
a directory named after the user on a server. Given a choice put the FE on the
Citrix server to reduce network traffic and to avoid having to load objects over the
network which can be somewhat sluggish.

Also see the TempTables.MDB page at my website which illustrates how to use a
temporary MDB in your app. http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/temptables.htm

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

[neptune]

I have a 250 MB Access database with 6 users that was run over a LAN
for 2.5 years. For performance reasons it was moved to a Citrix server
3 weeks ago and runs significantly faster.

The problem is that users sometimes get Not Enough Memory messages.
They will typically have open 3 other programs, Excel, Lotus Notes and
Word. It isn't reasonable to ask them to close those programs.
Everyone loves the speed of the citrix, but we will have to move back
to the LAN if we can't stop the Not Enough Memory messages. The IT
guys thinks our computers aren't powerful enough, but they have a 2.4
GHz CPU and 515 MB RAM. Shouldn't running a db over citrix requires
less memory? Company wide our LAN is overloaded and slow, but yet the
citrix is virtually unused. I don't know much about networks/servers,
but I have to wonder if it's set up correctly. If the IT guy does know
what he's doing, Citrix doesn't seem to be such a great option.

[Rick Brandt]

"neptune" <bs**********@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@z14g2000cwz.googlegr oups.com...

I have a 250 MB Access database with 6 users that was run over a LAN
for 2.5 years. For performance reasons it was moved to a Citrix server
3 weeks ago and runs significantly faster.

The problem is that users sometimes get Not Enough Memory messages.
They will typically have open 3 other programs, Excel, Lotus Notes and
Word. It isn't reasonable to ask them to close those programs.
Everyone loves the speed of the citrix, but we will have to move back
to the LAN if we can't stop the Not Enough Memory messages. The IT
guys thinks our computers aren't powerful enough, but they have a 2.4
GHz CPU and 515 MB RAM. Shouldn't running a db over citrix requires
less memory? Company wide our LAN is overloaded and slow, but yet the
citrix is virtually unused. I don't know much about networks/servers,
but I have to wonder if it's set up correctly. If the IT guy does know
what he's doing, Citrix doesn't seem to be such a great option.

Which machine is reporting the memory error, the Citrix Server or their local
PC? Running a Citrix client should take considerably less resources than
running Access.
--
I don't check the Email account attached
to this message. Send instead to...
RBrandt at Hunter dot com

[neptune]

Which machine is reporting the memory error, the Citrix Server or their local PC? Running a Citrix client should take considerably less resources than running Access.

The memory error is on the PC, while running the database through
Citrix, but yet no memory errors when running off the much slower LAN.

[Rick Brandt]

neptune wrote:

Which machine is reporting the memory error, the Citrix Server or
their local PC? Running a Citrix client should take considerably
less resources than running Access.

The memory error is on the PC, while running the database through
Citrix, but yet no memory errors when running off the much slower LAN.

I understand that the message is being *seen* on the local PCs, but is it
only being seen when they are actively using the Access app? That might
mean that it is still the server that is sending the low memory message. It
is far more likely that you are overloading the resources *on the server*
and Citrix is sending these messages back to the client users.

What version of Windows and Access on the server? Server 2003 doesn't like
Access 97.

[neptune]

The server runs Access 2000 (9.0.6926 SP-3), precisely what the
majority of users have on their desktop. On citrix, I only have access
to this application and don't know anything about the version of
Windows. I can't tell from the error message whether it's on the
server or PC. It says "There isn't enough free memory to update the
display. Close unneeded programs and try again." The message is
only seen when actively using the Access app. The citrix server farm
is virtually unused so I can't imagine the problem being that the
server is over taxed. While the app runs very fast on the citrix, I've
also seen it completely freeze up while not running a query or doing
anything else.

[Rick Brandt]

neptune wrote:

The server runs Access 2000 (9.0.6926 SP-3), precisely what the
majority of users have on their desktop. On citrix, I only have
access to this application and don't know anything about the version
of Windows. I can't tell from the error message whether it's on the
server or PC. It says "There isn't enough free memory to update the
display. Close unneeded programs and try again." The message is
only seen when actively using the Access app. The citrix server farm
is virtually unused so I can't imagine the problem being that the
server is over taxed. While the app runs very fast on the citrix,
I've also seen it completely freeze up while not running a query or
doing anything else.

That particular error is not unusual from Access so I would be willing to bet
that the error is coming from the server, not the local PC.

--
I don't check the Email account attached
to this message. Send instead to...
RBrandt at Hunter dot com