Prevent access updating file date upon exit

[JCK101]

Is there a method to stop Access updating the file date when exiting without changing anything in the database? Currently if you open a database and close it, the file date changes.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
JC

[PhilOfWalton]

I am guessing that when you open a database things happen. Certainly a lock file is created, I guess that links are refreshed, something may happen loading library references.

It might be an interesting experiment for you to compact & repair a database once, then open it and close it a number of times to see if the file size changes. Certainly a decompiled database gets bigger.

Phil

[NeoPa]

It isn't possible to open an Access database in any version of Access without changing anything.

There are tools that can set a date/time on a file after the changes, but no Access database can remain unchanged when opened by Access.

[zmbd]

JCK101,
Could you explain why this is important for your project?

While it may not be possible to retain the [date modified] value, we may have other workarounds to help you.

[JCK101]

Thank you all for your responses.
I work on 3 different computers, even though I number the versions, sometimes they get mixed up and I would like to keep track by dates, but as soon as I open the file the date changes even if I don't change or run anything, I just want to know when did I "really" work on a version and not when did I open it the last time.
Again, thank you all for your responses.

[jforbes]

I don't know if this would be an option for you, but you could use OneDrive, Dropbox or another similar cloud storage mechanism as your work area. That way it wouldn't matter what computer you made your changes on, it would always be made to your working copy.

[zmbd]

jforbes most likely has your best solution there...

I personally use a 32GB encrypted thumb-drive and SyncToy as it's available both at work and at home. I've used other file sync software in the past, some of which are portable; however, the Company really doesn't like 3rd party software on their network and they prohibit non-company file storage, so I was forced to switched to ST.

I've also used various naming schemes to keep track of revisions. I have a habit of making a copy of the file I'm working on and appending the yyyymmddhhnn to the name. If I have to step away from the project and close it, when I come back to the project, I make a new copy of the last working file and append the current date/time to the file name. I'll also make a copy as before with the appended name and to Compact and repair within that copy. I'll do this same thing if testing out a major change in the code or data just so that I have a backup.