Dear Richard,

My Db has now grown to 10MB. It is in use since July 2010 and i have reached a point where i do not expect more significant changes at table level. Now i think i have to split it. I have quickly done it but the challenge is:
- How will i distribute it? I have always used the Windows Package Solution Wizard to deploy it. However, I notice that it does not support split databases. Or did it get it wrong?
- How can i modify the links between the Front End and the Back End. For instance, i may want to give the FE or BE end a different name or move it to another location on my computer.
- In which other tutorials do you cover spliting the database in details? I saw something like this already in the Security seminar.

Thank you,

MICAH

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Reply from Richard Rost:

Distributing a SPLIT database is never easy. You can never be sure that the user has the database installed in the EXACT same location you do (unless you FORCE them to install it to C:\Programs\MyFolder). You can distribute an updated front-end database if you make design changes, but what if you need to update the table structure? Then you've got problems. It's a nightmare. I've always found that if you're going to distribute a database app that you're designing, the BEST way to handle it is to keep it as ONE file. Then, you can distribute an update and just IMPORT all of their data. Now, you're going to have to deal with changing Autonumbers, so you'll have to make sure that's taken into consideration with your import routine, but it's a lot easier than trying to update linked table paths and deal with table design changes on the fly. If anyone else is interested in learning how to do this, post a note here and I'll try to cover it in an upcoming lesson.