ACC2000: Changes to Connect Property Don't Synchronize to Replicas

When you use the Linked Table Manager to change the file location from which your tables are linked or when you change the Connect property of a TableDef, the changes are not synchronized with other members of the replica set.

You can force the changed links to be propagated to the other members of the replica set by making the linked tables non-replicable and then making them replicable again. You can do this by using the table properties or through Replication Manager.

NOTE: The table properties can only be set within the Design Master.

Changing a Table's Properties in Access

1.	Open the replica set's Design Master.
2.	In the Database Window, click Tables.
3.	Select the first table marked as replicable.
4.	On the View menu, click Properties.
5.	Click to clear the Replicable check box.
6.	Click Apply.
7.	Click to select the Replicable check box.
8.	Click OK.

Repeat steps 3 through 8 for every replicable, linked table. After you have finished "re-replicating" all the tables, the changes to the linked tables start to propagate to the other members of the replica set during synchronization.

Changing a Table's Properties with Replication Manager

If you have many tables, it may be easier to modify the table properties by using Replication Manager. Replication Manager is a utility program that ships with the Microsoft Office 2000 Developer Edition.

1.	Using Replication Manager, manage the Design Master.
2.	Open the managed Design Master in Replication Manager.
3.	On the View menu, click Properties.
4.	In the Properties dialog box, click the Open Database tab, and then click Modify Object Status.
5.	In the Modify Object Status dialog box, click the Tables tab, and de-select all the tables that have had their linking information changed. Then, click OK.
6.	In the Properties dialog box, click Modify Object Status again.
7.	Select all the tables that you de-selected in step 5 and click OK.

The changes to the linking information for the tables is now available to the other members of the replica set through synchronization. To update the other members, synchronize all members of the replica set to the Design Master. You may also synchronize the Design Master to a hub replica and then synchronize all other members to the hub.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1.	Make a copy of Northwind.mdb and name it "Copy of Northwind.mdb."
2.	Create a new database called DM.mdb.
3.	Link all the tables from Copy Of Northwind.mdb to DM.mdb.
4.	On the Tools menu, point to Replication, and then click Create Replica. Accept all the defaults.
5.	On the Tools menu, point to Database Utilities, and click Linked Table Manager. Use the Linked Table Manager to relink the tables to Northwind.mdb. a. Click the Select All button to select all of the linked tables. b. Click to select the Always prompt for new location check box. c. Click OK. d. Select Northwind.mdb as the new location, and then click Open. e. Click OK to confirm the new location. f. Close the Linked Table Manager.
6.	On the Tools menu, point to Replication, and click Synchronize Now.
7.	Select the Directly with Replica option and with <drive:>\<path>\Replica of DM.mdb selected in the drop list, click OK.
8.	Click Yes to close the database prior to synchronizing.
9.	When synchronization has completed successfully, click OK, and then delete the "Copy of Northwind.mdb" file.
10.	Using Microsoft Access, open "Replica of DM.mdb", and try to view any of the linked tables.

Note that you receive the following error message: where <filename> is the path to "Copy of Northwind.mdb" on your system. Even though the linked table information was updated in the Design Master, the new link information was not updated in the replica.

For more information about replication, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type "replication" in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.