Comments: Can two or more users share a database file over a local area network?

Does sharing the database lend itself to combining individual support groups into one database for use by 8 or 10 folks?

I'm not sure I follow.  Do you want to combine 10 databases into one big database?  What's your goal?

I have two computers on a network using a shared database of TntMPD.

I experimented by making a change to a contact on computer A and then checking to see if the change was visible on computer B.  I didn't wait long, but it seemed the change on computer B wasn't visible until I re-opened the instance on computer B.

After what time period should I see changes from A reflected on B or is re-opening the database required?

You can click on: View | Refresh to get the latest data.  Most of the time, when you navigate to a contact it's fresh data.  So if you waiting for the data to change automatically for the contact you're on, it would never happen.  But perhaps by moving to a different contact, then moving back, it would be fresh data.  Let me know if this does the trick!

Hi Troy,

Here's the result of my experiment that seems to consistently yield what I described above.

- Using a Shared Database

- Open TntMPD on computer A

- Open TntMPD on computer B

- Make a change to contact X on computer B

- Navigate away to a different contact on computer B

- Navigate back to contact X on computer B and confirm change was made

- Navigate to contact X on computer A

- choose view -> refresh for contact X on computer A

- **change is NOT visible** for contact X on computer A

- close TntMPD on computer B

- choose view-> refresh for contact X on computer A

- **change is NOT visible** for contact X on computer A

- close TntMPD on computer A

- open TntMPD on computer A

- **change IS visible** on computer A

So, if two computers are using a shared TntMPD database simultaneously, it appears that closing the program is necessary to get the latest information of writes made by any other computers sharing the same instance.

I just tried the same experiment with a database shared between my computer and my wife's computer.  When I made a change to a contact on my wife's computer, I was able to see the change on my computer after about 3 seconds.  So it wasn't instantly visible to my computer, but I didn't have to close and reopen on my computer either.  Maybe you were to fast in your experiment?  The Jet database engine used by TntMPD has a lazy write and a cached read feature for performance.  Perhaps your test outperformed the built-in delays.

I tried putting the database on our server, but now I get that the file is read only.  I can only open it on the server & not get that error.  Opinions?

So, in our office, we have a shared tntMPD database for managing our city donors and church partnerships.

If we have a few folks who want to switch to a mac, and they can access our local area network, will they be able to access the tntMPD database with the ability to now use tntMPD on a mac? They are looking at new Mac Pro Book 15" i5 processor.

I haven't heard of a way to get the Mac to open a database over a Windows (SMB) file server.  I've tried it, and TntMPD can see the file, but I get strange errors when opening the database.

I have heard of someone who got it working by hosting the file on a Mac and having their Windows computers connect to the Mac instead:  www.tntware.com/.../4284.aspx

Before reading this post, I was under the impression that a database could not be used by two people at the same time. A while back, I had even found and applied the "warn if someone else has the database open" option to prevent us from accidentally making this "mistake". However, it looks like I was wrong. If so, what is this option for?

Our database is currently stored on our home file server and my wife and I both access it over the LAN using an SMB share. Can you confirm if this is a safe / recommended way to do things. We have had a few scares where one or the other computer became disconnected from the network while TNTMPD was still open and we got all sorts of error messages (something about the MS jet engine, I think) and usually end up having to force quit the program. However, it has never caused an actual problem with our database.

I am operating our database (which is held in dropbox) with my husband, both using separate computers.  I made changes to, and added, contacts.  I closed the database and exited.  Husband went into his record and was unable to see the changes I had made.  He tried closing the database, and then exiting, re-opening and still no amendments.  Waited over 12 hours and still no changes apparent.

I've changed my options to ensure that a back up is made each time the database is closed.

1. Why have the changes not taken effect?  To be honest, if this is not solved, then the database really isn't as useful to us as we had hoped.

2. I ticked the box that asked if I wanted to be made aware when the database was open on another computer, thereby receiving notification that my view was Read-Only.  To date, neither my husband or I have ever seen such a notification.  

Help please.

Hi Kate, it's still possible for both people to change the database at the same time, even with "Dropbox Mode" turned on in TntMPD.  That mode only works well when both people are connected to the internet all the time, and they don't both open the database within a minute of the other (so the "signal" file has a chance to propagate over Dropbox).

Some help is coming in TntMPD 3.0 to make sure no one's changes get lost.  You might noticed some "conflicted copy" files next to your database?  These are the "losing" databases when two people changed the database at the same time.  In TntMPD 3.0, it will offer to automatically import any more recent changes from these losing databases.  TntMPD 3.0 is coming soon!

Colby, sorry I took so long to notice your comment.  The "Dropbox Mode" option (where it warns if someone else has the database open) is there for Dropbox users.  Since they are not on a Local Area Network, they can't both be making changes at the same time. But on a LAN you can (but only if you're a Windows user on a Windows LAN).

Troy - ir qould be very helpful to know when v.3.0 is coming as my hubby and I continue to have two copies of the d/base which will not configure.  It is now getting incredibly frustrating for me to make changes and not to see them reflected in my hubby's copy and vice versa.  The d/base is really not functioning in the way we need it to and is only creating a duplication of work as things stand.

Hi Kate,  TntMPD 3.0 is in testing right now (www.tntware.com/.../tntmpd-3-0-2-lots-of-bug-fixes-and-some-new-features.aspx)  I'm hoping to see it go beta in a few weeks.  --Troy