How do I open the database with another program (e.g. Microsoft Access)?

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How do I open the database with another program (e.g. Microsoft Access)?

It's sometimes useful to access your data using another program e.g. to create a custom report/ fix some data. How you do this depends on which FastMaint edition you are using:

To preserve the integrity of the FastMaint system it is advisable to open the database as Read Only. Bad updates can cause the FastMaint system to fail or work incorrectly.

Single user edition or multi-user edition using an internal database (Microsoft Jet/ Access 2000):

FastMaint data is stored in a Microsoft Jet/ Access 2000 database called FastMaint.mdb. Many third-party programs, utilities and report generation tools can access this database. You will need to configure the tools to also use the workgroup information file FastMaint.mdw (found in the same location as the FastMaint.mdb file).

Two user accounts are provided with the Access database to read/ write data in this database. This will enable you to create any special reports you need, export maintenance data to a corporate data repository and so on.

•Account "reader": No password (default) – has read access to many tables in the database.
Account "editor": No password (default) – has read and update access to many tables in the database.

To open the database with Microsoft Access 2000

•Create a shortcut on your desktop to Microsoft Access and use this shortcut to open the FastMaint database. The shortcut should call Microsoft Access with the following properties: (MS Access path) (database path) /WRKGRP (workgroup path)
 
e.g. (all on a single line)
 
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\MSACCESS.EXE" "C:\Program Files\fastmaint\FastMaint.mdb" /WRKGRP "C:\Program Files\fastmaint\FastMaint.mdw" /excl
 
(The "/excl" flag above opens the database in exclusive mode (single user mode). It is optional and is only required if you want to create custom Microsoft Access Reports in the database.)

Warning: Set passwords on the "reader" and "editor" accounts as soon as possible to prevent unauthorized access to FastMaint data.

External Microsoft SQL Server database (ODBC connection)

Many third-party programs, utilities and report generation tools, can also access this database.