MS-Access / Getting Started

Analyzing the Web Compatibility Issues Table

To run the Web Compatibility Checker on the web database you created, click the File tab on the Backstage view and then click Save & Publish. Next, click Publish To Access Services and then click Run Compatibility Checker.

Note All database objects must be closed before the Web Compatibility Checker tool can begin to scan your database. If you have any objects open, the tool displays a message box informing you it needs to close all open objects. Click Yes in this dialog box, and Access closes all open objects and then begins to scan your database.

The Web Compatibility Checker scans each table's schema and every web object, control, and property in your web database. In general, the Web Compatibility Checker checks your database in the following order: table schema, queries, macros, forms, reports, and then relationships. Note, however, that the order can deviate based on the dependencies of the various objects in your database.

If the Web Compatibility Checker tool finds any issues in your database, the tool creates a new table, called Web Compatibility Issues, and lists any incompatibilities found in your web database in this table. Every time you run the Web Compatibility Checker, Access deletes any existing Web Compatibility Issues table and then creates a new table. If the tool does not find any incompatibilities in your web database, Access deletes the Web Compatibility Issues table when it completes the scan of your database. Access then displays the message, "The database is compatible with the Web," below the Run Compatibility Checker button on the Backstage.

If the Web Compatibility Checker finds any issues in your web database, Access changes the background color around the Run Compatibility Checker button on the Backstage to red. Access also displays the message, "The database is incompatible with the Web. Press 'Web Compatibility Issues' to see errors," to indicate it found at least one issue. Finally, Access enables the Web Compatibility Issues button on the Backstage view.

Click Web Compatibility Issues on the Backstage view, and Access closes the Backstage view and opens a new table, called Web Compatibility Issues, in Datasheet view.

The Web Compatibility Issues table contains the following fields: Element Type, Element Name, Control Type, Control Name, Property Name, Issue Type, Issue Type ID, and Description. We've reproduced the information in Table-10.

Table-10 Sample Web Compatibility Issues Table Results
Field Name 		Data
Element Type 		Form
Element Name 		BadForm
Control Type 		Combo Box
Control Name 		Combo0
Property Name		Row Source
Issue Type 		Error
Issue Type 		ID AccWeb103906
Description 		The definition of the query is invalid,
			so the query object cannot be created.

For example, we created a new web form called BadForm. On this form, we created a new Combo Box control that has a Row Source pointing to a nonexistent web table. If you look at the data in the Web Compatibility Issues table, Access gives specific information to help you understand what you need to fix to make the database web compatible. Access lists the specific object type (a form, in this case), the object name, the control type, the specific control name (Combo0), and the specific property that is causing the error (the Row Source property). The description field lists more detailed information about the specific error.

The Issue Type ID field is a hyperlink that points to a specific error ID assigned to the particular error. When you click on the Issue Type ID hyperlink, Access directs you to a help topic for more information. The help topics concerning web compatibility issues fall into seven categories-General, Schema, Relationships and Lookups, Queries, Forms and Reports, Expressions, and Macros.

You'll need to fix all the errors listed in the Web Compatibility Issues table before your web database can be completely web compatible. You should start by fixing any errors concerning the tables in your database. The reason for fixing table errors first is because the Web Compatibility Checker tool lists an error for any object that depends on another object that is incompatible. For example, suppose you have five forms in a database that all depend on a specific table. Let's also assume that the table is incompatible with the server. When you run the Web Compatibility Checker tool, the Web Compatibility Issues table lists one error for the table as well as one error for each of the five forms because the forms depend on that table. You could be wasting your time trying to fix forms when the real reason for the error is the object the form depends on.

To minimize your time spent trying to fix any errors in the Web Compatibility Issues table, we recommend an iterative process-fix several errors and then run the Web Compatibility Checker tool again. Always start with fixing several table-related errors first and then run the tool again to see the result of your changes. If the tool still finds errors, fix more table issues and then run the tool again. Once you fix all the compatibility errors concerning tables, you might find that everything in your database is now web compatible. If you still have issues remaining, fix any errors concerning query objects next, because forms and reports can depend on queries, and then run the tool again. Finally, move on to fixing any errors concerning forms, reports, and macros.

You can also run the Web Compatibility Checker on a single object in your web database. Right-click a table or web object in the Navigation pane and then click Check Web Compatibility from the shortcut menu.

If the Web Compatibility Checker finds no issues with the specific object you selected, Access displays a success message.

If the Web Compatibility Checker does find at least one error in the object you selected, Access displays a notification dialog box indicating it found issues with the object. You'll then see a new Web Compatibility Issues table in the Navigation pane, where you can diagnose exactly what the issues are with the object.

When the Web Compatibility Checker finds no errors in your web database, the tool deletes any existing Web Compatibility Issues table from the Navigation pane. You can also delete this table at any time yourself by highlighting the table in the Navigation pane and pressing Delete.

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