html page and database are both on the same network drive (intranet, not internet site). my pc has access 2000. the only way i could get the database to open from the link on the html page was to eliminate to autoexec macro or to change the autoexec macro in access to open a much simpler form. the only thing is that when the ms access database opens, it opens in "read-only" mode; if i open the database by double clicking the file name in windows explorer, it open normally.
the link on the html page will work on pc's with access 2000, but will not work on pc with ms access 2003. on pc's with 2003 when the html link is clicked: i get the file download window "do you want to open or save?" window. I click "open" and the window closes. access opens with the standard security warning message window saying "this file may not be safe ......may contain harmful .......what do you want to do. i click "open" and the message window and the ms access disappear and another temp internet window with a progress bar showing bars completing the whole line flashes on and then off the screen. then the only thing on the screen is the html page i started from. if i do a ctl atl del ms access shows as running (but it's not displayed on screen).

why does the database open in read only mode when opened from the html page link and the pc is running ms access 2000. (it opens normally when run from windows explorer/my computer)??

why doesn't the datebase open from the html page link if the pc is running ms access 2003??

is there another/better/easer way to display the data in the ms access database on the html page??

thanks

I could be way off base with this one,,,but here is my take on it. The Intranet, just like the Internet is a series of html (web) pages that use html to display in a browser window, using links to fetch images and information. Therefore, it must adhere to the same rules as the Internet.

You can't use a program that comes from another computer on the Internet. If I want to open a Microsoft Word ducument on my computer, it needs to have Word installed on it. If it has word installed, I need to choose to save or open the file (with all the appropriate warnings). Once it is opened on my computer, I should be able to make changes, but only to my locally saved file, and not to the original file location (be it the Internet or the other computer)

Now, just like the Internet, you can use scripts and programming languages to help make changes to things on the Intranet. If I have a file on the server, and I want others to be able to open it and make changes, I write a form and use a php script that gives them permission to add or remove data from the database and save that work. Now the information is changed.

Like I said at the start...I could be way off base with this info....I am basing it onthe fact that you say you are using an HTML page to create the link to the file, and that the file needs a program associated with it to do the work.

If the pc is running access 2003, it might be a matter of adding the mime type to the server (works on the Internet..) or allowing the extension to work on the user's pc. The user's program may not know what program to use to open the access 2000 document, so you have to assign a program to the extesion .mdb or whatever extention it is.

Hope some of this helps. I don't use Intranet, (much) so if I was wrong about everything let me know so I don't make a fool of myself next time.

thanks for your reply.

but to clearify, all the html pages are on a local server, not on the internet.
all the pc's have ms access 2000 or 2003, so all have the .mdb assoc = ms access. so if i have a link to a .pdf, .doc, or jpg file the pc knows which program on the local pc to use to open and display the file. as i stated i get ms access 2000 to open the database in read only mode. however, about half of the pc at my work location are running ms access 2003. those pc start to open the program as i explained above but access disappears from the monitor, but a ctl alt del shows the program running.