MS Access – Back-End Environment Switcher

Any experienced developer knows all to well that you need to segregate Production and Development versions of a database.  Moreover, most will even have a 3rd environment, a Testing environment.

Now, one can always use the Linked Table Manager, with all its flaws (both in design and in functionality), and manually go through the dialogs and relink the tables, but often we see questions on forums regarding a better method for people, such as developers, who need to do this regularily.

So, I decided to see what I could put together and this is what I came up, The Back-End Environment Switcher, with for the typical setup.

It has three components:

  • Menu
  • The Environment Switcher Settings
  • The Environment Switcher

The Menu


The Environment Switcher Settings

This is where you define your environments (environment and BE

The Environment Switcher Itself

A form used to select a new environment and switch at a click of a button

What’s Next

I’m hoping to continue the development, for my own needs, to

  • support multiple back-end sources within a single front-end.
  • Include more error handling and reporting to the user

Disclaimer/Notes:

If you do not have Microsoft Access, simply download and install the freely available runtime version (this permits running MS Access databases, but not modifying their design):

Microsoft Access 2010 Runtime
Microsoft Access 2013 Runtime
Microsoft Access 2016 Runtime
Microsoft 365 Access Runtime

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Download a Demo Database

Feel free to download a 100% unlocked demo copy by using the link provided below:

Download “Access – Back-End Environment Switcher (accdb x32)” DB-BE-Environment-Switcher.zip – Downloaded 6504 times – 944.30 KB

Version History

V1.000 (2018-02-08)

Initial release

V1.001 (2018-02-08)

The Switcher now checks for a text file residing in the same folder as the FE that will switch the BE without any user intervention.