You may receive a "You do not have exclusive access to the database at this time" error message when you edit a module in Access 2002 (293613)

Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

This article applies only to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb).

For a Microsoft Access 2003 version of this article, see 839782.

For a Microsoft Access 2000 version of this article, see 225938.

SYMPTOMS

When you try to edit code in a module, you may receive the following message, even though you just saw the same message:

You do not have exclusive access to the database at this time. If you proceed to make changes, you may not be able to save them later.

CAUSE

You see this message more than once when you are in a multiuser environment, and you perform either of the following actions:

You insert a new module, and then edit any module.

-or-
You edit a form or a report class module.

RESOLUTION

Click OK to close the second occurrence of the message. You can then make the changes to the code; however, you may not be able to save the changes that you make.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce the Behavior

Open the sample database Northwind.mdb.
Open a second instance of Northwind.mdb.
In the Database window, click Modules under Objects, and then click New. Note that you receive the message that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section of this article.
Click OK.
Open the Form_Employees class module.
When the Code window appears, make any change to the module. Note that the same message appears a second time.
Click OK. Note that the message appears a third time.

REFERENCES

For additional information about exclusive locks, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

283228 Exclusive lock is required for saving design changes to Access objects in Access 2002