Is there a free utility out there for reading a .lbd file or a way to do that in Access itself?

I have a department that has users that don't understand the meaning of 'get out of the database' now so I can make a few report modifications for them. Actually the changes have been made, I copied the reports as 'beta' versions and did the same with the queries. Modified the reports and queries, showed the department head the resulting changes and received approval for deployment. Told the users to get out of database and the .lbd file (created this morning at 07:14, so, it is a fresh one and not orphaned) is still there.

Thank you for letting me cry on your shoulders you probably don't have users like this ...

Notepad? Seriously .ldb (not .lbd) files are just text files showing who is in or has been in your database. They are not a 100% accurate representation of who is in your database right now. They just show everyone who has locked the file since the file was first opened. .ldb files are only destroyed after everyone has exited the database. It is possible for the same user to show up in there multiple times.

Perhaps this will be helpful:

Who is logged into mdb?

You are right! On a lark I tried notepad after I just finished post and, Lo and Behold, there were four workstations listed ... it was just clear text, I copied the workstations into a Dameware connection, connected and gently reminded the user to get out of the database.

Thanks, I had no idea, I thought it would be a binary file.

Steve,

You may want to look into splitting your database into a single backend with data and separate frontends for your users. There are several threads here on UA that talk about how to automate updates like you described without forcing people out of the database while you create updates.

Dennis