Throught direct communication with Laura Asher I have solved the problem by doing this:

1. create a new empty project 2. import the file which created the access violation in Manager 3. moving overlapping sections to be non-overlapping

We will use the epx file to find the cause of the problem.

I think the reason is that somehow due to a relatively slow process of moving sections with many fields around the file was saved in a way where coordinates for sections were in conflict.

Whereas in EntryClient where sections cannot be moved this is not an issue.

Thanks for the input Jamie.

Users should be cautious when moving sections with many fields including resizing sections to allow for many fields in the same section. In particular when developing a complicated form it is good practice to save while developing, e.g. "projectname_v1" "projectname_v2" "projectname_v3" such that if all goes wrong one can return to the previous partial version. If it is a general problem then we can use the successive version to track the error.

Obviously this type of problem is annoying, but users should be aware of the nature of the project and the limited resources we have for development and testing. Therefore the whole EpiData effort is dependent on user contributions. In particular on the visual parts such as developing new dataforms we cannot possibly test all combinations.

Regards Jens Lauritsen EpiData Assocation

Den 12. aug. 2015, EpiData development and support epidata-list@lists.umanitoba.ca skrev:

After thinking about it, permissions can’t be the problem. You can open the file in EntryClient. Errors in the actual project file should cause a problem with both programs. You could try to import the project in Manager (File, Import) to see if that clears anything up. There should be no limit on number of sections, but I have not done any testing with a large number of sections in a project. They are mostly cosmetic, but Manager has to keep track of them all... --  Jamie

Date: August 12, 2015 at 7:47:10 AM Subject: [EpiData-list] Access violation message- still unable to open database

Yes there was a lock file in the folder, even though the database was not open in either manager or EntryClient. I have deleted this. Now when I try to open the database in Manager it skips the message 'this file is locked by another program' etc, instead going straight to the Access Violation message.

I've used the 'Prepare for double data entry' function, but the _double database file also will not open.

Any idea how I can adjust the permissions on the file? (On either Mac or PC as it won't open on either).

Seeing as I can open it in EntryClient is there any way I can save this database through Entry Client and get it back to a new Manager file? Laura _______________________________________________ EpiData-list mailing list EpiData-list@lists.umanitoba.ca http://lists.umanitoba.ca/mailman/listinfo/epidata-list