Base will not save information or close when db is on Network drive

[ARYLIOA]

Might be a reportable bug, but I don’t have enough experience to say so. I will be happy if it is not and I am just doing (or not doing) something I am not considering.

Base v7.3.7.2, Linux Mint, Network storage is D-Link DNS323 using cifs1.

Writer and Calc have no problem with the network drive.

If I create a new database and save it to ~/Documents, everything works fine. The database closes, saving information, and can be reopened with all information intact. It can be reopened, updated, and saved normally.

If I create an identical database on my network drive, no matter how I try to close Base, as long as I choose Save, it just goes back to the last view in a perpetual loop. The only way to close it is to select Don’t Save (or kill it with System Monitor). If I do that, even if I choose Save from the File menu first, the changes are not written and only an empty database is left.

If I create the database in ~/Documents and then copy it to my network drive, that copy opens fine. If I make no changes, base closes normally and the db remains intact. If I make any change, Base gets in that same perpetual save loop. It acts exactly as described above when I create it initially on the network drive.

[Villeroy]

There is no such thing as a “Base database”. Which one is yours?

[Villeroy]

I guess, it’s an embedded Firebird DB. At least I can reproduce the problem with that type of embedded database. According to ReleaseNotes/24.8 - The Document Foundation Wiki the issue will be fixed by the upcoming next release.

[ARYLIOA]

I did not consider that.

The database is new, one created by Base. It was created using the LibreOffice Database Wizard > Create a new database. The only option in that thread is HSQLDB Embedded. The database created has a file extension of .odb.

[Villeroy]

Embedded HSQL is a striclty local, single user database. You may sync it to some network drive in order to keep local copies in sync.
An embedded database gets installed to a local temporary folder when you start a session. The entire database is wrapped back into the document (which is a zip file actually) when you close a session. This can not work well with remote drives. HSQL is a database engine in its own right. It is possible to run HSQL in server mode for simultaneous multi-user access. The status bar for such a connection looks like this:

It is possible to extract the embedded HSQL and use it in server mode on a remote machine. A database server is a program waiting for SQL requests. It is not a NAS.

[ARYLIOA]

Thank you. You have clarified some of the concepts I had not really grasped. It is hard to digest a 565 page User Guide, and, early on, I missed the concept of “embedded” entirely. I misinterpreted the single user aspect as well, taking it to mean one user at a time, not an individual host. My primary reason for wanting to host the database on my network storage was because I do daily incremental backups of our dynamic data and that would have included the database. Occasionally, I would like to gain access on another computer on the network. One human at a time, but multiple users with respect to Base.

You have definitely answered the subject of the post. I will look at other options. Unfortunately, I am coming from Access, and have a lot to unlearn as well as a lot to learn. Again, thank you.

[Villeroy]

Use the remote drive for your incremental backups, but do not load and edit any files from a backup medium.

@ARYLIOA

I am coming from Access

Access comes with its own, embedded JET database with its own set of restrictions. Access is an excellent frontend to professional databases such as PostgreSQL and MySQL. Access is a fully featured database development suite, whereas Base is a tiny extra to this office suite, an interface between databases and office documents.
Generally speaking, the embedded databases, HSQL or Firebird (still experimental) are fine for demos and educational purposes. However, they should not be used for anything important.
It is possible to connect Base with existing Access databases.

[ARYLIOA]

You have been helpful earlier. I wonder if you might comment on a post I just created entitled “Sharing Base definitions using HSQLDB files (Calc) on multiple computers.”

Thanks.

[ARYLIOA]

You have been helpful earlier on the question of using Base. I wonder if you might comment on a post I just created entitled “Sharing Base definitions using HSQLDB files (Calc) on multiple computers.”

Thank you.