Dixon,

> btw, my data folder where the database and this file are located are
> shared on the network. I'm assuming that these need to be shared so
> my clients apps can read / write to the database. is that correct?

NO.
The problem you had was related to the need to have TCP/IP for connecting to
the server and maybe another protocol to be used by the network to open the
file.

You don't need to share the folder. That will be a big security problem.
You don't need to share anything in the server.

Artur