Is any one using MS Access?
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SPoss wrote:
Does anyone use it?
Yes.
SPoss wrote:
What for?
Gods know.
SPoss wrote:
I've never used it.
SPoss wrote:
and should I?
No, if you're sane and have a good karma. It should be a local DBMS, it is... we never discovered.
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver "When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page." -- Mike Hankey
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The code I'm working with is 15 years old and we are using an MDB file, compatible only with Access 97. We really don't have the time to change DB format but it's in the TODO... It corrupts. Alone. With a single user. And a fixed set of instructions...
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver "When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page." -- Mike Hankey
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Access is a database system - and yes, it's still used. Should you? Probably not. It's not a bad DB system, and for a single user it works fine, the management system isn't bad, and it's easy to work with from your code. But...as soon as you move to a multi user environment, it all turns to poo. Personally, I paid for it as part of Office, but I don't use it - I use SQL Server instead, even for "private" single user (i.e. me) applications. Internally, it uses the same files as Access, but it wraps it in a layer of comforting security.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
I've made four highly multi-user applications with Access, three now in use at manufacturing companies. The multi-user part is a challenge. I set these up so that each user gets their own appplication file on their client PC connected to the data file on the server. I've also made an auto-updater file that automatically updates the client PC with the latest files each time the user logs in.
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My dad uses it. He worked for many years as a VAT Inspector before becoming an internal auditor for Customs & Excise. This made him a very boring man. He has a number of Access DBs he has created on his laptop to store his stuff on. It is perfect for that.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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I was going to say, why don't they use locaDB/sqlexpress instead, but thinking about it, if your in Africa etc, and you're an end user (not a developer), and you have need for a DB, what options do you have? I had a very quick look at access this morning, it does seem to come with ready made templates that an end user could quickly get setup and use. I'm not about to start using it!! :) But for non developer/end users that want a simple DB, what other options do they have? Search for an app already made for the job. As an example, I've just googled 'CD Database software' ... and there where lots of hits
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I have a difficult time imagining that a developer has no idea what Access is. Perhaps I missed the sarcasm? Since you already have it installed, I'd suggest that you try it and decide for yourself if it might be useful to you...it won't cost you a thing. That said, I use Access 2003 almost every day. Why? Two words: Query Designer :)
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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We're still using it, although after the best part of a year of inexplicable crashes and corruption errors we're in the process of replacing our main database for another one. There's still loads of cheap crappy databases floating about though (some of which are now also developing random bugs even though the source code hasn't changed in months.) I'd agree with others that it has its place, but its place isn't in a corporate environment. As a rule, it only ever seems to be used in a multi-user setting out of either necessity or cost. Avoid in all other cases.
I think most issues with Access come from inexperienced developers and a fussy user base. It's easy enough to build some simple things in Access and so people with limited knowledge think they can build high level tools. Those people are dangerous. Again - the problem is with who is developing, not the tool itself. If you know what Access is and you know how to design a proper UI and database, as well as code, then there is nothing that can match the ease and cost efficiency. I make a living at Access development and I have hundreds of applications in use. Many mutli-user environments. Many with massive amounts of data (though the bigger data sets use a SQL back end), and my user base is happy as can be. I can do more in .net, obviously, but the infrastructure is much more expensive. If you have an application that does not need to be online (forms-wise), Access is the cheapest, fastest way to go. And in the right hands, at least as powerful. People should stop blaming Access for the crappy skills of many of the people that try to develop in it.
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ACCESS is so good that MS is killing it because is a big competitor of VS. ACCESS is the fastest RAD tool and you can do petty good desktop and web applications for SME or departments almost without code. Access it is simply fantastic. And of course there are millions of people using ACCESS.
MS stopped making improvements in Access with the 2003 version. But - they have improved Access for power users since then. It doesn't make sense for MS to put resources into improving two products for the same set of developers. The IDE in VS is much better than the IDE in Access.
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Just updated office 365 and along with it Access 2016. I've never used it. Does anyone use it? What for? and should I?
Wow - there is a lot of animus directed toward MS Access. I wonder how many people actual actively use it or are just haters.... Just some background - my company develops applications using LAMP, SQLServer, SQLite, and Dot.Net connectors to many other databases - so I think I'm fairly agnostic. A couple years ago, we needed a simple input form to capture some information quickly and I had something up and running in 30 minutes that worked just fine in Access - no server, no program, no debugging. Below are my thoughts about MS Access. MS Access is a number of things in one package and it might *just* be able to help you out. 1. It is its own proprietary database and has its own SQL Syntax (and query builder) 2. It is stand-alone file, much like SQLite 3. It handles multiple connections to a single database file over a network share pretty well. 4. It has its own JET engine to allow other programs to connect to it (I think it has a DotNet connector now as well) 5. It has its own reporting engine built in to the program 6. You can quickly and easily develop an extensive GUI to edit and access your data. 7. You can embed reports, GUI, and database into a deliverable, protected file. 8. You can write things that are usually tough for databases to do (iterations over many records) in the included VB scripting language. 9. You can develop a front end and reports in MS Access and connect to pretty much any ODBC compliant database in the backend. 10. You don't need (or need to be) a database guy to use it. 11. You will not notice (unless you have millions of records) any issues with the DB engine in terms of speed. There are some DISADVANTAGES to MS Access, but they are not due to the program. Because it is so easy to develop a pretty involved database and application in MS Access, non-DB types will often build what they need. This often leads to the following problem flow. a. Database tables are often just thought about just like excel files. b. This leads to *lots* of non-normalized data c. After a couple (or ten) years, someone will hit a wall where they get stuck and can't figure out how to do something in Access. d. At which time a "real" DB guy will be brought in to help figure out how to get things done. Be careful here, because there are three options that can arise at this point. e1. If this DB Guy is a DB admin, he will find that he can import the data easily into SQLServer. However, at this point he is basically screwed. In my experience, there is no way to ea
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Access is a true RAD tool. If you can model data and build SQL Express databases it is perfect. The query builder and reporting is the best in the business. One day, building web databases will use the same techniques to build views as access uses to build forms. (instead of typing in a morass of HTML). Most of the comments here are simply wrong - its a great tool and Microsoft has made (yet another) mistake in not developing it further.
Ray Starkey ACCESSible IT Limited Coventry, UK
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I use it for analyzing millions of records from web server logs with SQL queries about once a quarter. Easy to import the logs, simple to write and apply custom functions for massaging column data. Copy+Paste results into Outlook or Excel. Easy to throw away when you are done! Just purge the table containing the log records and retain the queries and custom functions.
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No they are not - a MDB of ours edited with 2003 is no more usable on our machines. Something, somewhere, breaks. We'll fix when we'll change logging operations (it's in the TODO). Consider that there are 3 tables with no relation between them - it's fugly but that was what the best heads could come up to 15 years ago.
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver "When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page." -- Mike Hankey
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Power users can make good use of Access if they limit themselves to what they know, and they don't try to make it a multi-user application.
DanW52 wrote:
Power users
Never, ever, give power to a user. Nothing good can result.
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver "When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page." -- Mike Hankey
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Just updated office 365 and along with it Access 2016. I've never used it. Does anyone use it? What for? and should I?
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Just updated office 365 and along with it Access 2016. I've never used it. Does anyone use it? What for? and should I?
Access is great for what it does. It's not for heavy lifting. I've used it for desktop apps where I've needed an independent db alongside the app - very handy for such things. You don't need a dba or any support personnel. You don't need installs or upgrades like you do with the big databases. I haven't tested it with lots of data; I know in the old days it was very weak/crash-able when you pushed its limits (eg, 30,000+ records).
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I have seen in use by businesses that have poor IT skills and got sold incredibly expensive applications biult with Access. Please, DON'T use it or recommend it. There are lots of free tools that do much more and are better supported.
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I've made four highly multi-user applications with Access, three now in use at manufacturing companies. The multi-user part is a challenge. I set these up so that each user gets their own appplication file on their client PC connected to the data file on the server. I've also made an auto-updater file that automatically updates the client PC with the latest files each time the user logs in.
Same here. I have an Access based application running my company for 18 years. I think it's ok up to 25 users. If we needed more users I would consider a back end based in SQL Server or Maria DB, but the front end is ok to make quick forms an reports. Our database is 800Mb and keeps tables with way more of 100k records. Just don't keep LBOs there, try a workaround and everything will be fine. If I started today I would choose another database engine. But then again, Access is taking care here of an aplication that involves invoicing, suply chain management, payrolls, bookkeeping, Document management, and some sophisticated functions like geolocation, web content management.. .etc
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I think most issues with Access come from inexperienced developers and a fussy user base. It's easy enough to build some simple things in Access and so people with limited knowledge think they can build high level tools. Those people are dangerous. Again - the problem is with who is developing, not the tool itself. If you know what Access is and you know how to design a proper UI and database, as well as code, then there is nothing that can match the ease and cost efficiency. I make a living at Access development and I have hundreds of applications in use. Many mutli-user environments. Many with massive amounts of data (though the bigger data sets use a SQL back end), and my user base is happy as can be. I can do more in .net, obviously, but the infrastructure is much more expensive. If you have an application that does not need to be online (forms-wise), Access is the cheapest, fastest way to go. And in the right hands, at least as powerful. People should stop blaming Access for the crappy skills of many of the people that try to develop in it.
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No they are not - a MDB of ours edited with 2003 is no more usable on our machines. Something, somewhere, breaks. We'll fix when we'll change logging operations (it's in the TODO). Consider that there are 3 tables with no relation between them - it's fugly but that was what the best heads could come up to 15 years ago.
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver "When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page." -- Mike Hankey
An .mdb file is compatible with Access 2002/2003/2007/2010 - I only use .mdb files. If it's breaking it's probably a conversion issue, not compatibility. Instead of converting, try copying and pasting the data. Or, upload the data to SQL Server (Express) and then use a make-table query to bring it back to a newly created Access .mdb file.
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WE don't write forms or code in Acess MDB's, but my company still has applications that use MDB's to store data. We are slowly moving the SQL Express, but sadly the the answer is YES, people still use Access.
it does seem a mix bag of usage and divided opinions. I knew there would be a large legacy code base, but it does seem that its still very much alive. Like it said in my last post, its time for a survey, but I think it should just be for access not for other DB, so we can get an overall picture. With so many legacy systems still using it and developers less keen to be, err...'associated' with it , may be it will become a high pay niche sector, I'm thinking cobalt/Fortran/Ada etc
