Modernizing the Access User Experience

[Thales750]

Microsoft MVPs and other Insiders,
Is there any Scuttlebutt from the Temple in Redmond concerning an overhaul for the interface. Every year we watch the web based tool leave us further and further behind.

I'm too old start all over. I guess management, or the pastures, is all that left for us dinosaurs.

 

[theDBguy]

Not sure about rumors, but recent UI changes include the modern chart, new linked table manager, sortable property sheet, improved query designer, and new SQL editor ( to mention a few).

 

[Minty]

Not sure about rumors, but recent UI changes include the modern chart, new linked table manager, sortable property sheet, improved query designer, and new SQL editor ( to mention a few).

Is the new SQL editor out yet?
I haven't seen anything and I'm on an office 365 full subscription.

 

[jdraw]

I've heard nothing about new SQL editor either (O365).
I have a feeling M$oft considers Navigation forms/controls as modernizing techniques for user interfaces.

 

[Minty]

I know there is a new one on the cards, and that it is due out Soon ™

 

[Thales750]

I've heard nothing about new SQL editor either (O365).
I have a feeling M$oft considers Navigation forms/controls as modernizing techniques for user interfaces.

From a Users point of view, what we build is extremely dated. The whole change the form on the fly thing, the whole drag elements around the screen, even something that should have been available 20 years ago, fields that can grow or can shrink in sub forms.

The list goes on. We have at out disposal tools that can create enterprise systems. But to the average user, their phone has more advanced features.

I use Keep Notes on my phone, at my desk, on my tablet, and the laptop. why you ask. Because a tool that i have written a 100 thousand lines of code for, doesn't have the capability to do some thing as simple as that. And oh yeah,click and drag to reorder.

 

[Thales750]

Not sure about rumors, but recent UI changes include the modern chart, new linked table manager, sortable property sheet, improved query designer, and new SQL editor ( to mention a few).

What is a sortable property sheet?

 

[theDBguy]

What is a sortable property sheet?

Hi. I don't have the subscription version and can't watch YouTube at work, but some of the updates I mentioned should be in this video.

www.youtube.com

or, maybe take a look here...

The Biggest News from Ebo Quansah’s March 9th 2021 Presentation | AccessUserGroups.org

PS. One thing I forgot to mention was the new Web Browser Control.

 

[Minty]

PS. One thing I forgot to mention was the new Web Browser Control.

Isn't that supposed to be working/released as of now as well??

 

[isladogs]

Ebo Quanseh left his Access role soon after the March presentation.
At DevCon back in April, it was announced that all developments have been re-prioritised with integration with MS Dataverse now taking most of the development time.
As a result, the new browser control and SQL Monaco editor may well still be several months away

 

[NauticalGent]

- gee, I can't wait until Access can integrate with DataVerse.

If I understand it correctly, it will allow Access to connect to tables stored in a cloud environment. This will be music to my ears!

Edit:

Unless you work in Corporate America, chances are you don't even know what DataVerse is. This is just another useless "feature" that some punk thinks is cool and so we must want it right? It will probably be along the lines of SharePoint. If you don't have x level of O365 for y dollars, you can't use it anyway

I should have read your entire post before responding!

 

[NauticalGent]

Ebo Quanseh left his Access role soon after the March presentation.

Unbelievable...why in the HELL did they think that was prudent!?!?

 

[Thales750]

They are already created 3 (maybe 4) stupid Web apps all because we say - "we want Access to be able to link to databases over the web" and they hear - "we want a web version of Access". A web version of Access isn't Access and there is no conversion path so everything starts from scratch with a new tool. If we wanted to develop web pages, there are dozens of tools to facilitate that. We don't need Access.

Way wrong answer. They don't have to call it Access, but is should have the exact conventions. It should be based on VBA and just as simple to hook up to any cloud database. Or, at least, the very least, make a good solution that will link SQLs together so we can develop seamless cloud and desktop apps. Users should be able to use Access in a browser.

We do have more option lately as the technology for remote desktop has improved. Band width is higher and the cost have come down. Still, to ignore the greater demand for Cloud Services, and to completely ignore it, is about like Kodak loosing the race to digital, or Microsoft loosing the phone wars. The biggest losers here are the developers that spent their entire careers loyal to Access.

 

[isladogs]

If I understand it correctly, it will allow Access to connect to tables stored in a cloud environment. This will be music to my ears!

Dataverse integration was the main part of the Access team update session at DevCon in April.
Unfortunately that video has not yet been released publicly but the screenshot below from that session gives an outline of what this entails:

For more info about Dataverse (Common Data Service), see also :
Microsoft Dataverse | Microsoft Power Platform
What is Common Data Service (CDS) and why it is important for you if you use Power Apps or Power BI? - RADACAD

 

[Isaac]

The property sheet seems to most of us to be in random order so as the list gets longer, it becomes more difficult to find what you are looking for. Sorting alphabetically at least helps if you know the name of what you are looking for. Sorting by logical grouping also makes sense.
This feature was actually promised to be in 2007 at a meeting I attended in Redmond in early 2006 where the dev team previewed Access for three days to a select group of individuals.

Who does MS poll when asking for priorities? It certainly isn't MVP's or other actual heavy users. There was almost a riot in the room back in 2006 when the team told us about multi-value fields AND that they were hiding the table where they would be stored!!!! I have never, ever had anyone say - gee, I can't wait until Access can integrate with DataVerse. Unless you work in Corporate America, chances are you don't even know what DataVerse is. This is just another useless "feature" that some punk thinks is cool and so we must want it right? It will probably be along the lines of SharePoint. If you don't have x level of O365 for y dollars, you can't use it anyway Forget about the things we've been asking for for YEARS and YEARS and YEARS. And the old bugs don't get fixed because they are so old we've all created work-arounds and MS doesn't want to break those. They are already created 3 (maybe 4) stupid Web apps all because we say - "we want Access to be able to link to databases over the web" and they hear - "we want a web version of Access". A web version of Access isn't Access and there is no conversion path so everything starts from scratch with a new tool. If we wanted to develop web pages, there are dozens of tools to facilitate that. We don't need Access.

I hate to sound like a broken record (especially saying something roundly despised by many on AWF), but this goes back to things like Power Apps--one of the primary use of Microsoft Dataverse as a back end.

My viewpoint is, Microsoft isn't asking Access developers' opinion about Power Apps. They have already decided Power Apps (and other things like that) will become the next major low-code development tool, and they are not about to ask the non-adopters' permission for it..

That may sound harsh (and isn't meant to reflect my feelings on it, but rather, my guess as to Microsoft's), but may also be largely true.

 

[NauticalGent]

which small companies cannot afford.

 

[Isaac]

I do agree with the last few posts, well-said. The whole "not everything needs to/should be web-based" is one of those, "Say it again!" statements. I agree.

Haven't really gotten into Power suite with my side-clients, so don't know much about the licensing terms.
Suppose I should be glad my bread and butter is still corporate world, where we awake each morning and are told what oxygen we shall breathe that day, just about.

I have a feeling that the cost structure will continue to evolve, as Microsoft's decisions seem dumb sometimes--but I doubt they are dumb enough to completely abandon the entirety of the world's smaller business clients, as it's too significant to do so.

 

[Thales750]

I do agree with the last few posts, well-said. The whole "not everything needs to/should be web-based" is one of those, "Say it again!" statements. I agree.

Haven't really gotten into Power suite with my side-clients, so don't know much about the licensing terms.
Suppose I should be glad my bread and butter is still corporate world, where we awake each morning and are told what oxygen we shall breathe that day, just about.

I have a feeling that the cost structure will continue to evolve, as Microsoft's decisions seem dumb sometimes--but I doubt they are dumb enough to completely abandon the entirety of the world's smaller business clients, as it's too significant to do so.

Modern small businesses run almost entirely on mobile devises.

 

[Isaac]

Modern small businesses run almost entirely on mobile devises.

Same as Pat - not any of the ones I work with. They do do a lot of remote work, though - widespread in my clients.
All I have to do for that is rent some AWS or virtual private servers, though.

With some exception. I did have a client a few years ago that wanted more mobile device stuff, so for him I used Google Sheets with AppSheet. It worked well enough for simple data entry forms and simple reports.

 

[Thales750]

Not in my world. No one I know wants to do anything using the tiny keyboard and screen of a phone when they are doing actual work. Email is about it and that is tedious with two finger typing. Oh yeah, they play games on their phones too but then that isn't work.

I didn't say phone, I said mobile devises.
They do everything from sales and marketing to project management. Even restaurants have cloud based systems, where the management can have live updates from anywhere.

I have close ties to home building and other type of construction, they are almost exclusively on cloud/mobile.