MS Access 2003 as Front End

[ions]

Dear MS Access Expert,

I have been asked to make proposal for a new database system that will be using SQL Server 2008 as the back end engine.

I would like to develop the Front End in MS Access 2003 since I have been using Access for 9 years.

However, I am not certain how MS Access 2003 is viewed as a Front End building tool in the IT community?

I have read criticism that MS Access can have logic in various places (Macros, Modules, Forms, Queries) which makes it hard to debug.

I agree with the above statement but I do not use Macros and put Form logic on the form's OnOpen event so I don't see the above as too much of an issue.

Can I feel confident telling the company’s IT Director that MS Access 2003 is a competitive Front End building tool for the SQL Server 2008 engine?

Thank you for your response.

 

[RuralGuy]

You can write spaghetti code in almost any development system. Access is a very good RAD tool for what you are proposing. It also contains some very useful and powerful debugging tools. It really depends on the developer as to its maintainability.

 

[Alisa]

Access is the clear choice unless they want to invest significantly more (like twice as much) in development time. But I would hesitate to start a new project in 2003 at this point unless you know for a fact that the users of the new system have no plans to upgrade to Office 2007 (or the next one that comes out next year). If your future users already have plans to upgrade, recognize that having more than one version of Access installed is a pain, upgrading a database from one version of Access to another is a pain, and Microsoft isn't going to support 2003 forever.

 

[ions]

Thank you for your responses.

Is there a significant improvement in ADPs between Access 2003 and 2007?

I am reluctant to make the switch because of the 2007 user interface and I feel very comfortable wih 2003.

 

[RuralGuy]

You do not need to use an ADP for an SQL BackEnd. An MDB or ACCDB will work just fine.

 

[ions]

I would prefer to use ADP for manipulating SQL Server tables, views, stored procedures etc... since this will be my first exposure to SQL Server as opposed to JET engine.

Wouldn't you agree that this is the easiest transition?

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/HA101679531033.aspx

 

[ions]

I have one other question. I will be working with MSDE instead of SQL Server during the development. How difficult is it to convert an MSDE database to an SQL Server 2008 database?

 

[ions]

 However, certain new features of Access 2007 are not available in Access projects, such as attachments, multivalued fields, or integration with other programs, such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 or Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

This doesn't mean that I couldn't use VBA automation to control Outlook 2007 correct?

Thanks

 

[Alisa]

Thank you for your responses.

Is there a significant improvement in ADPs between Access 2003 and 2007?

I am reluctant to make the switch because of the 2007 user interface and I feel very comfortable wih 2003.

Personally, I hate 2007. My point is that you need to consider the environment that the end product will be used in, not just how easy it is for you to develop it one way or another. If your end users are (or will be) using a Vista/Office 2007 combination, you are just creating headaches for yourself by using 2003.