Access 2003 V 2016 What can 2016 do? (1 Viewer)

Mike375

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First up I have both with the 2016 on Office 356. As an aside it went from 2013 to 2016 and no extra charge. Only $13Aus a month.

I only use 2016 for other people and I won't do anything unless they get Office 365.

However, I make a lot of the stuff on 2003 because I prefer it and references automatically go up to 2016.

But I am interested to know what 2016 can do that can't be done in 2003. Conditional formatting was the biggest gain for me of 2003 over earlier versions. My main issue with Access is making labels where I might want one word in bold green and one in bold red. Means making and lining a up a few labels.

I suppose the basis of most things I make will be Access opening Word and inserting data into Bookmarks and also into Excel cells. Also the other way around. The Word docs created are stored in a folder and also in the data base as OLE embedded. The Word docs are also copied and pasted by Access into a memo field. Basically, all their correspondence is stored within Access so if that is all the back up then they are in business.

Lots of text manipulation with Left, Mid and so on.

So what does 2016 do that is missing with 2003.

As a side note I have had no issues with 2003 and 2016 on the one computer. I used to keep them separate but now on one computer I have both.
 

isladogs

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I also have 2 versions on the same PC - in my case 2010 & 2019(365) though I normally develop in A2010 as I much prefer the interface.
There are occasional issues in switching back to 2010 after using the newer version.
Sometimes this necessitates an Office repair to fix registry entries

There's a very good summary of changes by version at: http://www.fmsinc.com/MicrosoftAccess/history/features.htm
As with all changes, some things are better & some are far worse... and of course not everyone will agree on what fits in each category

In my view, improvements include:
1. Conditional formatting changes as already mentioned
2. Themed controls on forms
3. ACCDB file format - FAR more secure than MDB - see http://www.mendipdatasystems.co.uk/compare-access-file-security/4594444323
4. Much improved encryption (128-bit)
5. Better handling of image controls
6. Navigation pane & ribbon (once you get used to them)
7. New linked table manager
8. New charts (but not compatible with older versions)
9. Command buttons with text & image

BUT these are retrograde changes
1. New datatypes - multivalue, attachment & calculated fields
2. Removal of pivot tables/charts (A2013)
3. Eyestrain from the brilliant white background in A365

If nothing else had changed, I would still use the newer versions for the much better file security
 

Mike375

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Thanks for that.

Security does not worry me and whatever I sell goes out as 2016.

What are

2. Themed controls on forms

7. New linked table manager …..Virtually everything I make is an alteration/extraction from a very large and "do everything" Access db.

I still hate the ribbon. The part I hate most is the objects not being in the old data base window.
 

isladogs

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Security does not worry me and whatever I sell goes out as 2016.
I hate to say it but it really should worry you as a developer.
Do read my website article as a starting point. Also the FMS site and EverythingAccess.com
Without wishing to sound boastful, if you haven't thought seriously about security, it would probably be very easy to hack your applications.

The use of themed controls on forms allow the appearance of command buttons and tabs to change as you hover over them or click on them.
This makes it more obvious where you are on a form & what has been clicked.
In addition, it simplifies the process of creating a consistent style across different forms

If your databases aren't split you won't need the linked table manager.
However, distributed databases should normally be split even if they are ever going to be used by more than one user.
Splitting will also simplify the management of upgrades when new versions are released

I still hate the ribbon. The part I hate most is the objects not being in the old data base window.
It took me some time but overall I now much prefer it. Having said that, it does take up too much screen space.
New streamlined ribbon should arrive in the near future - already done in Outlook
 

Mike375

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When you said

7. New linked table manager

I was not thinking properly and was think relationships.

Most I do a split as usually on 2 or 3 and sometimes 4 computers. One thing I have always done and I know is frowned on but the DB on the "home computer" is always complete and not split. However, nothing goes our as 2003. Actually a fair bit of what I do involves dumping Excel.

Conditional formatting was really great for me. I used to make a query where conditions meant 2 of 3 fields would be null. Then in a form would overlay text boxes with transparent backgrounds etc. A real pain.
 

isladogs

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The relationships window is no better than it was 20 years ago.
Similarly the VBA references dialog box remains very poor.

Even though you are distributing ACCDB files, that isn't enough to make them secure unless you are actively incorporating a range of security measures.
I can't see any advantage in the 'home computer' DB being unsplit and lots of disadvantages to that

I do agree about CF - that was a major improvement.
Ditto the use of image control sources.
 

Mike375

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With C format I think on the forum in either specimen DBs or Code someone has made the CF so you have a lot more than 3. I think I have it here somewhere.

With security I have never had anyone with an issue and even if one was hacked it probably would not matter. Even if they could stuff the DB itself it would not matter much because I make a backup system that copies the DB to 3 external disks and incorporates the date/time into the name so one does not replace another.
 

isladogs

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Big int support was added to A365 around May 2018.
It wasn't in the retail version of A2016 nor the run time version

If the feature is enabled, anyone with an earlier version of Access (up to & including retail A2016) can't open the database.
This had made it useless for my purposes!

I believe a C2R version of Access runtime was released last summer but no idea whether that included bigint support
AFAIK a copy of Access 2019 runtime hasn't been released
 

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