Access 2010 at the SDC

[Guus2005]

Last two days i spent at the SDC (Software developpers conference) in Holland where numerous sessions where held. See for yourself at www.SDC.nl
Two of which where about Access 2010. About how it interacts with Sharepoint and a session about new features in Access. The sessions where presented by Dick Moffat.

The interaction with sharepoint is about deploying the database over the internet and accessing it over the internet. In Access 2007 the pages where vanished to return in a different way using sharepoint.
The deployment of databases over the net using sharepoint is very easy to do once sharepoint is installed and all users have access to it.
It copies a <filename>.accdw file onto your system and when executed, it copies the FE and BE to your system if it is not already there and synchronizes the data when it is.

Unfortunately the usage of Access Macro's is mandatory when creating such a Web application.

Controls where added and the Excel conditional formatting is available in Access 2010.

I skipped Access 2007 (and continue to do so unless my client decides otherwise) but i will pick up Access 2010 for sure.

 

[David Eagar]

Thanks for the update

 

[boblarson]

Yes, the new Access Web Services is pretty cool, including deployment. You can actually deploy a solution to your folks using that method, even without using any of the web enabled items. That might have an effect on those who need to use Tony Toews' or my AutoUpdate tools.

And, it uses a web browser for the web stuff so your users don't need Access if they can get by with the limited functionality that exists on the web. It can be a good "dashboard" solution as well.

And there's more that we'll talk about in the coming weeks, I'm sure.

 

[shadow9449]

And, it uses a web browser for the web stuff so your users don't need Access if they can get by with the limited functionality that exists on the web. It can be a good "dashboard" solution as well.

Can the web browser version do anything that a form can do? In other words, can users just open a browser, enter a URL and away she goes for any function of an Access application (within certain limitations) with no installation? If so, is there a limitation on the number of users? What does the server hosting the application require other than a static IP?

Sounds interesting - real 21st century technology!

SHADOW

 

[boblarson]

Can the web browser version do anything that a form can do? In other words, can users just open a browser, enter a URL and away she goes for any function of an Access application (within certain limitations) with no installation? If so, is there a limitation on the number of users? What does the server hosting the application require other than a static IP?

Sounds interesting - real 21st century technology!

SHADOW

No, it can't do EVERYTHING that you can do with a form. It is much more limited. I can't remember all of the details at the moment because I haven't played with that part of it since November of last year (at the Access Developers Kitchen). But it uses SharePoint as the underlying source, so you need to have a SharePoint 2010 installation.

 

[shadow9449]

No, it can't do EVERYTHING that you can do with a form. It is much more limited. I can't remember all of the details at the moment because I haven't played with that part of it since November of last year (at the Access Developers Kitchen). But it uses SharePoint as the underlying source, so you need to have a SharePoint 2010 installation.

Well, even if there's a subsection of an application that will have some dialogue boxes that allows the user to enter dates for some reports, and then view the reports online, that's a big benefit.

I seem to recall somewhere that Sharepoint has some serious limitations of the number of concurrent users. I have 45 users on an Access application run from 10 locations using Terminal Services. All I had to do was create a folder for each user on the server, each user connects to their respective front end and the application has been working for years with excellent performance. Can Sharepoint do this...?

This approach is great but the limitation is that users can't just hop onto any computer anywhere and log on. They would need to install the firewall software and set up the TS connection and so on which the average user is afraid/unable to do. Hence the benefit of a browser-enabled solution.

SHADOW

 

[CEH]

I remember the day when I could build a MS Frontpage website and store the data input from a form in a Access DB on that website... Doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to expand on that to make a fully functional Access DB online.... OH WAIT!!!! Then they couldn't sell sharepoint..... my bad.