after Access

[Darth Vodka]

a quick question

i've been doing Access for years now, and i know a lot about it. there are still parts i'm not 100% on but it's beginning to make me think "what next?"

our team really is just an Access development team, but i'm thinking of saying to the boss "how about we use a bit of..."

erm

SQL server back end perhaps

or ASP & a webpage

any other suggestions of moving the team out of the dark ages?

 

[rsmonkey]

well depends what you do in access to be honest! i've always stuck with the principal "If it aint broke dont fix it". So you've gotta ask yourself whether its neccesary. If its a case of expanding your IT skills and you want to be able to do the same tasks as access but using alternative methods then a web based system using SQL backend with a mix of ASP.Net/HTML/XML etc.. would work fine & alternately you could use PHP instead of ASP.Net. joy of php its open source so you can get pre-made scripts off the net etc.. ASP.Net is Microsoft based however so companies are much more partial to ASP.Net but its changing & php is becoming a big language now. Google it and read up on them & decide whether its viable for you & your company!

 

[Darth Vodka]

thanks and yeah, i apologise for the vagueness of the question

we're a RAD team, that build things for use within a bank

we're Access only, but i want to expand MY skills

i think i'm going to nudge towards a SQL server back end, after all people can still delete the whole database

then afterwards will either puch towards supplying datawarehouse stuff with OLAP spreadsheets or doing web stuff

didn't think of PHP and know little about web stuff, so thanks for the heads up

 

[Simon_MT]

If you want to look ahead I would suggest .NET. The advantage of .NET is that it is web friendly. Your applications either internally or externally would have a common platform. If you going to make a transition, I would start with your internal applications and then address the web arena.

Simon

 

[rsmonkey]

RAD as in Rapid Application Development Team? The problem with this is that RAD developers rely predominantly on their knowledge of the code that they are writing in thus in .NET your going to have good knowledge in SQL, which you proably have a good idea from Access so it will literally be a case of developing db's in Oracle or MsSQL Server etc... Also you'l need good knowledge of C# (recommended) and VB.NET in order to build your framework! This then directly ports you into code collaboration on web based language such as XML & HTML... So once you got these your a fully blown web developer aswell as being an applications developer.
Similarities in languages such as C# and Java means your cv will be looking like sex!

Good money in C# aswell, especially if sharepoint kicks off!

 

[KenHigg]

Simple question...

.asp if you have to deploy via intranet, vb or c if you deploy manually. As a rule of thumb web solutions will not be as robust...

Both need a db server like MS SQL Sever so that's where I'd suggest you start...

 

[Darth Vodka]

yeah RAD= rapid application development

in access, woo!

all good advice cheers all

IT are a bit sniffy about letting us have a server for SQL server though...

is it possible to easily do a webpage/ASP from access to web?

 

[KenHigg]

Yes you can do that, but you're going to need sql sever at some point. I would see if they would give you one if you get certified as an admin... Does your company have any sql servers the use for other databases?

 

[Darth Vodka]

Yes you can do that, but you're going to need sql sever at some point. I would see if they would give you one if you get certified as an admin... Does your company have any sql servers the use for other databases?

we use sql-server for datawarehousing off the back of our big apps

but letting non IT people tinker with them is difficult

we did used to have a test partition apparently...

would love to get a bit we can properly use

 

[KenHigg]

We have it set up where I set up the table structure and IT scans it to see if it meets their standards for normalization, etc. Then they set it all up and give me the odbc server name & password, etc. Their dba handles all the db maint from there on out...

 

[FoFa]

Been play'n with NetBeans (hence Java). Pretty impressive I must say. Plus there is a wealth of free stuff you can use to do it. Not to mention if can use your current Access DB's via JDBC. Or load a free DB like MySql or others. Plus you can create stand alone apps, web pages, what ever. You are not then tied to the M.S. stuff.

 

[Darth Vodka]

Been play'n with NetBeans (hence Java). Pretty impressive I must say. Plus there is a wealth of free stuff you can use to do it. Not to mention if can use your current Access DB's via JDBC. Or load a free DB like MySql or others. Plus you can create stand alone apps, web pages, what ever. You are not then tied to the M.S. stuff.

oh ok, will look into MySQL one rainy weekend

thanks

 

[Darth Vodka]

We have it set up where I set up the table structure and IT scans it to see if it meets their standards for normalization, etc. Then they set it all up and give me the odbc server name & password, etc. Their dba handles all the db maint from there on out...

what's change control like at your place?

if you come up with an extra field, how long is that going to take?

 

[KenHigg]

Well... When I was dealing with the old dba I'd simply pick up the phone. The last time I had a request it was like pulling teeth. Still got it done but I had to go up the ladder...

 

[FoFa]

Oh yea, SOX here in the US has brought a totally new meaning to the phrase "Red Tape".
Today a change that takes < 5 Minutes to make, takes 1 hour plus to get
through all the documentation.

 

[Moniker]

Before you go crazy here, don't think of Access as some entry level or newbie program. It's extremely powerful when harnessed correctly. I can say for a fact (because I wrote a lot of it) that a global insurance company's Medical Economics Unit is written entirely in Access, at least front-end wise. It's complex programming, and through ODBC (to hit DB2 in that case), we managed to handle everything fairly transparently to the user.

I will also say that a certain cell phone company (where I currently work) also uses Access almost exclusively. It's not for handling the calls, but for the cell sites (the cell towers) and a boatload of information about them, as well as construction tracking, site acquisitions, etc. Access is not a toy, and often times, there's not necessarily a need to go beyond it. It depends on your design skills and programming expertise.

While we will most likely be moving to a SQL Server backend within the next twelve months, that's purely for space/bandwidth issues. Access can actually do the whole thing, but the scalability and speed of SQL Server are better suited for the situation (hundreds of users, multiple timezones and platforms, etc.).

In other words, just because you can move to a different platform doesn't necessarily mean you should move, just for the sake of moving it. There needs to be a compelling reason that goes beyond buzzwords and new toys.

 

[Darth Vodka]

Oh yea, SOX here in the US has brought a totally new meaning to the phrase "Red Tape".
Today a change that takes < 5 Minutes to make, takes 1 hour plus to get
through all the documentation.

oh we have SOX too...jesus

i used to work at WorldCom....so in part i caused it

 

[Darth Vodka]

Before you go crazy here, don't think of Access as some entry level or newbie program. There needs to be a compelling reason that goes beyond buzzwords and new toys.

aha

the compelling reason is me getting a bit bored of Access and wanting other things on my CV