Converting Access to Excel (1 Viewer)

kmhoyt14

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Is it possible to convert an entire access file containing vba/ sql to excel? I know I can import/ export data to excel but what I'm looking into achieving is just moving the entire access program I've built into excel format due to the company system no longer wanting to support access on every computer. I'm hoping to find a way that doesn't involve me having to redo everything and spend a bunch of time trying to figure out the vba all over again.
 

Micron

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I'd say that's like asking if you can convert a nail to a screw. They kinda look the same on the surface but...
Database records are supposed to be in related tables in rows. Spreadsheet data is crammed onto sheets in columns so the layout is not even compatible. Nor is the code.
Any conversion will take a ton of work and you'll end up with a single user product instead of a multi user (concurrent) product. If you mean "pay for" when you say support, what about the free Runtime version of Access?
 

Uncle Gizmo

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To my knowledge, there's no way of doing this, particularly as you mentioned you have VBA routines in your MS Access Database. I'm afraid you're going to have to work out how to reproduce it in Excel yourself.
 

Minty

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As others have said, not really. I'm not sure what's involved in
due to the company system no longer wanting to support access on every computer
But they do know you can get a free version of Access runtime, which wouldn't require any support/subscription other than downloading and installing if that's what they are worried about?
 

The_Doc_Man

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You need to find out what they mean by "no longer wanting to support Access." And WHY. Because if they are still supporting Excel and network solutions, they are still supporting Access's base components that underlie ALL Office components. Your "VBA from Excel" solution would merely transfer the problem from one utility program to another, except that the new utility is less well-suited to the proposed operation than where you had it in the first place.

Frequently, "no longer support Access" stems from the narrow ignorance of an IT guy who dislikes Access because of what he has "heard." There is no official document that I have ever seen that says that "Access is bad for networks." The document says "Mismanaged security is bad for networks." And in that light, you can come here to ask questions about how to set up such things.

Before I retired, I worked with the U.S. Navy and it only took a brief session with our head IT security guy to get him to back down. The problem often isn't that they have bad experiences with Access - it is that they have NO experience with Access and therefore don't understand it.

Another issue is this: Does your boss like what the particular Access app does? Because if you tell the boss that he/she is about to lose a useful tool then you make this "someone else's problem" and are more likely to get someone else on your side of the argument. Trust me - having been in this exact situation many times before - clout counts.
 

Isaac

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Is it possible to convert an entire access file containing vba/ sql to excel? I know I can import/ export data to excel but what I'm looking into achieving is just moving the entire access program I've built into excel format due to the company system no longer wanting to support access on every computer. I'm hoping to find a way that doesn't involve me having to redo everything and spend a bunch of time trying to figure out the vba all over again.
No
 

Pat Hartman

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You can do almost anything you want but the Excel version of the app (which you will need to create from scratch except for the data) will be fragile and very difficult to manage. It would not be an improvement. It would not be more secure. It would not be easier to maintain. It would be extremely difficult to share with multiple users so you'd have to go with a single user at one time to be safe.

As the others have suggested, find out what management's goal is. Ask why they think getting rid of Access is the right move. Ask why using the Access runtime won't solve their licensing issue.
 

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