Designing an employee work activity timesheet and saving information to database on server (1 Viewer)

[Huzderu]

Hello all,

I would like to implement a way for our employees to record their activity ( date, project worked on, department, activity category, time spent etc.) and save it to a database on our sever. We have been using PowerAutomate on a Sharepoint website for our flow and saving the information to the Sharepoint server. Unfortunately we have been having a lot of issues with it lately and have decided to move on to something else, for example Odoo or Microsoft Access. I was wondering, how would one go on about implementing something like this in Microsoft Access and is it even possible?

Thank you very much for taking your time to read this and I appreciate any reply!

 

[theDBguy]

Hi. Welcome to AWF!

If you expect to continue to use the database in the cloud, Access may not be for you.

 

[Gasman]

Crossposted https://www.accessforums.net/showthread.php?t=84477

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

database in the cloud,

If it needs to be in the cloud, Google Forms might suffice:-

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Although technology continues to improve, there are issues in that Access requires continuous connection to its participants. In a cloud-based solution (often carried via WiFi networking), you have network dropouts - momentary but deadly to the SMB protocol used by Access (and other utilities that participate in Windows File Sharing). Access solutions just about ALWAYS require hard-wired connections.

 

[Huzderu]

Crossposted

I tried linking to the other forum but I guess because I am a new user, I was not allow to post a new thread, probably to avoid spam.

 

[Huzderu]

Thank you all for the replies! I am reading them right now.

 

[Pat Hartman]

To be clear - are the employees all working on the same LAN? If they are, then Access is an excellent solution. If they are not and you need something with remote connectivity, then Access isn't going to be a good solution unless you can run a Citrix server and run the Access app that way. Citrix provides a way to run an Access app in a browser window. Remote Desktop offers the same functionality. There really are no other good options.

Using Azure is a possibility but I havn't used it and when I tried to test the setup for a client, the results were too slow to be used.

The one thing that you CANNOT under any conditions do is to use a Cloud drive to hold your Access application. That method is NOT multi-user and whoever saves last will clobber the existing file.

 

[Huzderu]

I've decided that Access is indeed a good solution, thank you all for your time!

 

[Pat Hartman]

I've decided that Access is indeed a good solution, thank you all for your time!

So, everyone is on the same LAN?

 

[Huzderu]

No, not everyone. We are thinking about having the back end on our server and the front end on each employee's computer, with new versions being downloaded by them as we develop.

 

[Pat Hartman]

No, not everyone. We are thinking about having the back end on our server and the front end on each employee's computer, with new versions being downloaded by them as we develop.

Access works when ALL users are on the same LAN. The BE is on a server and the FE is distributed so that each user has his own personal copy. If all the users are not on the same LAN, they won't be able to share the same BE.

If ANY users are not on the LAN, then you need plan B. The best solution is to use Citrix or Remote Desktop to host the application.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Pat beat me on this by 9 minutes....

I'll merely agree with her. With Access, it is all or nothing at all. To be properly and SAFELY shared, everyone must be on the same network.