Incorporating an access DB with a website?

[donkey89]

Hello all.

Okay so Ive been creating a database with help from many of the friendly folk on these forums and whilst my database has a real-life use so to speak, and hopefully will be used once complete it is just a basic project that I'm learning from.

So basically my database is used to store Customer details linked to orders and the original plan was just for it to simply be used by one/two people to input a small amount of data as and when required just to save trawling through paper work!

Now a website is being developed professionally with the ability to order online and out of interest I thought what are the possibilities of viewing a MS Access form perhaps online? Or maybe just have it linked to fields either way. From what I have read I realise at least the back end would have to be held on a server, and the front end would have to then cater for this.

Just to note I doubt this is something I would take on as I'm still rather new to Access and this sounds somewhat advanced but I'm a curious one!

Thankyou in advance,

~Markus

 

[Beetle]

An Access front end can be linked via ODBC to several different versions of RDMS databases such as SQL Server, Oracle, etc., so if the website being developed is going to use one of these as the data store then you could link an Access front end to the same set of data. This would be completely separate from the web interface, as it would not web compatible but rather would be used internally within your organization as an alternative method of interfacing with the data.

Access objects such as forms are not web compatible unless you happen to be using Access 2010. With A2010 you can create web databases, but this is somewhat limited by the fact that the back end must be in Sharepoint 2010 with Access Services. Now, on the off chance that your organization happens to already be running Sharepoint 2010 (the version that includes Access Services), and if the website development has not begun yet (i.e. - it's still in the initial planning stages) then it's possible that A2010 could save your company in both development time and expense, depending on the requirements of the application, due to the Rapid Application Development nature of Access. However, if neither of the above is true, then any potential savings would be negated by the expense of aquiring Sharepoint. Plus, you would need someone who is already experienced in developing web applications in A2010. This seems like an unlikely scenario, but you said you were curious so I'm just laying out some of what's possible.

Also, it's possible to create web forms in programs such as ASP.Net that can retrieve data from an Access back end. Again, not really applicable to your scenario because the data for the website would not be stored in an Access (Jet) back end. Just sort of an FYI.