Re-design a wellworking data base (2 Viewers)

[Pat Hartman]

I tend to disagree about using a tablet.

Tablets and phones are useless for real data entry. Phones are useless for almost everything. The point about tablets is that they have a larger screen area and so can be much more useful for looking at stuff. I would not want to use either for actual work except in limited applications such as your picklist example.

 

[GPGeorge]

Tablets and phones are useless for real data entry. Phones are useless for almost everything. The point about tablets is that they have a larger screen area and so can be much more useful for looking at stuff. I would not want to use either for actual work except in limited applications such as your picklist example.

My sister-in-law loves to tell a story about some of her 20-something students.

She was running a lab of some sort at a community college, where they had to use a PC to log in and complete an assignment. Several of the students begged her to let them use their phones to do the assignment instead of the computer.

I think there may be a generational shift at work.

 

[Pat Hartman]

I think there may be a generational shift at work.

Clearly the children don't do any work on their phones. Try writing documentation for example. How many words per minute can you type with your thumbs. They must use dictation I know some of our members try to answer posts on their phones. They don't seem to contribute much code that way or attach any examples.

 

[petko]

which

To clarify- you have an access backend with all the tables in a shared location on a server together with all the related pdfs, jpgs etc. and each user has a front end accdb on their local machine which links to the backend?

Yes, exactly as you describe.

 

[CJ_London]

OK, so you have been provided with some opinions as to the advantages/disadvantages of different ways to achieve your objective. Only you and your organisation can decide which is best for you - or contract with a professional for their advice, When making your decision, bear in mind the direction your company wants to go - stay where you are or consolidation or expansion.

 

[Minty]

You could host the BE Database in Azure SQL Server and maintain your current front end Access application, with suitable modification to allow for the performance difference between the WAN environment and the current LAN set up.
I suspect you would need to move quite a lot of the processing to the SQL Server.

This would have the advantage of not needing the RDP set up licencing costs, just the single Azure hosting cost, or you could get someone to host for you.

We have migrated quite a number of systems in this fashion.
Costs for getting someone to do the transition depend on the complexity of the database.

 

[GPGeorge]

Clearly the children don't do any work on their phones. Try writing documentation for example. How many words per minute can you type with your thumbs. They must use dictation I know some of our members try to answer posts on their phones. They don't seem to contribute much code that way or attach any examples.

Hm. Missed this one the other day.

No one seriously suggested writing documentation or code on a smart phone; at least not that I saw in this discussion. That would, obviously, be silly. But that wasn't my point anyway.

What I did suggest is that there are many members of a younger generation who primarily want to use their phones to access and use data. And the reference to my sister-in-law's experience directly reflected that preference in a college class.

What I didn't make explicit, and should have, is that she was also appalled by their naivite in wanting to do so. But that doesn't change the fact that there are people who view their phones as more than texting devices.

We can either ridicule them for their naivete, or figure out how to accomodate their needs. I think the latter is more productive.

As this conversation has gone on to illustrate, there can be multiple interface options as well as database architectures, working together. I just don't think it's an either/or choice for every situation.

 

[gemma-the-husky]

You even see things like this with a widescreen laptop compared with a square monitor.

I was using the Coventry Building Society website, and it's clearly designed for a full screen monitor. On a laptop things are off the visible screen and it's not immediately apparent you have to or even can scroll to see them. I don't tend to use a phone for this purpose but I expect that would need a completely different design to be effective.

Even my phone compared with my wife. Same phone, but mine now has a later version of android. (Android 14). To answer/decline a call I now seem to have to swipe right/left as opposed to click a button. The other day my wife tried to answer my phone to take a call, and couldn't work out how to respond before the call rang off. The phone dialling screen layout has changed quite a lot as well. I now have to hunt for things that were easy to see. Not sure if it's better or worse. Just different, but seems worse.

 

[dalski]

I don't tend to use a phone for this purpose but I expect that would need a completely different design to be effective.

Modern websites (last 20 years or so) use Cascading Stylesheets (CCS), & the media rule to test device size & apply appropriate designs for each/ type of device viewing/ processing the content. Think you can apply different stylesheets entirely.

 

[Gasman]

Care to share the actual page?, as I use CBS and I have not noticed anything like that, though my laptop is a 17".

 

[tvanstiphout]

> Neither RD nor Citrix requires a VPN

While technically true, it is a best practice to have VPN anyway, and to establish the RD connection over this VPN. Ask your knowledgeable IT consultant.

 

[Pat Hartman]

I now have to hunt for things that were easy to see. Not sure if it's better or worse. Just different, but seems worse.

Change for the sake of change is always worse. But the people who make these changes are in the business of making you upgrade.

While technically true, it is a best practice to have VPN anyway, and to establish the RD connection over this VPN. Ask your knowledgeable IT consultant.

But when the FE is physically on the PC rather than on the server as it should be, the response is slow. You can run RDP inside a VPN but the whole Access app MUST be on the server and not local.

 

[Mark_]

Modern websites (last 20 years or so) use Cascading Stylesheets (CCS), & the media rule to test device size & apply appropriate designs for each/ type of device viewing/ processing the content. Think you can apply different stylesheets entirely.

You CAN, but it doesn't always come out working well on a phone. Buttons and entry fields are especially difficult to manage when the phone's keypad can take up half the screen.

 

[GPGeorge]

You CAN, but it doesn't always come out working well on a phone. Buttons and entry fields are especially difficult to manage when the phone's keypad can take up half the screen.

I have created PowerApps apps that run on a smart phone. No one, and I mean no one, wanted to use them. On a tablet sized screen, though, they are usable.
This definitely falls under the category, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should even try."

 

[gemma-the-husky]

Care to share the actual page?, as I use CBS and I have not noticed anything like that, though my laptop is a 17".

When you go to login, the 2fa sends you a code to your phone (well mine does). You don't see the "send the code" button until you scroll down, and the number boxes are enormous. Maybe I've enabled accessibility options somehow.

And a different thing, it's functionality rather than layout, but how bad is the process to reinvest a maturing savings account.

 

[petko]

Dear Fellows,

I do appreciate your very valuable hints.
I've consulted with our IT service experts, checking out the presently running sw systems, licenses and licence needs, other technical circumstances of the two sites, and finally went for Terminal Server. Recently we have made a test of the arrangement and it provides very nice outcome, far better than I expected. So we would go for it, however there are still details (are they?) that we need solution for, partly mentioned by gemma-the-husky above, namely that we need printing at the far site end. Furthermore one of the printers would be bar code printer for the storage house, others normal ones. Can you advice something to this?

Thanks

petko

 

[CJ_London]

Without knowing the specifics of your setup, check the documentation for your TS or google something like ‘print to local printer from terminal server’