SQL Server Backend: linked tables or no more bound forms ?

[byterbit]

Speed and file size issues are driving me to consider a server (MYSQL or SQL Server) back-end. I love Access and want to keep the front end work anyway.
Can I be lazy and just link to my tables in the back ? Or must I dispense with bound forms and work at coding my data entry forms ?
I understand (tell me if I'm wrong ) that the speed issue with Access on a LAN is based on the entire MDB (it's already split) holding the data being brought over the network to the client computer. Will this happen anyway if the forms stay bound to a server backend ?

 

[Banana]

This is a persistent myth that's not really completely true.

You see, the whole bit about 'pulling the whole thing over network' actually is a consequence of a poorly written query rather than Access' defect. Access will try and keep the request to minimum size but if it's asked to do something that it can't translate into a neutral SQL, then it's forced to download additional data to perform the evaluation locally then discard some of them.

I do not think this justify discarding bound forms (and if you were going to forget about bound forms, I'd have suggested you were better off with Visual Studio than with Access since the whole point of Access is RAD, with bound forms).

See if those 2 links help illustrate how to deploy such application effectively.
Beginner's Guide to ODBC
Beginning SQL Server Development

 

[boblarson]

Also, you say the database is split, yet is the frontend a copy on EACH USER'S computer? If not and it is being run from the network location, that DOES mean that everything is moving over the wire and back as far as the Access objects go.