Will Access be able to accomplish this?

[Andy128]

Greetings. I have been told that Access would be Ideal for what I want to accomplish but was told that I would likely need Access Professional. However- I find no reference to Access Professional, only Access 2010.

So, here is what I want do. Build a database that......

1- once completed I can compile into a windows .exe file that will install and run with out the client needing to have MS Access on their computer
2- Database will be a simple input of data and several methods to view that data and print it off.
3- Access to database via User login
4- Admin panel created for Administrator to give permission levels to input/edit.

That's pretty much it. Nothing too complicated- but I am new to Access and will need to know before I go hog wild learning Acccess.

Any help would be apprecited.

Cheers-
Andy

 

[SteveSchapel]

Andy,

No, there is no such thing as "Access Professional". I think your informant was referring to the idea that Access is not included in all editions of Microsoft Office, but it is part of Office Professional.

No, you can't compile an Access application into a an .EXE file. However, you can install the free Access Runtime, and your application will run (but not allow design changes) on the users' computers.

Apart from that, it seems that Access would indeed be suitable for your project.

And yes, there will be a significant learning curve involved, even with a simple database.

 

[Andy128]

Very Good!

I am up for the learning challenge.

*Steve- What do you think the best written or web resource for learning Access would be (in addition to the help from this site).

Thanks a million.

Andy

 

[Galaxiom]

The first step in database learning curve is to understand normalization. Search the term in this forum and ensure you have a good grasp of the concepts before you start your design. Many problems for beginning programmers are related to improper data structures.

 

[vbaInet]

@Andy128: Here are some links.

Normalisation and Relational Database Design concepts:
http://r937.com/relational.html
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/100139

Access Tutorials (including VBA for Access):
http://www.functionx.com/

I'm sure Steve has others too.

 

[SteveSchapel]

Andy,

What do you think the best written or web resource for learning Access would be (in addition to the help from this site).

Access's built-in Help is excellent.

If you're serious, a good Access book or two is an excellent idea. A good general purpose one is "Building Access Applications" by John Viescas. If you will be using Access 2010, you might wait a couple of months, as there are some great new books about to hit the shelves. Though I believe "Microsoft Access Small Business Solutions" by Teresa Hennig et al is available now, and is great.

 

[Galaxiom]

I find the Microsoft Developer Reference to be the best working resource for syntax of methods and properties. The barrier can be actually knowing what you are looking for so it is not so much a place for beginners as something that becomes increasing useful as you climb the learning curve.

The front door for A2007 is
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb149076(v=office.12).aspx

Sometimes takes a bit of digging to get to the meat. However when you do you will find very detailed information and examples like the methods of the DAO recordsets linked from this page:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee336091(v=office.12).aspx

Usually a Google search for the name of the method or property will find the reference page especially if you include Microsoft in the search. Include the word method or property as required too. If you are looking for VBA include this term.

Here is an example for the FindFirst method:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb221033(office.12).aspx

Checking the See Also section at the bottom of the pages can be very useful.

 

[ChrisO]

I think a good starting point for VBA help is Intellisense.

Example: if behind a Form type Me. and you will get a whole bunch of stuff to look at in a list.
Then select what you think might do the job and park the cursor on it. If you then hit F1 you will (hopefully) be taken to even more stuff to read.

The same goes for various controls, example:
quick and dirty build a Text Box called XYZ. Now type Me.XYZ. and Intellisense will produce a list of things pertaining to a Text Box.
From that list you might select Me.XYZ.FuriganaControl. Now place the cursor on FuriganaControl and hit F1.
Why? I have no idea, because after 14 years I’ve never even seen FuriganaControl before let alone use it.

So, be prepared to read a lot of stuff, and there is a lot of stuff, which may be of no help at all.

But the right stuff is out there, somewhere…

 

[Galaxiom]

From that list you might select Me.XYZ.FuriganaControl. Now place the cursor on FuriganaControl and hit F1.
Why? I have no idea, because after 14 years I’ve never even seen FuriganaControl before let alone use it.

You would if you were programming in Japanese.

The advice about the Intellisense is good.

I also use the VBA Object Browser (F2). Guess at a partial string of a property or method name and search for it. This will often reveal the full name, enumerate the values and show the contexts where it is used. Then it links to the Help.

However I don't find the help particularly useful in A2007. Google is a better resource.

 

[ChrisO]

Ahh-so, Japanese…

Another thing is that, while it is hard to find things at times, I find it much easier to forget where I found them.

I’m certainly not as diligent as I should be but I do keep scraps of code, working demos (that sort of thing), squirreled away in a database.
Another method is to polish a demo a bit and drop it on a site like this.

But please don’t tell Jon I also use his site for my off site backups. (Only joking, Jon ).

 

[Banana]

However I don't find the help particularly useful in A2007. Google is a better resource.

FWIW, I found Access 2007 help utterly useless... until I disabled the online content (click on the right bottom corner of the help window) and boom, it was almost as good as the MSDN articles. Searching became sane and there were now links that mirrored the structure of MSDN articles (e.g. Object Members links for example). Turn online content back and all of that disappear.

Since then, I've always had my help search limited to local files only and didn't bother with online stuff which were usually fluffy anyhow.

 

[Andy128]

To all-

Thanks a ton! I am looking forward to learning this and participating in this forum.

Cheers-
Andy

 

[Galaxiom]

Thanks a ton! I am looking forward to learning this and participating in this forum.

You will be surprised how soon you will be answering questions yourself. Do participate because it is a fantastic way to round out your knowledge. The really advanced developers give us so much here and fielding the easier stuff saves their time for better things.

Even if you make a suggestion and get it wrong others will point out the right or better way and you will learn. Learnt from this many times myself.

Working just in your own projects can lead you into corners. Participating here brings perspective and helps you avoid such traps. Many times I have saved myself a ton of work and potential grief by stumbling across explanations of why the techniques I was using or about to use were at least not best practice or even fundamentally flawed.

I still look out for interesting questions every day. I have also particpated in occasional database philosophy threads that have been remarkably insightful not only for myself but everyone including the most advanced contributors and the thousands of readerss who follow.

Visitors outnumber contributors here by a large factor and every word we write is building a fantastic resource for all developers.

 

[vbaInet]

FWIW, I found Access 2007 help utterly useless... until I disabled the online content ...

Yes, that's so true. It seems to want to search for unrelated/irrelevant bits of information. It must be that Bing search engine

Oh, intellisense is pretty good. But there are some members that aren't available. But if you wanted full documentation for an activeX then you would have to download and install the library just for that control.

 

[WTE]

Thank you everyone who has replied to Andy - I have found much help in the replies as well. Like Andy, I am new to most of what Access has to offer.

I have a question regarding the runtime environment mentioned above. I too am creating a database which I would like to run stand-alone. Runtime seems to be a great solution for that.

When I open my database with the runtime client however, nothing shows up. As if a front page is missing. Shouldn't the navigation control show up? Or how do I make it show up?

Thank you everyone for your help,

WTE

 

[boblarson]

You would need to set a startup form (which you can do easily enough):

How to in 2003 (go to TOOLS > STARTUP and select a form from the drop down)

How to in 2007/2010

 

[Banana]

But there are some members that aren't available.

If you are referring to the undocumented members, that's easy to fix: Hit F2 to open Object Browser, then right-click in the area where you see the list of members and choose "Show Hidden Members". For most part they may add more noise than help (e.g. you probably don't really want to know if a member is safe or not) but it helps if you need a bit help remembering the parameters for instance, LoadFromText and SaveAsText.

Also, if you happen to be talking about certain members that doesn't pop up because it's too high on the hierarchy, one can elect to use more verbose references. So instead of:

OpenDatabase....

one could do:

DBEngine.OpenDatabase

or

Application.OpenCurrentDatabase

Starting just with either Application or DBEngine, you'll be able to see all members for MS Access library or DAO respectively. Not so easy with ADO as it's not as rigidly hierarchical but well, there you go.

HTH.

 

[vbaInet]

Not the hidden members, I meant members of certain ActiveX controls, like a ListView control for example which you would expect to list all methods/properties associated with that control once you've added the library. I know you can view them in the Object Browser but some of it aren't displayed in Intellisense.

 

[WTE]

You would need to set a startup form (which you can do easily enough):

How to in 2003 (go to TOOLS > STARTUP and select a form from the drop down)

How to in 2007/2010

Yeah, that worked beautifully! Thanks.

 

[Mike375]

Andy,



A good general purpose one is "Building Access Applications" by John Viescas.

I had his book for Access 95. Windows 95 was my first venture away from DOS and his book was called I think "Running" and exactly the same style book, even the cover but different authors were for Excel and Word which I also got.

I still think you need the books and at least two and preferably three of the books that are two or three inches thick.