Redesigning an Access Database

[bg_ie]

Hi,

I've worked with an access database for a year now which I believe
really needs to be redesigned from scratch. This is because it has
been mainly summer students who have contributed to it over the years
and it is quite a mess as a result.

I am quite confident working with Access now as I have chased around
after many problems in our database and have redesigned parts of it.
I've also done some table verification, by reading tables via either
Python or C#, and then comparing the data with information stored in
word documents. This has helped the situation a lot, but I think it
would be much more efficient to redesign the database and import some
of the information from the old database rather than having to add it
all again by hand.

Some information is now added to the database via a Python Script that
I have implemented.

The database is used by about 10 people to store results and component
information etc. There's quite a lot of information in it, with about
100 tables, 50 forms and 50 queries.

At the moment we are working with Access 2002 but would be prepared to
upgrade.

I'd also like to create some web forms to allow some information to be
entered online.

But I have one major reservation with regard to Access and that is
with respect to Visual Basic. It is without doubt inferior to C#. Can
I program within Access using C# or is there any plan to replace
Visual Basic with it?

What alternatives to Access are there, considering the information
provided above.

Thanks very much for your suggestions,

Barry.

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

VBA is the language one uses with Office. While you may think it is inferior
to C#, it is perfect for use with Access, Excel, and other Office products
and so far superior to ANY other language, at present, for Access database
design purposes, that second place isn't even in the same country. The
reason is simple: VBA for Access is designed to work with Access databases.
There are dozens more methods and properties immediately available. As a
result, you'll save yourself and your client at least 2/3 rd of the work
required to build a complete application. However, if you do need addins or
COM objects, C++ or C# is a good choice for building them.

I have only used VBScript with ASP on web forms and can make no valid
comparison to other languages for a web interface, but for 10 users (or even
20 users), I'd rather use a terminal services connection to rich Access
forms than any web interface I've thus far either produced or encountered.
You'll save a bundle in time and effort by doing so, and have a finished
product which won't require massive programming to build a rich interface.

 

[Pieter Wijnen]

Inferior usually means "I'm not familiar with" in my book, and I must admit
to have had simmilar feelings about a number of strains of programming
languages over the years...

Pieter

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

That is the case with scripting languages on ASP pages. I just don't do that
much and I'm therefore unfamiliar with scripting. However, I programmed long
before VBA was in existence and I've used other programming languages. I'll
say it again: There is no better database front-end development tool than
Access. Bar none. Access may not be suitable for some projects like more
than a dozen or 2 users on a wide area network, but we've used Access with
varying degrees of success as a front-end to JET, SQL-Server, Informix,
MySQL, Oracle, and others. Usually, the success criteria was determined by
the quality of the back-end, not the front-end.

For JET, no other language comes anywhere close to Access for any reason.
They usually have many other uses in which they excel, but not as a JET
front-end language.
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access
http://www.accessmvp.com

"Pieter Wijnen"

 

[francess]

That is the case with scripting languages on ASP pages. I just don't do that
much and I'm therefore unfamiliar with scripting. However, I programmed long
before VBA was in existence and I've used other programming languages. I'll
say it again: There is no better database front-end development tool than
Access. Bar none. Access may not be suitable for some projects like more
than a dozen or 2 users on a wide area network, but we've used Access with
varying degrees of success as a front-end to JET, SQL-Server, Informix,
MySQL, Oracle, and others. Usually, the success criteria was determined by
the quality of the back-end, not the front-end.

For JET, no other language comes anywhere close to Access for any reason.
They usually have many other uses in which they excel, but not as a JET
front-end language.
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access
http://www.accessmvp.com

"Pieter Wijnen"
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