Access on the web?

[MikeB]

Twice now in as many days I've heard people mention that they use/want
to use an Access database as part of a web application. Is this even
possible?

My search for information on this led me to a great resource (but not
for this particular question) - the Access web website.

Can anyone please point me to a resource where I can read up/find out
more on how to use Access as part of a web application? Thanks.

 

[Tom van Stiphout]

On Tue, 20 May 2008 07:25:46 -0700 (PDT), MikeB <[email protected]>
wrote:

groups.google.com
This is a FAQ, so you should have no problem finding earlier
discussions.

-Tom.

 

[NetworkTrade]

am interested in this topic also. my opinion so far is:
* any database is "behind" the web server
* many users confuse 'web based' with the need for 'remote access' to db

in Access07 they dropped the generation of html , which makes sense. Access
itself isn't going to be the web server; you go to ASP or SharePoint
perhaps, or PHP or several other web server products....

 

[mscertified]

Yes, its possible (I've done it) but its not advisable. You can get away with
it in an intranet environment but not an internet environment. Your database
needs to be on a web server otherwise it will be extremely slow. Since an
Access db creates an ldb file whenever it is accessed, it means that every
user needs full create/update/delete capability on the folder where the
database resides. This alone should give you cause for concern.

-Dorian

 

[AG]

In addition to the other replies, I don't know why you would even consider
using Access as a database for a web application.
It is just as easy (and in many cases easier) to use SQL Server (Express) as
the database for a web app. Web hosts even include it for free with basic
packages.

 

[David W. Fenton]

=?Utf-8?B?TmV0d29ya1RyYWRl?=

am interested in this topic also. my opinion so far is:
* any database is "behind" the web server
* many users confuse 'web based' with the need for 'remote access'
to db

Another thing that people confuse is that they use the term "Access
database" when what they mean is a "Jet database." A Jet database is
fine as the back end for a web site (assuming relatively low volume
of writes). An "Access database" is not usable on the web (except
through something like Windows Terminal Server) because the whole
meaning of "Access database" is that it is a full-fledge application
developed in Access.

 

[David W. Fenton]

Yes, its possible (I've done it) but its not advisable. You can
get away with it in an intranet environment but not an internet
environment. Your database needs to be on a web server otherwise
it will be extremely slow. Since an Access db creates an ldb file
whenever it is accessed, it means that every user needs full
create/update/delete capability on the folder where the database
resides. This alone should give you cause for concern.

This answer is complete gibberish. Nothing in it is actually true.

 

[MikeB]

=?Utf-8?B?TmV0d29ya1RyYWRl?=


Another thing that people confuse is that they use the term "Access
database" when what they mean is a "Jet database." A Jet database is
fine as the back end for a web site (assuming relatively low volume
of writes). An "Access database" is not usable on the web (except
through something like Windows Terminal Server) because the whole
meaning of "Access database" is that it is a full-fledge application
developed in Access.

Can you expand on the difference - is a "Jet database" simply a
database created with Access? Without the associated forms/queries/
reports?

If so, how would one access if (forgive the pun) through the web?

I guess one can have a .net - type application server that has the Jet
database defined as a data source? Would that be it?

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

Can you expand on the difference - is a "Jet database" simply a
database created with Access? Without the associated forms/queries/
reports?

Exactly. Jet is the name of the database engine that is native to Access.

If so, how would one access if (forgive the pun) through the web?

Use an ASP, or ASP.Net front end application with the Jet files on a web
server.

I guess one can have a .net - type application server that has the Jet
database defined as a data source? Would that be it?

That's one way, yes.

You can also use a Terminal Server instead of a web server, and using a VPN
with Terminal Server, you can also use the same Access front-end that you do
in a LAN network application, just as securely.

In both these situations, the number of concurrent users is the limiting
factor with the web server allowing more users. If you have a heavy amount
of writing, I'd suggest moving to SQL-Server instead of Access/Jet,
especially in a web application. While the Jet database may work fine, there
is less chance of corruption with SQL-Server. One must be careful with
SQL-Server though to make sure that you validate all writes to avoid
SQL-Injection viruses.

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

Yes, its possible (I've done it) but its not advisable. You can get away
with
it in an intranet environment but not an internet environment. Your
database
needs to be on a web server otherwise it will be extremely slow. Since an
Access db creates an ldb file whenever it is accessed, it means that every
user needs full create/update/delete capability on the folder where the
database resides. This alone should give you cause for concern.

Not true at all. The web server has a user. In IIS that user is I_USR, and
it is the only user that needs any permissions to read and write to the
database. I've written several Access/Jet databases that were used on the
Internet, without any problems whatsoever. The biggest one got about 5,000
relatively evenly spaced hits a day, without any writes.

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

The only reason to consider it is if using the exact same database for local
(LAN) connectivity, as well as Internet (WAN) connectivity. For new
databases with only direct Internet connectivity, I'd agree that it's almost
as easy to use SQL-Server Express. If the web host is backing it up with a
SQL-Server backup routine, it is actually better because the database can
stay in service during a backup.

 

[David W. Fenton]

m:

Can you expand on the difference - is a "Jet database" simply a
database created with Access? Without the associated
forms/queries/ reports?

Jet is the database engine. An Access database is one with non-Jet
objects whose definitions are stored in Jet tables. Jet knows zilch
about forms or reports or modules or macros. It only knows about
tables and queries.

If you use Access to create an MDB with tables in it, and use it
from any application other than Access itself, it is only Jet that
is involved.

The Access objects are usable only in Access itself.

If so, how would one access if (forgive the pun) through the web?

An Access database application is usable only via Terminal Server. A
Jet db is accessible from any application that can use one of the
data interfaces that can read/write Jet data.

I guess one can have a .net - type application server that has the
Jet database defined as a data source? Would that be it?

A Jet database can be used as a data source for any application that
can use ODBC, DAO or ADO to work with its data. Indeed, an Access
database with tables in it can also be used in the same manner, but
not the parts of it that make it an *Access* database.