Advice - SQL DB

[Nedan Nedzatra]

Hia!

How are you friends?

I like to check querying similarities between SQL DB and Access. I see many
versions of free downloadable SQL software in the Microsoft site. Which is
the easiest and more suitable one for my purposes?

Thanks.

 

[Larry Linson]

Questions with the highest probability of receiving useful answers are those
which are specific, precise, and concise. Yours only meets the last of these
three criteria.

There are many similarities, and a number of differences, in the SQL used
with Microsoft SQL Server and with the Jet or ACE database engines installed
by default with Microsoft Access. Access itself is the user interface and
development tool, and does not have a specific "SQL dialect". The
similarities and differences between Microsoft SQL Server and either the Jet
or ACE database engines would fill a book, perhaps only a small one of a few
hundred pages, but far too large to be addressed in a newsgroup post.

Because this is only the "Access" newsgroup, not the "Access psychics"
newsgroup, and you haven't told us what your purposes are, we would not be
in a position to offer suggestions. That is likely, also, to be too complex
an issue to be addressed in a newsgroup post, even if we had the information
and were qualified to answer (in which regard, see the following paragraph).

As a final comment, this newsgroup deals with technical discussion of and
questions and answers about Microsoft Access. Many of us know _something_
about Microsoft SQL Server, but few, if any, are familiar with all the
available SQL Server downloads offered by Microsoft.

If you could specifically, precisely, and concisely summarize your purposes
and ask about specific downloadable files, you might just happen upon
someone who could offer a useful suggestion.

On the other hand, if you specifically, precisely, and concisely summarized
your purposes in a newsgroup devoted to Microsoft SQL Server (and there are
more than one in the Microsoft-sponsored "microsoft.public..." hierarchy of
newsgroups), you would be far more likely to find someone who could be of
help to you.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Office Access MVP

 

[Daniel Pineault]

Since you do not explain what your needs are, we have no way of guiding you
in any manner.

MS Access use SQL to build queries used in reports, forms, queries... I'm
not 100% sure what 'many versions of free downloadable SQL software' you are
referring to. Could you elaborate a little on what software programs you are
comparing and what you need to do exactly? Then someone from this forum
will be most happy to give you some guidance!

For instance:
Is this for you as an individual or is this for a company? Is it for a
local office or multiple offices...? What software do you currently have
(Office 2003, 2007, WinXP, Vista, Win7...) Give as much info as possible.
--
Hope this helps,

Daniel Pineault
http://www.cardaconsultants.com/
For Access Tips and Examples: http://www.devhut.net
Please rate this post using the vote buttons if it was helpful.

 

[Sylvain Lafontaine]

You probably need the SQL-Server Management Studio Express (SSMS-E), so you
should download either the "Runtime with Management Tools" or the "Runtime
with Advanced Services". Beside the SSMS-E, the later also has the
Full-Text Search and the Reporting Services but its size is a little more
than double.

http://www.microsoft.com/express/sql/download/

--
Sylvain Lafontaine, ing.
MVP - Windows Live Platform
Blog/web site: http://coding-paparazzi.sylvainlafontaine.com
Independent consultant and remote programming for Access and SQL-Server
(French)

 

[Nedan Nedzatra]

Hia!

Good Morning Friends.

Daniel

Sorry for being incomplete!

I recently finished a commerce degree in India before coming to UK. I have
some familiarity with Word, Excel and Access. For a foreigner getting a
computer job is easier here than getting an accounts job.

Most adverts are asking for SQL DB. I have done an Access table with 1000000
records to practise but it is very slow. I want to try it on an SQL DB.

By versions I mean trial version, full suite etc. I would want the free one
but even it will cost to download because I use my friend's computer so I
have to be mindful about required downloading quantity.

Please advice me which version suits me best to download. Also I do not find
a discussion group for SQL DB though there are some other communities. I like
to have something similar to this for getting help.

Many Thanks.

 

[Nedan Nedzatra]

I missed on again. My friend is on Windows 2007.

Since you do not explain what your needs are, we have no way of guiding you
in any manner.

MS Access use SQL to build queries used in reports, forms, queries... I'm
not 100% sure what 'many versions of free downloadable SQL software' you are
referring to. Could you elaborate a little on what software programs you are
comparing and what you need to do exactly? Then someone from this forum
will be most happy to give you some guidance!

For instance:
Is this for you as an individual or is this for a company? Is it for a
local office or multiple offices...? What software do you currently have
(Office 2003, 2007, WinXP, Vista, Win7...) Give as much info as possible.
--
Hope this helps,

Daniel Pineault
http://www.cardaconsultants.com/
For Access Tips and Examples: http://www.devhut.net
Please rate this post using the vote buttons if it was helpful.

 

[Nedan Nedzatra]

Hia!

Good Morning Sylvain!

How are you?

Can I download that onto a CD from an Internet Shop and use it on my
friend's computer? Or after downloading it onto a CD can I copy that onto his
computer? I am worried I may take a lot of of his data allowance!

Thanks.

 

[Nedan Nedzatra]

Hia!

Larry!

My question is not entirely inappropriate. My end requirement is comparing
the querying speeds of Access and SQL DB.

Thanks.

 

[Larry Linson]

My question is not entirely inappropriate.

I hope I did not give the impression that I thought it "entirely
inappropriate", but only that, as stated, you wouldn't be likely to get a
satisfactory response here.

After you responded to others with additional information, let me first say
that, if you intend to load SQL Server on the same computer as the Access
front end, rather than on a heavy-duty server, you may not see as much
difference in performance as you would hope. If you are retrieving a number
of records in the millions or in the high hundreds of thousands, that is
going to take some time. If you have your records properly indexed and use
the indexed field/fields to select a single record or a few records,
performance will be much better whether it is Jet, ACE, or SQL Server.

Before you worry about comparative speed (and that is so dependent on the
particular situation, environment, and requirements that a 'general
comparison' is hardly useful), you should first learn SQL Server... Sylvain
advised you to download the SQL Server Express Edition and the SQL Server
Management Studio Express Edition, and that's where you should start. If
you then learn enough about Access to set up some demonstration databases
with SQL Server Express backend data stores to demonstrate your abilities,
you will have a headstart.

But, one other caution, Microsoft SQL Server is a very flexible, capable,
and sometimes complex software product -- it is not going to be an easy task
to learn it just by "poking around" in your spare time. In-depth training,
whether classroom, or self-study from books (like the ones used for studying
for Microsoft certification) or from a course on DVD, or other means, is
probably going to be required.

There are quite a number of SQL Server newsgroups in the microsoft.public...
hierarchy. The online user interface may make it difficult to recognize
them, in a misguided attempt to replace the actual name with a "friendly
name". I use Outlook Express 6.0 (the latest published version, as far as I
know) and obtain the microsoft-sponsored newsgroups from news.microsoft.com;
I find it very, very easy to look for newsgroups carried in
news.microsoft.com that have "sql" anywhere in their name. If you feel
compelled to continue using the online user interfact, you may have a lot,
really a lot, of scrolling to do before you find them... and because I don't
use it, I don't even have any hints to offer on the "friendly names" they
have applied.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Office Access MVP

 

[Nedan Nedzatra]

Hia!

Thank You!

Do I have to download both; SQL Server Express Edition and the SQL Server
Management Studio Express Edition?

Thanks.

 

[David W. Fenton]

Because this is only the "Access" newsgroup, not the "Access
psychics" newsgroup

I don't see "microsoft.public.access.psychics" in my newsgroup list,
but I can *feel* that it's there.

 

[Larry Linson]

Do I have to download both; SQL Server Express Edition and the SQL Server
Management Studio Express Edition?

That would be a very good question to ask in an SQL Server newsgroup, which
was my point, earlier. I don't know the answer. I suspect that you can
download them, copy them to a CD or DVD, and move them between computers,
but again, I don't know the answer.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Office Access MVP

 

[Armen Stein]

Do I have to download both; SQL Server Express Edition and the SQL Server
Management Studio Express Edition?

Yes.

http://www.microsoft.com/express/sql/download/

Note the combination download "Runtime with Management Tools". It's
224 MB.

Note: This was the top link when I Googled this phrase:
sql server express download

We're happy to help when you get stuck, but you might get faster
information if you try searching for it yourself first.

Armen Stein
Microsoft Access MVP
www.JStreetTech.com