Excel to Access

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I understand that a database can be built using the excel spreadsheet and
data it contains as a sort of template but would it be better for working
with the data in the long run to set up a database in the form we need it
(i.e. put a little thought into how it's going to work what different tables
we need and reports etc) and then import the existing data into it. Would
that be possible to do and if so do you have any tips?
I would be grateful for your views as I don't know a lot about Access but
worry that the first option is the easy one and we would not gain much by
moving to Access if we don't put our brains in gear and plan what we want to
do at the outset
 
I understand that a database can be built using the excel spreadsheet and
data it contains as a sort of template but would it be better for working
with the data in the long run to set up a database in the form we need it
(i.e. put a little thought into how it's going to work what different tables
we need and reports etc) and then import the existing data into it. Would
that be possible to do and if so do you have any tips?
I would be grateful for your views as I don't know a lot about Access but
worry that the first option is the easy one and we would not gain much by
moving to Access if we don't put our brains in gear and plan what we want to
do at the outset
Click to expand...

Well... Access and Excel are not interchangeable. What is called a "database"
in Excel has only a tenuous relationship to what is called a "database" in
Access.

Excel is a spreadsheet, the best of the breed. Access is a relational database
development environment.

I have NO idea what you're trying to accomplish, so I can't say unequivocally
that Access is the better tool. If you're trying to do work that fits the
paradigm of a spreadsheet ("what-if" calculations, a mix of entered data and
calculated values, concentrating on a grid layout of data, free access to
charts and graphs, ...) then by all means use Access. If you want to store
tables of information where the design of the tables is (generally) static,
and generate Queries against that data, do calculations with it, use Forms for
data entry and display and Reports for printing, by all means use Access.

A good deal (not just a little!!) thought is needed. Access has a steep
learning curve, more so than Excel in my experience, but it's worth the effort
if your goal is a database. "You can drive nails with a crescent wrench but
that doesn't make it a hammer"... and you can create a "database" in Excel,
but that doesn't make it a relational database!

Check out the links at

Jeff Conrad's resources page:
http://www.accessmvp.com/JConrad/accessjunkie/resources.html

The Access Web resources page:
http://www.mvps.org/access/resources/index.html

John W. Vinson [MVP]
 
I have NO idea what you're trying to accomplish, so I can't say unequivocally
that Access is the better tool. If you're trying to do work that fits the
paradigm of a spreadsheet ("what-if" calculations, a mix of entered data and
calculated values, concentrating on a grid layout of data, free access to
charts and graphs, ...) then by all means use Access.
Click to expand...

OOPS! My bias is showing. I meant to say "by all means use Excel."
If you want to store
tables of information where the design of the tables is (generally) static,
and generate Queries against that data, do calculations with it, use Forms for
data entry and display and Reports for printing, by all means use Access.
Click to expand...

John W. Vinson [MVP]
 
I disagree

Excel is an even worse choice than Access MDB

throw both away and use SQL Server
 
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