executable, shared access 2007 DB

[Guest]

I posted this in the new users section but got no answer so I am also posting
it here.
I am in the formative stages with Access 2007. My output will be a DB
administered by me, used by about 6-8 other persons that are not
access-knowledgeable.
1) I would like to be able to tweak/modify the back-end component in an
ongoing fashion. Should be no problem, right?
2) I would like for the other users to "see" a DB that is just a database
and not the MS access interface (e.g. the objects on the left, the menu bars,
ribbon on the top).
Can I do that with VSTO 2005?
3) The DB should be accessible from the web. Would I use SharePoint
Services, GoToMyPc, or each person has MS Access installed on their computer?
Thanks

 

[Guest]

Hi,

Here are my answers to your questions:
1) Yep, no problem.
2) Achievable, but hiding the DB window and providing a menu system for
them to use is probably easier than trying to get Access to behave like
Visual Basic.
3) If you want your database accessible from the web, Access isn't the tool
you want to use. You might like to use an Access back end, but the front end
should be something else - perhaps ASP.NET or whatever... You definitely
don't want to attempt to run Access via some sort of GotoMyPC connection or
whatever... bad idea.

Just my 2 cents.

Damian.

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

I posted this in the new users section but got no answer so I am also
posting
it here.

I am in the formative stages with Access 2007. My output will be a DB
administered by me, used by about 6-8 other persons that are not
access-knowledgeable.

if the user are not going to have been trained on ms-access, then extra
efforts for searching, and things like reporting need to be taken into
account.

for example, in place of exposing zillion reports as ms-access normally
does, you need to consider building some custom reporting screens.

Here is some screen shots and ideas of what I mean:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/ridesrpt/ridesrpt.html

1) I would like to be able to tweak/modify the back-end component in an
ongoing fashion. Should be no problem, right?

Hum, you might want to clarify what you mean by he above. usually, people
tweak/modify the application part. so, for bug fixes, building of new forms
etc, we talking about the front end part. the data part is usually what we
mean when talking about the back end part. For the front end part, you are
well able to modify your copy, since you *are* going to be working on a
copy..right???

To update your users, you best use a front end updater. Tony has a great one
here:
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm

For customers that I don't every see, then I provide a download. You can
even launch that download if you wish. Here is a screen shot of how my
customers update their apcpation:

http://www.kallal.ca/ridestutorialp/upgrade.html
(the above is access 2003)

For a standard office network, and multi-user application, you need to split
your application. This process is explained here:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Articles/split/index.htm

So, after reading the above, you can see that modify the front end part is
easy. To modify the back end, you either need physical access to that back
end file, or you have to build custom code to modify the back end if you are
developing off-site, or can't gain access to the customers back end data
file.

2) I would like for the other users to "see" a DB that is just a database
and not the MS access interface (e.g. the objects on the left, the menu
bars,
ribbon on the top).
Can I do that with VSTO 2005?

for the most part, you can hide most of the ms-access interface. I not done
this with the ribbon as of yet, but you can well hide most things, and
should consider building your own custom menus. You don't need VSTO to do
this..and they are not related to each other in regards to hiding, or
building a custom interface.

3) The DB should be accessible from the web. Would I use SharePoint
Services, GoToMyPc, or each person has MS Access installed on their
computer?

screeench!!..(as we hear a set of brakes squeal..and then a bunch of broken
glass as the car smashes into a telephone pole!!). If you are design a web
based application, then ms-access is simply the wrong tool. You using the
wrong thing. You can't use a screwdriver to drive nuts. ms-access sis not a
web based development tool, and as such you can't really build a interface
with ms-access. (so, Wong tool here).

You can consider remote desktop type use. However, there is such a grand
canyon of difference between deploying to a few computers in your office as
compared to remote use of this application. If you plan wide area use, then
I explain what you must do here:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal//Wan/Wans.html

 

[Guest]

To add my 2 cents to what Damian and Albert have already stated, regarding
your first issue:

1) I would like to be able to tweak/modify the back-end component in an
ongoing fashion. Should be no problem, right?

True...most of the time. However, there are situations where changing the
schema (design) of a table in the BE database can cause problems. This is
because Access caches a lot of information about the tables in the links, and
this information can become out-of-date. I have personally experienced one
time, so it's certainly not very often. In the case I experienced, a simple
query that included a sum was returning the wrong answer for the data at
hand!! This could be rather disasterous if your boss made a business
decision based on a report printed from your application, if the underlying
query returned the wrong data. Granted this does not happen very often, but
one time is enough for me. To prevent this from happening, you should delete
linked tables from the front-end database that were changed in design view
when you had the BE opened (ie. adding or removing indexes, adding/changing
primary key, etc.). Then compact the front-end DB, and re-establish the
affected table links from scratch, using File > Get External Data > Linked
tables...

So, that means that you'll need to distribute an updated front-end to each
user, which has the newly refreshed linked tables. The AutoFE Updater utility
that Albert mentioned is a great tool for providing an updated FE to your
users in a painless manner.

Here is a document that you may find helpful:

Implementing a Successful Multiuser Access/JET Application
http://www.access.qbuilt.com/html/multiuser_applications.html


Tom Wickerath
Microsoft Access MVP

http://www.access.qbuilt.com/html/expert_contributors.html
http://www.access.qbuilt.com/html/search.html
__________________________________________

 

[Guest]

Damian, Tom and Albert,
Thanks for your responses. They were very helpful.
Albert, I went to your web site and read your 2003 article: "Using a wan
with ms-access? How fast, how far?
The thin client technology looks like it might be suitable for me. It
sounded like you were pretty keen on it.
"If you need to run an EXISTING ms-access application over limited
bandwidth, then Terminal Services from Microsoft is another real winner. It
simply rocks! TS is a thin client technology. Thin Client simply means that
all processing occurs on the server, and only screen updates and mouse clicks
are sent down the wire. The beauty of this system is that it essentially
works like a web based system. The difference between TS and web based system
is that TS does not use HTML, but a propriety and MORE efficient protocol.
You can even run TS inside of a web browser. For remote users, it is fabulous
technology. In fact, TS is really a remote control technology. The remote
support built into windows XP is based on the same technology that TS uses
(Remote Desktop Protocol). This is one of my favorite choices for remote use
of ms-access since you don't have to re-write your existing application. In
other words, you can deploy and use your existing ms-access applications for
remote use anywhere in the country and not have to re-write or change one
thing in your application."
Are you still gung-ho about it. Any new/different thoughts?

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Are you still gung-ho about it. Any new/different thoughts?

I certainly am still gung-ho on TS technologies. A client has folks
at job sites doing data entry and inquiry using TS. Including some
job sites which are use data cellular technologies.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
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