Is an Access 2002 app "Webable"

[Max Moor]

Hi All,

I have a well established database I use. It's split and I regularly
access it from various machines on a local network. No problems.

In simplest terms, I'd like to be able to put the backend on my
website, so I could get to it from any place with web access. I can stick it
up there and get at it now, but it's read only, since the app is really
looking at a cached copy.

What do I have to do to have this capability? Do I have to upgrade
everything to SQL Server? How had is that to do given that I have a working
app now that I don't want to break?

Thanks for any pointers?

Regards,
Max

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

Unfortunately, MS access has little if anything to do with web based
applications.

What do I have to do to have this capability? Do I have to upgrade
everything to SQL Server?

Actually in this case what you can do is upgrade your back end part to SQL
server, and keep the rest of your front end application as is in ms-access.
It's actually not that much work to convert the back end to SQL server, and
most if not all of your application on the front in part will continue to
function as it does now. This would not give you a web based application,
but it would allow your users who have installed the application be able to
use it anywhere as long as they have an Internet connection. The other good
possibility for access to over the Internet is to consider what we call
terminal services .

Thanks for any pointers?

Try reading the following article of mine were I give some of your options
to use MS access over the Internet.

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal//Wan/Wans.html

 

[Max Moor]

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal//Wan/Wans.html

Hi Albert,

Thanks for the information! I read your article, too. Very good.

Can I ask... Do you know a good source (website, book) for teaching me
how to update my app (backend) to use SQL Server? I'm completely on the
ground floor with SQL Server, having only used Access 2002 for Developer's
for years. I need to learn how to do the backend upgrade and what changes I
need to make in my frontend and installation so that I can choose to run the
app on the web DB or a local copy.

Thanks again for all the knowledge. I appreciate the pointers.

Regards,
Max

 

[PatHartman]

You can share a Jet backend on a server. Your application needs to link to
the be on the webserver. I don't do this so I can't give you details but
many people successfully use Jet as a server back end. If the database is
not updateable, you may need to fiddle with the IIS settings.

As to converting to SQL Server, download the express version (it is free) if
you don't have the full version. You should be able to take the defaults as
the product is installed. Make a copy of your Access application and keep
it in a safe place. Then use the upsizing wizard to create your first SQL
Server database. Choose the option to use linked tables. Do not under any
condition choose the option to upsize to an .adp project. The .adp is being
deprecated so you don't want to start new projects with it.

Essentially, linked ODBC tables work the same way that Jet tables work. The
major change to your application will be to change your forms so that they
use queries with criteria as their RecordSources. The idea is to limit the
recordsource of a form to a single record or just a small number of records
if a single record is not possible. This will minimize the network traffic
caused by your application. There is a good article called something like
"optimizing client/server applications" in the knowledgebase which is worth
reading.

I did find one annoying difference between SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 and that is
that my DAO code needed to include the "dbSeeChanges" argument but that was
the only code change I needed to make when I converted my most recent app
from Jet to SQL server.

 

[Max Moor]

You can share a Jet backend on a server. Your application needs to link
to the be on the webserver. I don't do this so I can't give you details
but many people successfully use Jet as a server back end. If the
database is not updateable, you may need to fiddle with the IIS
settings.

As to converting to SQL Server, download the express version (it is
free) if you don't have the full version. You should be able to take
the defaults as the product is installed. Make a copy of your Access
application and keep it in a safe place. Then use the upsizing wizard
to create your first SQL Server database. Choose the option to use
linked tables. Do not under any condition choose the option to upsize
to an .adp project. The .adp is being deprecated so you don't want to
start new projects with it.

Essentially, linked ODBC tables work the same way that Jet tables work.
The major change to your application will be to change your forms so
that they use queries with criteria as their RecordSources. The idea is
to limit the recordsource of a form to a single record or just a small
number of records if a single record is not possible. This will
minimize the network traffic caused by your application. There is a
good article called something like "optimizing client/server
applications" in the knowledgebase which is worth reading.

I did find one annoying difference between SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 and
that is that my DAO code needed to include the "dbSeeChanges" argument
but that was the only code change I needed to make when I converted my
most recent app from Jet to SQL server.

Hi Pat,

Thanks for the information. It sounds like I have lots of work to do.


Regards,
Max

 

[a a r o n . k e m p f]

I'm not sure that ADP are being depecrated.

MDB is the format that is getting depecrated, my friend.

-Aaron

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

I'm not sure that ADP are being depecrated.

ADPs did not get any enhancements in A2007.

MDB is the format that is getting depecrated, my friend.

Absolutely wrong.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

 

[a a r o n . k e m p f]

Where do you come up with this _CRAP_ tony?

I mean seriously?

ADP have gotten major improvements each of the past 4 versions-- 2000,
2002, 2003 and 2007.
MDB hasn't had a single bug fix (wireless card corruption?) in the
past 15 years.

-Aaron

 

[a a r o n . k e m p f]

I just seriously want to kn0w-- where you get off spreading mis-
information like that, Tony.

Grow up kid

-Aaron

 

[a a r o n . k e m p f]

why would you ever use DAO with SQL Server?

-Aaron

 

[a a r o n . k e m p f]

MS specifically reccomends to 'never use Access MDB for websites'.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.

-Aaron

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

MS specifically reccomends to 'never use Access MDB for websites'.

Post a URL.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

 

[aaron_kempf]

http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_17034
Even Microsoft recommends that Access be used "solely for development
purposes and not for production"

I'll try to find that.. but yah-- we've got this in writing.

I just wish I could see the revision history of these KB articles.

-Aaron

 

[aaron_kempf]

Although the sample Web site and examples in this release use
Microsoft Access, we recommend that Microsoft Access be used solely
for development purposes and not for production.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q197522/

 

[James A. Fortune]

Although the sample Web site and examples in this release use
Microsoft Access, we recommend that Microsoft Access be used solely
for development purposes and not for production.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q197522/

You're not stating anything we haven't known for some time. The
consensus of this NG for awhile has been that Access is inappropriate as
a backend for web applications. I believe that the most common reason
I've read for that stance is lack of security, but when security is not
an issue some have used Access successfully as a backend. Personally, I
only use SQL Server or its equivalent as a backend for a web based
applications. Albert's response is typical although personally I only
recommend Terminal Services for situations where development time is
extremely tight or a quick demo is needed. See:

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.databases.ms-access/browse_frm/thread/5b8188d372f383cf

or

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.databases.ms-access/browse_frm/thread/c0e5268259f439a3

James A. Fortune
(e-mail address removed)

 

[a a r o n . k e m p f]

Terminal session doesn't help. It's merely a crutch.
Same with DAO-- a piece of junk db that can't handle the default
garbage-cleaning of the VB language.

If the library requires you to clean up after itself-- then move to a
library that 'just works'.

ADP direct against SQL Server is better, faster, easier dev.

thanks

-Aaron

 

[David W. Fenton]

(e-mail address removed) wrote in
m:

Although the sample Web site and examples in this release use
Microsoft Access, we recommend that Microsoft Access be used
solely for development purposes and not for production.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q197522/

A fascinatingly misleading quote, Aaron.

The context is this:

ACC2000: Misleading Information in IIS Readme.HTM
Article ID : 197522
Last Review : June 29, 2004

SUMMARY
The following information appears in the Database Access Component
Issues topic that is included on the Readme.htm that comes with
Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.0.

For performance and reliability reasons, we strongly recommend
the use of Microsoft SQL Server for the deployment of
production-quality Web applications. Although Active Server
Pages works with any ODBC-compliant database, it has been
extensively tested and is designed to work with Microsoft SQL
Server. ASP also supports Microsoft Access as a valid data
source. Although the sample Web site and examples in this
release use Microsoft Access, we recommend that Microsoft
Access be used solely for development purposes and not for
production. Microsoft Access was designed as a single-user
desktop database, and not for server use. When multiple,
concurrent users make requests of a Microsoft Access database,
unpredictable results may occur.

The sentence that states "Microsoft Access was designed as a
single-user desktop database" is incorrect.

So, first of all, Aaron's evidence of a statement by Microsoft is
taken from the Readme file of IIS VERSION 3 -- yes, that's right
VERSION THREE!!! That's from 1996 (see
http://www.microsoftbob.com/IIS/History/timeline.asp which is
confirmed by
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Information_Services).

And the context in which that Readme from IIS 3 (!!!) is quoted is a
*correction* of a misstatement about Access/Jet (that it's
single-user). In other words, Aaron is citing the documentation of a
product only peripherally related to Access/Jet, and only via a
correction of an *error* in that documentation.

This is really rich, Aaron.

And it shows that you're completely reaching.

If MS really was deprecating Jet as a production website back end,
then you'd be able to find a real example in which MS states that as
a policy.

But you can't, Aaron, because it doesn't exist.

 

[a a r o n . k e m p f]

well the punchline is this -- it's not a correction.

The article says that it is reccomended.

I don't let my companies bully and backtrack sorry.

Shit in the past = Shit now.

-Aaron

 

[So Sorry For Poor Aaron]

MS specifically reccomends to 'never use Access MDB for websites'.

What's recommend IS 'never listen to aaron.kempf' because he's deprecated
himself in public newsgroups making false claims and he can't be trusted.
Poor, poor, pitiable little aaron.