Looking for Documentation on Use of SqlServer Desk Engine with Access

[John Bigelow]

Hi.

My colleagues and I at a small consulting firm have been
using Access for some time now to analyze large data sets
provided by our clients. Each person working on the data
has one or more Access mdb applications with the data in
tables on their computer and works on the data locally.

We have been frustrated by the slow performance of Access
so we're looking for alternatives. One such alternative
that occurred to me, was that perhaps we should install
the desktop SQL server engine, use the upsizing wizard,
and work in adp projects instead of mdb.

To experiment with this I've installed the desktop engine
on one computer and tried out the upsizing wizard. I
haven't gotten very far because of the spectacularly poor
quality of the documentation for this process that is
available - at least where I can find it - within Access
help or on-line.

Having created the SQL Server database using the upsizing
wizard, I'm not even sure where on my computer this set of
data is storred. I can use the adp project to look at it
and work with it, but I can not even do something as
simple as open a second mdb file and get the table from
the second mdb file into the SQL Server database created
by the first use of the upsizing wizard. Additionally,
the use of user names, passwords, and etc for accessing
SQL Server data is extremely unclear.

So, my question is this: Where can I find a clear
straight-forward explanation of how to set up sql server
databases, add and delete data from them, move them from
one computer to another, and work with them generally
through adp projects? All the documentation I have reads
like what you see when you open a book in the middle. It
seems like it's trying to be clear, but assumes that you
already know a whole set of things that you don't know.

 

[Vadim Rapp]

Hello John:
You wrote in conference microsoft.public.access.adp.sqlserver on Sun, 6 Jun
2004 12:34:58 -0700:


JB> So, my question is this: Where can I find a clear
JB> straight-forward explanation of how to set up sql server
JB> databases, add and delete data from them, move them from
JB> one computer to another, and work with them generally
JB> through adp projects?

You will find information about sql server documentation at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/productdoc/2000/
That page also has a link to the online version of sql server books online
(the main source of info about sql server) in msdn library.

However, are you sure that you utilized Access performance at 100%, before
moving to sql server? I have worked with Access for many years, including
quite large data sets, and I did not get the impression that it's slow -
given that the sql query is right. With ineffective sql query and indexes,
however, you are likely to be frustrated by sql server performance as well.


JB> I can not even do something as simple as open a second mdb file and get
JB> the table from the second mdb file into the SQL Server database created
JB> by the first use of the upsizing wizard.

In your ADP, use menu file/get external data.


Vadim

 

[Guest]

Vadim,
Thanks. Looks like there's a wealth of material at the link you pointed to.
I'll definitely have a look.
John