run time considerations

[Bob L.]

I have a standalone system (.mde front-end and back-end) that has
proved useful to our homeowners association. I would like to have it
converted to a standalone run-time system to avoid the inevitable
situation where a newly elected association secretary does not have MS
Access on his/her machine. Couple of questions:
1. Is it permissible under the license agreement for developers to
offer this type of run-time creation service? It would be too expensive
for me to buy developers edition or whatever for just one job.
2. If so, is there a page somewhere that lays out some of the things I
would need to do first to make sure it would then work (for example I
understand it has to be completely stand alone, i.e. not use any menus
from access).
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bob L.

 

[Rick Brandt]

I have a standalone system (.mde front-end and back-end) that has proved
useful to our homeowners association. I would like to have it converted to a
standalone run-time system to avoid the inevitable situation where a newly
elected association secretary does not have MS Access on his/her machine.
Couple of questions:
1. Is it permissible under the license agreement for developers to offer this
type of run-time creation service? It would be too expensive for me to buy
developers edition or whatever for just one job.

For someone who has purchased the developer's tools to use them to create a
package for another developer who has NOT purchased them I believe would be in
violation of the licensing terms agreed to by the developer who purchased the
tools.

2. If so, is there a page somewhere that lays out some of the things I would
need to do first to make sure it would then work (for example I understand it
has to be completely stand alone, i.e. not use any menus from access).
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Create a shortcut that opens MSAccess.exe specifying your file to open and that
also includes the command line argument /runtime. It would look similar to...

"Full path to MSAccess.exe" "Full path to MDB file" /runtime

That will execute your app and it will look and behave as if in the runtime
environment. That will allow you to assess how much additional work would be
required to make it a viable "runtime app". The basic issues are...

You need very thorough and robust error handling.

You need to provide all interface methods either from forms, custom menus, or
custom toolbars.

A small number of features are not supported in the runtime (filter by form for
example).

 

[Bob L.]

For someone who has purchased the developer's tools to use them to create a
package for another developer who has NOT purchased them I believe would be in
violation of the licensing terms agreed to by the developer who purchased the
tools.


Create a shortcut that opens MSAccess.exe specifying your file to open and that
also includes the command line argument /runtime. It would look similar to...

"Full path to MSAccess.exe" "Full path to MDB file" /runtime

That will execute your app and it will look and behave as if in the runtime
environment. That will allow you to assess how much additional work would be
required to make it a viable "runtime app". The basic issues are...

You need very thorough and robust error handling.

You need to provide all interface methods either from forms, custom menus, or
custom toolbars.

A small number of features are not supported in the runtime (filter by form for
example).

Thanks!