Why Use Access As Your Programming Toolkit

Why should you consider MS Access as your solution if you are thinking about creating some in-house custom software or database system?

Because MS Access is not a database but is actually an enterprise level programming toolkit that uses the Visual Basic Language for its code base.

Because MS Access is designed to easily integrate with other business database systems (odbc) as well as integrate with the Jet Database. (Jet is the database included with MS Access for free).

As an example - the Fortune 500 company Honeywell, Inc. has 100's and 100's of software / database projects created using MS Access instead of buying ill-fitting off the shelf software.


...You can do all of the following using Access...

 

  • You can create a multi-user client server organization wide custom software solutions...

    • Access easily upgrades to an enterprise level MS DBase system (SQL Server 7/2K, O5, etc)

    • Access 2000/XP can directly connect & work with (SQL Server 7/2K, 05, etc.)

      • Access supports both OLE, ODBC

    • Access can be a user friendly front end to Oracle, DB2, Progress, Sybase, MySQL, etc...

  • You can programmatically automate & integrate MS Access with MS Office programs...

    • Excel, Word, Outlook, Project, etc...

  • You can create/ distribute standalone royalty free runtime versions

    • These runtimes will work without MS Access being on the user's PC

  • You will lower your long term development & hiring expenses because...

    • 1000's of qualified software / database developers can code using MS Access

    • Many user employee's are familiar with the MS Access Interface quick employee learning curves

  • You can create complex Queries

    • Create Tables, Append Imported Records, ODBC, Pass-Thru's

    • Calculate Totals, User-Defined Functions

      • Do Totals by Any Criteria

    • Aggregate Functions

      • Group bys, Expressions, Functions, etc.

    • Crosstab Queries, Parameter(multiple) Queries

    • Find Duplicates, Find Unmatched Records, Top(n) Records, Unions

    • Data Definition Queries, Subqueries

  • You can share data between multiple platforms

    • Access can import or export data (ASCII, csv, txt, etc.)

    • Access can import or export XML data (XP version)

    • Access can link to...

      • External database tables, dBase(3,4,5)

      • Excel Spreadsheets (updateable)

      • HTML tables, Text tables

      • FoxPro(ver 2.x & 3.0)

      • Paradox(3.0, 4.x, 5.0)

      • Sybase, Oracle, DB2, Progress, MySQL, SQL Server, etc.

  • You have Unicode support (ver 2000/XP)

    • Now corporations can support applications in different language versions.

  • You can create snapshots of Access 2000 reports that can be distributed to

    • Disk, Printer, Web page, e-mail.

  • You can create hyperlink interfaces to connect to any kind of file

    • Web page, spreadsheet, image, document, etc.

  • You can develop simple or complex graphing presentations

    • Change data in the source table then graph automatically changes too

  • You can design complex custom reports - save money on printing costs

    • Mail merge letters & labels reports

      • Create custom invoice printouts

      • Sum fields, subtotal sections, grouping totals, running sums

    • Input fields that can grow or shrink

    • Insert images or ole objects

    • Sorting & grouping level reports to multiple depths

    • Snaked column reports

****

    and you can use Access as with a simple backend dbase... (Jet Database) 

  • You can create a simple personal stand-alone custom software solutions...

    • Easily upgraded to a departmental level software solution

  • You can integrate with the Web using active server page programming(ASP / ASPX)

  • You can connect to MS Access even using a JDBC driver solution

 

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