[Gllug] Access Database to MySQL / PostreSQL

[Bernard Peek]

In message <3EE9A224.2020007 at uncertainty.org.uk>, Sean Burlington 
<sean at uncertainty.org.uk> writes
>Bernard Peek wrote:
>> In message <3EE89FD7.4000402 at harkness.co.uk>, Xander D Harkness 
>><xander at harkness.co.uk> writes
>>
>>> I have a few Access databases that are used to run a company's 
>>>information flow.  (The whole company depends upon them)
>>>
>
>>  Moving the data is almost trivially easy. But there is no usable 
>>equivalent front-end that I've been able to find. I've asked in 
>>several  places where I'd have expected someone to know.
>>
>
>I'm curious, when you say front end - what do you mean ... ?
>
>are you talking about the forms that people might use after they have 
>been created, the forms building tools - or some other aspect of M$ 
>Access?

It's not just the forms, but the code that makes them work.

>
>The only times I have really used Access have been as part of an ASP 
>project - when I've effecitivly been working from the command line 
>anyway !
>
>The one thing I do really like about Access is the relationships tool ..
>
>It seems to me that Access is several packages in one, database server, 
>visual development environment, report generator, database design tool..

That's right. Whenever I've asked about replacements for Access I've had 
suggestions that I use MySQL and a web-based front-end. I could do part 
of the job with a database and a web server but not all of it. MySQL 
wouldn't do the job because to do data validation you really need 
triggers and probably stored procedures too.

It's worth noting that there's a successful commercial product (Crystal 
Reports) that is virtually a clone of the report-generator in Access. I 
haven't found any open-source equivalent.

>
>No open source package is likely to take this approach

Knoda seems to be a conscious attempt to clone Access under Linux. It's 
moving slowly though. If I was Larry Ellison I'd hand over a million 
dollars to get Knoda turned into a commercial quality product. (Or else 
buy Paradox from Corel. Paradox was once the biggest competitor to 
Access.) The combination of a Knoda front-end and an Oracle back-end 
would be a great application development system. Right now Microsoft 
doesn't have any competition in that area.

A lot of organisations start off with an Access application and take the 
natural path of moving to SQL Server when it grows. That's one of the 
ways that Microsoft is taking over the database market. Oracle can't 
stop them.


-- 
Bernard Peek
bap at shrdlu.com
www.diversebooks.com: SF & Computing book reviews and more.....

In search of cognoscenti


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