[Gllug] Access Database to MySQL / PostreSQL

[Bernard Peek]

In message <3EE9B95A.6090802 at uncertainty.org.uk>, Sean Burlington 
<sean at uncertainty.org.uk> writes


>>> 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.
>
>you mean VBA ?

Macros and VBA. It has been possible to write quite complex applications 
by clicking on buttons and picking selections from lists to build 
macros. In the later versions of Access the emphasis has moved away from 
macros and towards VBA.

>
>>>
>>> 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.
>
>the mysql argument is that you can do that data validation in the 
>application
>
>but have you looked at postrgresql ?

Yes I have. It's a more functional database but it looks to me as if its 
development is slower then MySQL. I'm in the process of moving a 
database to something open-source for a web application. The site 
manager is reluctant to switch to PostgreSQL because he hasn't got much 
experience with it.

I downloaded MySQL 4 for Windows, installed it, ported the data and 
created a dump file. It took me less than a day to get a snapshot of my 
data out of my Access database and into the MySQL database on the web 
server. I can now replicate data automatically from my MySQL database to 
the web server. But I still have to use Access as a front-end to get the 
data validation at the input stage.

An alternative would be to use something like Kylix as a front-end with 
validation done using triggers in a PostgreSQL back-end database. Then 
the resulting data could be replicated to the web-server. I would still 
need to find a good report-generator, or write reports in Kylix. The 
free version of Kylix doesn't interface to databases so I'd have to buy 
the Pro version. This is a hobby project so I'm unlikely to do that.

I'm currently "resting" so I'm not about to buy any software. (If anyone 
knows of a vacancy for an IT Manager/DBA anywhere then I'm available 
immediately.)



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

In search of cognoscenti


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