[Gllug] Access Database to MySQL / PostreSQL

Fri Jun 13 13:13:02 UTC 2003

Dudez, I'm a newbie to this list and this is my first post. I usually have a
very extended sense of humour, so please don't misinterpret my posts too
much. I like dry humour and cynicism. Also, I'm a bit forward sometimes, so
bear with me. Of course  ur welcome to direct any flames to my personal mail
box.

For what it's worth:

PostgreSQL is the superior product because it is fast, efficient but it is
more difficult to set up because quite frankly, IMHO, it is more difficult
to hack than MySQL. For non-mission-critical and non-secure data like a
hobby project I'd use MySQL. If you've been using Access to crunch your data
I suspect you won't need more than 64 000 records in which case a standalone
relational database is probably overkill anyway. I'd look at an embedded
solution.

As an IT Manager/DBA you should be able to set up both databases really.
Even as a DBA you should be able to take on the installation role, since
security is one of the main topics a DBA should (ideally) know backwards.
Anyway, that is open to interpretation so I won't go into it more.
PostgreSQL installs nicely on a Windoze box in the cygwin environment. Of
course u can run it at the same time as your Windoze MySQL installation.

I didn't know 'resting' was a term applied to unemployed geeks. :) Actors
use this term to gloss over the fact that nobody wants to hire them. The
term 'unemployed' in the present IT climate is perfectly respectable, I
should think, since 'everybody' seems to be in that position.

Have you considered writing your own front ends? They're not that difficult
to do, if you know how to program.

BTW: have you explored MySQL's Control Center?

regards

Roger D. Rockstun aka therockstunkidz

dan at prankstersproductions.com
************************************
http://www.prankstersproductions.com

-----Original Message-----
From: gllug-admin at linux.co.uk [mailto:gllug-admin at linux.co.uk]On Behalf
Of Bernard Peek
Sent: 13 June 2003 13:32
To: gllug at linux.co.uk
Subject: Re: [Gllug] Access Database to MySQL / PostreSQL

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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