Explore training. Start now. Learn how. Get the details. What's new in Access for Microsoft Using the Large Number data type. Database basics. Create a new database. Create a table. Introduction to data types and field properties. Control data entry formats with input masks. Restrict data input by using validation rules. Create a form in Access. Accessibility support for Access. Examples of query criteria.
I LOVE the app and the apps are all so dependable. I was wondering if you encountered the last release. They somehow broke control of the. It broke the ability for multiple users to open. First one in locks it exclusively. We had to revert back to. SOOooo frustrating. Maybe I should convert all my backends to SQL but I love the ease and flexibity of just linking to an Access data file.
So nice to see another developer out there like me who sees the intrinsic value of Access. Many in our IT staff demonize this app and are also completely ignorant of how it even works. Take care, Kennedy. I was stuck with simple librarys for storing tables in files. A full relational database, more so than FoxPro. Proper SQL queries. For the sorts of things people do in business there never was anything better and after 30 years still nothing better.
I keep looking. The only rival where I was working was Lotus Notes. The secretary could generate a database and send out a form by email and have answers typed directly into her database.
It took her about 10 minutes to do that. I really could not do that in Access. Obviously IBM killed that product it was cutting their bespoke programming profits.
The only other way of getting the same result as Access would be to use an Integrated Development Environment and code it all up in a compiled programming language.
You get a better result but it would take 10 times as long. So arrogant to drop Microsoft Access, i have been a supporter since Access2, Using large amounts of VBA and automation some bespoke programs can be created, totally not available off the shelf, and a far cry from a contact database. Standalone databases not on the web still have a place in business. Keep Access going we have made you a fortune over the years.
We used Access in the same way for many years, but moved away from it, favoring SQL scripts over GUI-based operations because scripts allow better repeatability, modifiability, QA-ability, self-documentation, and version control.
I expect to see it in future antique shops and museums much like the toys from my youth are now displayed…. Google Forms for what I catch is a single table form presentation for a spreadsheet, by nothing a database handling and linking different tables.
The only real downside to MS Access is that it cannot be effectively deployed via a browser. This limits internet access to an Access application to a virtual Windows desktop environment like a VM or Citrix. Access is a great front-end GUI and report-writing solution for small to medium companies as well as departmental apps. The new direction of Microsoft to the Power platform is great and Access can to some degree work within that framework.
Over the past two years I have been developing a robust data modeling and administrative system that integrates across numerous functions and applications. It uses Access a conduit for data transformation and publishing. I completely agree with you Phil, and to add, I think that MS Access has become one of the most underestimated tools over the past few years.
Where I live almost every medium sized company and quite a few large companies have moved over to O and are beginning to take advantage of SharePoint, PowerApps and Flow. I always create my relationship based tables in Access and then upload to SharePoint. This gives me the ability create a fully relationship based data-sets in SharePoint within minutes. And as you mentioned, the mere act of opening Access with an internet connection automatically backs up the data and also gives users the ability to perform offline tasks… Amazing!
It is imperative that MS Access is supported for Microsoft NET6 on VS, as the demand for such developers is growing day by day and we will be able to use Access skill for next 10 years.
It is easy to link to multiple Excel or. CVS files and do regular, right and left joins using Access. If there is a cheap or free tool that does it as well and easily, would love to know about it, but until I find a replacement, for this tool alone, I would truly miss it if it were gone!
The article completely ignores the online support angle. The level of crowd-sourced support is just astounding. You Google the problem and get nothing. Oh, and the fact that Access has changed so little over the years? It means that the subroutine you find online from will work today.
Same with the instructional videos. Makes you realise in the end these new features are just not worth spending the time learning. Show me any other product out there where you can develop complex DB application from analysis to deployment in less 15 minutes. I do hate it, but will miss it if Microsoft nix it. I am sometimes amazed that some of these databases even work when I see how badly the tables are designed, and the associated VBA, queries etc.
Access is unique, because it is a database that comes with a full set of tools to build a functional application. Or you could call it an application builder, that comes with a database! There are many of these legacy applications running well under current versions of Windows and many clients who would be lost without them. They have a very large customer base that depends on it.
One thing about Access that many developers love: it has a small footprint and is highly efficient. New highly specialized applications can be developed quickly and relatively cheaply.
The downside with Access is security, but when it is deployed on a network, network security takes over and these applications run securely. Access rocks. The ribbon sucks. Microsoft totally blew it with the later versions that it developed. Access could have evolved into an extremely powerful tool for small to midsize applications using SQL Server as its database.
I used to work for a company that was developing applications in dot net using C sharp. I am still clinging to Office for that same reason. At work I use Access desktop version to store and combine data from different sources f. To me, storing data in Excel is like summoning the evil one. MS query in Excel is painfully slow and data integrity… number stored as text, oh my! Access does all that, the query builder is terrific, and you can build and automate reports in no time.
You have no idea how much time I save with reporting only. Btw, try sharing data with an external company via Sharepoint, Teams, Onedrive if your global sysadmin acts like Mordac, the preventor of information services.
Mail an Access report or exported query and everybody is happy. Hello there! One thing Assess in not that good is a security. And this is not discussed in length or not even mentioned. Security this days is a paramount and no matter how much Access is good as a tool, it is not safe for anything more than a home usage. Yes, the SQL Server can be used, but than it is not a standalone database, and multiple licenses are needed.
Still, one can connect and dump the data which is exactly against the security principles. So, decisions, decision, is Access for domestic usage or corporate? I am getting daily questions on how to move Access to the Web. The interest is huge. I contributed to the invention of Information Engineering. I have experience. I started using Access version 1 in and was impressed by how easy it was to use. I developed the SQL Server back-ends, wrote the stored procedures, etc. You can develop a simple, single-user app, using wizards, to do something useful.
You can also develop slightly more complex, multi-user systems by splitting the Access database into two: back-end and front-end. This is where simple VBA usually comes in.
Someone in England developed a successful Access version 2 system with simultaneous users. You can make it efficient. SQL Server. I was called in to look at a VB6 system with an Access database. Response time going from tab to tab on the main data entry form was around 10 minutes. The network was heavily overloaded. Government department with no money to spend on IT. But the problem was the way that the database was used to add a new record.
The SQL statement to open the new record read every record in the contact table, over , of them. That reads every contact into the front-end.
That got the response time down from 10 minutes to 5 seconds. One line of code. I changed a few other things and eventually got the response time to around 1 second. There are idiots everywhere. You can do some interesting things with VBA. I did a fingerprint booking system for a police department a few years ago. The system popped up multiple booking forms so that an operator could see all the machine and ink available spots for a location on one screen, and could enter the new appointment on any of them.
That required the booking form to be an object that could be replicated as many times as needed across a screen. Sort of. Access fits a niche. That niche to me is a rapid development solution. Hey want to proto type a phone app idea for a qucik brainstorm with a developer? Need a certain task done or noted, need some form of database type information stored, sorted or printed?
It is basically a digital swiss army knife. Add tot he fact that you can build a front end for a SQL Backend or other and you unleash any more power. Myself I use Filemaker Pro Advanced and Powershell for my rapid development or tool generation needs but when it comes to small to medium businesses Access is the easiest to purchase, license, and deploy using E3 license and since it is Microsoft, updates, support, and learning curve of ease of use is much easier to adopt than other third party options.
Microsoft knows this. Businesses know this. Microsoft has such a stronghold on this niche that few companies choose to compete head to head. Access is here for a long time.
Now changes they may make? I could see Microsoft adopting more of a C than VB path down the road. I could see Access gaining more updated tools to deal with larger file sizes when using 64bit, better graphics storage, stability improvements, speed improvements in the engine, and maybe some GUI design overhauls to modernize created solutions.
But a coffin nail? Not for long way down the road. It is too ingrained into too many businesses to let it die on the vine. Sadly, your article is flawed and biased. Microsoft deprecated Web Databases from Access, one of its components. They never said they were doing away with Access as a whole. Access remains the most commonly used applications from fortune companies to small mom and pop businesses alike and this is due to its extreme flexibility, compatibility.
While it does have its shortcomings, no doubt there, your proposed alternatives cannot compete with Access, not even close to being potential replacements!
I disagree with most of the comments here. Access is outdated, difficult to use, prone to crashing, and not suited to much of anything other than a personal sandbox or very limited application with a very small user base. The reality is that younger developers have no desire or need to work with this product, and users have become so accustomed to point and click web applications that the idea of opening Access, which has the look and feel of software, is a joke.
If you have small data and just need a quick form, SharePoint Online functions just fine. Yes, I hear this a lot from people with no coding skills or basic knowledge. It crashes when the database is not in stable state or an operation is running while things are running.
There are techniques to minimize these incidents. Yes, that is what we are doing. Using Access for the GUI front-end only. We are currently looking for a GUI based web development platform to migrate over. I picked up much of my understanding on my own through the Step by Step series so am clearly self-taught.
I see your revision. I would love to see any links to articles directly quoting Microsoft as having made this announcement. I have been an Access developer and trainer since , and a Microsoft MVP in and , and I have stayed up-to-date with everything Access related. Web apps, yes. Those deserved to die. But the desktop Access application has always been vehemently supported at Microsoft.
Hi, Richard, Here is a page from the Microsoft website that talks about Microsoft Access being removed from Office in with all traces of Access taken out of all Microsoft web applications by April I did say in the article that Microsoft always intended to continue developing and supporting the desktop version.
Did you even look at the MS stack and think about their commitment to Power Platform as the approach do get databases online? Hi there, thanks for the article. Hence, this debate is really about the MS Windows and the rest. How about Web and the Desktops debate? And than welcome to Python for Web, for example Jam. If one can design the App with Access, than moving to Jam.
Just like Jam. And it is free. Access is not free. It is still bugged by comdlg And SQL Server price? Not cheap by no means. Claris International Inc. Claris FileMaker is a low-code tool that helps problem solvers create, share, and integrate custom apps that address their unique business challenges.
I find the comments more interesting to read than the article. I have been searching for an online database with forms and reports capabilities to replace my Access database for a few years with previously limited funding and now no funding from my company.
IT has no capacity to assist. Currently, I am still using Word for applicants to complete the information and I enter a few essential details in the database — all very manual. Is there a way to connect the Access to online forms and create online reports for relevant personnel to access?
Probably yes. You can control Word, Excel, etc. Excel is the easiest. Word is OK. Outlook is difficult. Online reports can, theoretically, be done. It might be easier to find another, more modern solution, but they could be so generic that getting them to do what you want might be a total pain.
Then you can create a new Word document, open it, fill it with text and tables, etc. You can control formatting. It was a CRM and quoting system for a motor vehicle leasing company. The proposal was sent to the potential customer via email. I had to combine all the read-only docs into a single PDF and attach it and all the Word docs to an automatically generated email. Lots of customised, formatted text in the body of the Outlook email.
I had to create an Outlook reminder to follow up, copied to the consultants manager s , at the same time. It was a lot of fun for me to work it all out. All users can use Access and see all online data for reports, etc.
If you were to make PowerApps, you can use the lists from phones or tablets as well. Yes, there is a way. But it requires moving from Access DB format. There are even online conversion tools to move the DB to mysql or sqlite3. Even I managed to move tables in a couple of hours to Jam.
No need any more. Zoho has a free version of their crm that is limited , paid versions offer more customization. ZohoOne offers 45 apps with it. This article seems more like an Anti Microsoft Access article. While its true that Microsoft access is not upgraded any more. I have been developing in Access since the 90s. None of those alternative come anywhere close to Access. MS Access just like any apps can be secured depending on how you set it up.
Typically, the. Word processors spreadsheet applications have all been substituted by other players but not Access so it would be quite ill advised for MS to scrap this. I agree totally.
There are better alternatives, but they rely on web programming knowledge, which is not a one stop shop. You have to learn multiple programming languages, and understand web environments, which makes it a hard transition. I am a lawyer with a love for IT and automation but I do not have the time to do any coding. This is where ms access comes into play for people like me. Is it still relevant in ? It is an amazing tool for the busy professional and extremely useful as a front end, database and reporting tool as there are always matters that need orderly archiving from cases to god-knows.
A web application may at the end of the day be better but it would take a lot of time, effort, and resources to build so you lose agility, time and thus leading to increased costs not to mention the inability to set it up for something expedient in 15 mins.
Access is the solution for this scenario. It may be cloud enabled via Remote Desktop Services so that geographically separated users can be handled. For those who make the effort and have the need, MS Access is a fantastic tool for lots of data transformation and analysis tasks.
It always worked and was consistent year after year after year. Spot-on, David. If the free version alternatives could do that, I might just jump from MS-Access altogether. So here is my problem.
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