Ideas on project- frontend?

[Lee_S]

Hi im in the process of starting a small project to be used at work. Basically I want an Access DB which will be used by about a dozen people, accessing it over a network drive. I want them to be able to do the standard create/edit/delete records and wotnot in different tables of the DB and also want some reports and search functions.

In the future I want room to make more advanced things in it.

Would I be best to do this all in Access with forms and reports, or maybe use VB for a frontend or even something else?

Dont have much experience with Access outside of the standard DB records stuff, will security and multi access be a problem with Access?

cheers

[westconn1]

personally i would not do it in access, but i am sure many others would.

i would make the simplest vb interface i could so that it would be easy for beginners to use. I would not be useing data bound controls.

pete

[Ecniv]

VB front end would be more stable and may give you further expanding options for the future.

However, you could do all that in Access anyway.
Do no use bound forms... a list box of search results via an id number and forms to view/edit details.

It is all up to you, which ever you feel more confortable with (access or vb) and whether you already have the licences to do it.

[Dave Sell]

Access is not meant to be used by more than 10 simultaneous users.

[NeedSomeAnswers]

If your system could possibly be simultaniously accessed by all 12 users, then i would not go anywhere near Access if you have the choice.

Apart from the fact that Access will run like a dog over the network, it will also increase your network traffic significantly.

Do they have SQL Server, at your work ? it would be just as easy to create a VB Front End with an SQL Server DB as an Access one.

Or, if you are fairly comfortable with DB's, download MYSQL. It is FREE and will work much better than Access over a network with multiple users.

And yes use a VB Front end, any which way you do it. Then if you decided that you want to change databases in the future, say for instance your App grows over time, you can just port datbases and you can still use the VB Front End.

[Dave Sell]

This situation can also lead to data corruption using Access .MDBs. 10 users is the MAX. Any more, and you should look into a RDBMS instead.

[Ecniv]

I think it depends how you set the database up as to whether it can handle more than ten users.

I will test (hopefully) at some point in the future and post up if it fails miserably.

[Dave Sell]

I think it depends how you set the database up as to whether it can handle more than ten users.

Regardless of what "you think", MSAccess was not designed to handle more than 10 simultaneous users. I have found many article to articulate this in the past, but I don't have them now.

It's just a simple fact. There is no "server side" marshalling process with which to manage all the database activity between all the clients. This is what RDBMS's are there for - to balance and manage all the ins and outs to the database.

I will test (hopefully) at some point in the future and post up if it fails miserably.

This is not something you can "test". I failure may not show up for months, but it is nearly a guarantee, and you may lose all your data between that and the last backup.

You, like so many others, will "test the waters" and find no problems and assume its an appropriate setup.

You will do as you please, but consider yourself fairly warned...

[Lee_S]

Thanks for all the responses guys, you've given me a lot to think about.

Are you saying that an Access .mdb will blow up with more than 10 users, regardless of what frontend I use? So if I use vb and just connect to a .mdb this will do the same thing?

As for SQL and the like, im not really sure whats running across the network. This was just going to be a small project for users in my department, im not a member of the IT team or anything. All the systems we use are custom made by the company, but i guess there must be a stable backbone for DB's there somewhere.

With SQL I need the tech people to setup the database right? I cant just throw one in a folder someplace?

Damn, life is never easy

[Dave Sell]

Yes, regardless of the front-end, MsAccess can, and most likely will, "blow-up" with more than 10 users. I have been setting up databases for over 10 years and used to love MsAccess for its ease of use.

I found out the hard way that the 10-user-maximum rule is a reality, not to be taken lightly. It is truly great for about 4 users but starts to develop problems at around 8 or so (sometimes less) users.

It's more-or-less a toy not to be used in a serious application, such as a 10-12 user system. I really like it for simple things; it's too bad but it just can't handle any kind of stress.

[Lee_S]

So is there nothing else that I can use without getting the IT dept involved?

Just looking for some alternative ideas now..

[Pearso]

Hi all
I've been reading the discussion and learning heaps. Just a quick semi related question. Is it posible to use an access data base file with and excel front end and code everything in VBA?

thanks everyone.