Request: suitability of Access?

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2 total messages Started by Michael Fuller Thu, 06 Jan 1994 06:08

#57

Author: Michael Fuller
Date: Thu, 06 Jan 1994 06:08

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I have a query for experienced users of MS Access,
regarding its suitability for use as in a hypertext database.


A client currently has a HyperCard database that they use extensively.
It contains several collections (tables, really) of related information
regarding their "customers" and information related to available services.

Its main use is interactive update, and lookup. Telephone operators
deal with clients in various levels of distress and need to be able
to simply and easily enter data acquired from the customer, where
many of the answers are one of a list of options. They also use
the database to grab background information or to search for
services that meet clients' varied needs.

However, they now want to have the same thing available on networked PCs.
One option we're looking at is to use MS Access, possibly augmented
with a front-end written in Visual Basic. Unfortunately, I'm
not particularly au fait with PCs and PC applications, so I thought
I'd turn to the net for advice.

The functionality that we need includes:

      o being able to produce a nice WIMP interface (text fields,
	*buttons*, etc) so it's *easy* to enter new data or begin
	searches,
      o support for searching large databases on varying fields
	and criteria,
      o the ability to cope with large and growing numbers of records,
      o networkability,
      o being able to produce reports simply.

So:
      o Is MS Access appropriate?
      o Is it necessary to use Visual Basic to get the sort of
	interface that we want?
      o What other alternatives should we consider?
      o Are there any issues to watch out for?


Any feedback would be very much appreciated.


Michael Fuller

_________________________________________________
My views are not necessarily those of my employer

Re: Request: suitability of Access?

#58

Author: David Adams
Date: Fri, 07 Jan 1994 00:02

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In article <msf.757836510@phobos> msf@kbs.citri.edu.au "Michael Fuller" writes:

>I have a query for experienced users of MS Access,
>regarding its suitability for use as in a hypertext database.
>
>
>The functionality that we need includes:
>
>      o being able to produce a nice WIMP interface (text fields,
>        *buttons*, etc) so it's *easy* to enter new data or begin
>        searches,
>      o support for searching large databases on varying fields
>        and criteria,
>      o the ability to cope with large and growing numbers of records,
>      o networkability,
>      o being able to produce reports simply.
>
>So:
>      o Is MS Access appropriate?
Yes, by the sounds of your requirements.  If you have many users
who are updating data frequently it might not be so suitable, but it sounds
as most of the work is in querying the existing data, which is fine even
with several users.  I would not use Access if I needed more than 4 or 5
users do continuous updates.
>      o Is it necessary to use Visual Basic to get the sort of
>        interface that we want?
No, Access can provide everything you would need for your application.
>      o What other alternatives should we consider?
There are dozens of other products which could probably do the job, many
of them very well.  Access is amongst the easy to use to build the application
you need, so why use anything else?
>      o Are there any issues to watch out for?
People telling you that Access isn't a serious development tool.  I have
developed two systems in Access for a bank which are used for the 
managing and investment of $5bn and they are very happy with it.  It is
not as comprehensive as other tools, such as PowerBuilder, or as flexible
as using VisualBasic, Galaxy, or, more obviously, C/C++, but it is
great for some things.

-- 
David Adams

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