I currently code ASP and VBA. I have used Access and DAO to make my databases and Storefront 5.0 shopping cart from LaGarde thus far.

I drew the line at DotNet and decided to stay with classic ASP, but now I am getting frustrated. In my view, PHP has taken off, even over ASP.Net. I have discovered Drupal and therefore want to convert to PHP, Linux/Apache and MySQL.

So I would like also to learn to create offline databases using MySQL. Do I then abandon MS Access? If so, what do I replace it with?

 

Daniel Dillon
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I suggest, no you don't, and nothing.

Abandoning a skill is easy to do and hard to reverse.  If LAMP is what you want to do, then go for it.  Mysql seems to me (who is largely ignorant of its capabilities) to be a good system that's playing catch-up with oracle and sql server very fast, and very well indeed.

Move into LAMP by obtaining employment doing it, and your access skills will naturally wither anyway.  I used to be an access guru, but 10 years of solid Oracle later, I consider myself to be a dangerously well-informed access "noob".  Don't waste any effort deliberately abandoning Access, instead invest effort in obtaining new skills that lead to gainful employment.

Trying to maintain skills in access when you don't use it daily is an exercise in futility.

Regards

T

I use Access mainly now as a front end to SQL Server, only got two apps left at work that uses Access for back end storage (until I get told of others).

Its true that something like MySQL (and SQL Server) will give you better overall performance, the ability to hold more data and higher levels of user concurrency. However, they are client/server systems and don't have the report writer, form designer and VBA "plumbing" Access has to tie it all together with an interface for non technical people.
Its true you could rewrite your Access front ends as PHP or ASP web applications, but would the benefits you gain in doing this outweight the cost?

As Tharg says, think about what you want to get, then work towards it.  If you find yourself using your VBA and Access skills less, then so be it.

John
 

So is there a substitute for an Access front end without going to a PHP or ASP web interface?

Daniel Dillon
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Since I am an Oracle weenie, I feel duty bound to mention Application Express and the oracle lite version, which are great for web front ends with great RDBMS back end.  I know nothing about APEX though, but it does have excellent reviews, even from non-Oracle folks.

Regards

T

You could rewrite in VB6 (but that is very similar to VBA and you wouldn't gain much) and its also ageing fast, despite large numbers of business applications using it.
You can use VB.NET or C# to do an application front end without it being a web application, but again it means learning something new from scratch.
Any other programming system that allows you to connect to databases and retrieve or manipulate data would allow you to do this, its really your choice based on what you want to do.

John

 

Is the database app in OpenOffice.org an option?

Daniel Dillon
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"So I would like also to learn to create offline databases using MySQL. Do I then abandon MS Access? If so, what do I replace it with?"

You seem to be just using the Jet database. If this is the case, then with MySQL I can't see what else you need from Access or some other database.

Well, because of my ignorance, I don't know what SQL is other than a back-end. Where are the forms for managing the data? is that not the front end?

With access, I always had that Microsoft gui that is so common and easy to understand. What does MySQL have that allows me to design an application with modules and subsequently manage data with forms?

Daniel Dillon
 O  o  .   (<--- brain shrinking at rate shown.)

Daniel

You started by saying "I currently code ASP and VBA. I have used Access and DAO to make my databases and Storefront 5.0 shopping cart from LaGarde thus far." Now you are saying "design an application with modules and subsequently manage data with forms", so it's not clear how you currently use Access. If you want a front end to display and update your database then you should still be able to use Access but now pointing at MySQL.

Well that makes sense. But it is not obvious. I was looking for a 1 to 1 trade. You know...
ASP to PHP
SQL Server to MySQL
Access to ????.

Now, I get the picture that Access can remain my front end, but that I must simply learn ADO and a new flavor of SQL/datatypes and a few peculiarities.

With this notion I am content. Unless I am completely wrong, I will consider that my question has been answered.

Daniel Dillon
 O  o  .   (<--- brain shrinking at rate shown.)