Front-end for SQL Server 2005

[Guggly]

Seeing as Microsoft Access doesn't fully support SQL Server 2005 in ADP mode (you can't make any database design changes with Access). I'm looking for another front end to use. Management Studio works fine for designing queries and tables, but doesn't do good when it comes to displaying data, I need something that I can search, sort or filter in the result sets, without having to bake that into the SQL command each time.
Are there any programs that can do this and support SQL Server 2005? One that looks interesting is the offering from ToadSoft.com

http://toadsoft.com/toadsqlserver/toad_sqlserver.htm.

I haven't tried this program yet, but it says that only minimal SQL Server 2005 support is provided.

Thanks! -- Mike

Any other options?

 

[Catadmin]

Mike,

Quick question since we use Access front end and haven't upgraded to SQL 2k5 yet.

Are the only problems you've encountered with Access the database design problems or are you encountering other issues? What version of Access are you using?

BTW, you do realize that MS is working on Office 11 as we speak and it should be out shortly, right? That might resolve the issues you're currently having with Access.



Catadmin - MCDBA, MCSA
"The only stupid question is the one that *wasn't* asked.

 

[Guggly]

Hi Catadmin. We use Access 2003. Thus far, the only issues we've encountered have been with design changes. Already existing views seem to work fine, as do forms and VBA code. Presumably Stored Procedures will execute fine as well, though I am yet to test this.

According to this page, there are no current plans for Access 2003 to fully support SQL 2005 and there may be other issues with Access and SQL 2005. As you mentioned, there will likely be proper support when the next version of Office is released, but from what I've seen, that's not till the end of the year.

Here is the full text of the notification Access gives when you attempt to perform a design change on an SQL 2005 object:

You have connected to a version of SQL Server later than SQL Server 2000. The version of Visual Studio or Access that you are using was released before the version of SQL Server to which you are connected. For this reason, you might encounter problems.
Please check with Microsoft to see if there is a service pack that you should apply to Visual Studio or Office in order to get support for the version of SQL Server to which you are connected.
You can continue but any new object types might not be enumerated, and it will not be possible to save any objects or database diagrams that you create using the Visual Database Tools.

 

[Catadmin]

Mike,

Thanks for your answer to the above questions. Now I have a few more. @=)

Why do you have to make your object changes through Access 2003? Can't you make them through Visual Studio 2005 or SQL Server Management Studio?

Or are you getting that error when going through Visual Studio 2005?



Catadmin - MCDBA, MCSA
"The only stupid question is the one that *wasn't* asked.

 

[Guggly]

Yes you're right, I don't need to make object changes via Access, that's just the way I've been used to working up till now since I prefered the Access front-end for design work compared to Enterprise Manager or older versions of Visual Studio.

The VS 2005/SQL Server Management Studio design envrionments have been much improved with the new version, and I really could switch to using that instead of Access, and I probably will. The main limitations I've found are in the display of views, which I use a lot in development.
With VS/SQL SMS there's no way to sort, search through or filter on the results of any views, everything has to be predefined in the SQL. I realize this is technically the correct way to retrieve data, and more efficient for large recordsets, but sometimes I prefer the "quick and dirty" approach .

I suppose I could create and/or edit the view in VS and then display the data in Access, but I was looking to see if there was a program available that did everything at once.

Another idea that someone suggested is to use Reporting Services with varying parameters, which would suit most of my needs, so I may give that a shot.