Surgical Strike update tool - Anyone used this?

[votegop]

I'd like to know if anyone has used this tool put out by Database Creations, Inc. How do you like it? What are the drawbacks? It looks like a dream come true, except that it can't be used on secured mdb's.

 

[thornmastr]

Until you mentioned it, I’d never heard of it so I journeyed to the webpage and did some reading. I would by it for $19.99 but $199.00, absolutely not.

If you have to update an mdb that contains both data and code you’ve designed it wrong and no software is going to keep you from tremendous aggravation.

It can not work with a secured database and obviously not with a MDE. That would cause me all kinds of problems simply because any application designed from the ground up almost always ends up as an MDE, or, if the client wants to own the code, they also get a highly secured system.

Most modifications I do are almost always to the front end of a system. Since they are most often MDE’s, a patch simply will not do. they get a brand new FE MDE with a version identifier in the right hand corner.

My suggestion is to take the $199.00 and go to a good well stocked technical book store.
Robert Berman
Data Base consultant
Vulcan Software Services
thornmastr@yahoo.com

 

[Laois]

If you are looking for a tool to update the BE then check out this

http://www.bwbf.net/dbupgrader/Default.htm

Now this is a dream come true. It can update a backend database without effecting the data. You can add new tabels, new fields, rename tables, rename fields, change relationships, add indexes ect. It can also compact and repair the BE. It can even work with the Runtime version of Access something Surgical Strike cannot. Plus it is only $39.

I aggree with Robert, when you make changes to the FE then you just distribute a new FE and always as an MDE. But at some time you are going to want to make changes to the BE, either to add new tables or fields.

Surgical Strike is not worth $199.00 or even &19.99

Dermot

 

[votegop]

Robert/Dermot:

Thanks for the input gentlemen. Dermot, dbUpgrader looks very intersting, I'll give it a go. You guys have made me reconsider deploying my db as an .mde. I was leaning away from .mde because I thought "what if I get to my client's site and I need to make a small change in the front end"? I think I can work around that.

Jay