Building a Web App?

[Solar.Paul]

Hi

I'm totally new to Access (no hands on system development background and I am still waiting for my copy of MS Access for Dummies to arrive). But I'm retired from a lifelong career in IT (business process, design and project management), am prepared to commit to putting in a good deal of effort to learn and hope/expect that I will have a reasonable aptitude.

I am actively involved in my sailing club and have been setting handicaps for their Sunday pursuit races. Although there are a number of off-the-self systems around none of them provide the level of functionality I would like to have available for this type of racing. I've been using Excel in which I have had a good deal of experience but its complexities and limitations lead to problems when I go away. Many members don't have appropriate skills and there is a risk that those that do will unwittingly corrupt data, make mistakes etc.



I have Windows 8.1 and MS Office 365 Home Premium and I am concerned that developing a system for stand alone use in Access will not make it easier to manage races and set handicaps when I am away:
* Few or no members will have a computer with Windows 8
* A stand alone system won't be accessible

My first questions relate to developing a system in Access for use by club members over the web. Upon review I saw on a web site that:
* I will need to use SharePoint and that the Office 365 Home Premium doesn't provide this
* Not all Access functionality is available over the web

Given my as yet undeveloped Access skills I am coming to you experienced folk for assistance:
* Do I need to upgrade / subscribe so that I can use SharePoint and is it expensive?
* Will I be able develop a reasonable system without full functionality? I should state here that it has been my intention to develop general database skills rather than becoming a fully fledged programmer

I would be very interested to hear back on these matters

Thanking you in advance
Solar Paul

[RuralGuy]

Be advised, also posted here: http://www.access-programmers.co.uk/...d.php?t=258652

[ItsMe]

My two cents.

Building a club database is not simple. Building a database for a club that has racing events is even more complex. Building a database that uses dynamic webpages as a public interface is its own animal.

I suggest starting with a database for the club office so they can manage membership to start with. Then move on to managing season stats/standings. Then move on to managing race event enrolment/fees. Then move on to managing the actual race event.

After you get each module developed and tested, you can post static web pages with current data using HTML templates. Then you can move to dynamic webpages that depend on an autonomous back end, updating the back end via FTP. Then worry about linking to a remote DB over a WAN.