Access vs Excel: Archive Database Creation

[jreutter1996]

Hi, I am working on developing a searchable database of past repairs and projects for my company. I currently have a substantial amount of information in various documents which I'll be compiling into one large table or series of tables that can be searched and filtered. There are a lot of different columns of data to work with, so I'm trying to find the best solution before inputting all the data.

I realize I could probably just use input it all into one massive Excel sheet and use filters to narrow down the results when searching, but I'm also interested in Access' capabilities. If its simple enough to make, I would love to build an easy search engine form in Access to filter through the data or even add a form to input future repair data and add it to the table.

Just wondering how easy it would be to do this in Access and if it is worth my time learning how to do all this before I try. Would also like some information about Access Web Apps because I also have the possibility of creating an input form on our SharePoint for people to add repair data to.

Would appreciate any input! Thanks.

Jordan

[orange]

What is your experience with
-Access
-Excel?
See this from Allen Browne for reference.

Who will be using this information?

Access Web Apps have been deprecated/abandoned.

[CJ_London]

Access is not a different type of excel, it works on entirely different principles. Excel combines data and presentation in a single view, Access stores data in tables and presents via queries in forms and reports. Excel tables are typically short and wide, Access are narrow and tall. Access works on normalised data (google to find out more) excel is typically as far from normalised as you can get.

Access is probably the better tool for this sort of work, but if you know excel inside out and nothing about access, be prepared for a steep learning curve - transitioning from excel to access can be difficult.