Am I wasting my time?

[Lift]

Hi,
I'm an advanced Excel user and have been very successful in developing dashboard applications and reporting solutions.

Recently I decided to get out of my comfort zone and use Access 2010 to develop database applications to host on Sharepoint.

I had expected the interface and coding to be similar however they're not and so there is a learning curve that I was not expecting.

What has been most disappointing however is the limited support that I'm finding especially in the web database area. Most templates and forum topics involve standard database apps and not web databases.
I've also followed a lot of dead links which is not a good sign.

Considering that Access 2010 can publish directly to Sharepoint and that once published, the application runs on the server,,, this seemed to be a no brainer.


Still,,,, there isn't much info online and Microsoft offers very few templates.

So,,, I'm asking the experienced users here,,, am I wasting my time? Should I consider a different route?

Thanks,
Lift

[Ruegen]

I'm sure the more advanced users on this form would know more.

however

As far as I am aware - the vba won't work online and the macro's will so you have to code events using macros...

If you do venture into it.

[Lift]

Hello Ruegen,

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes,, I've learned quickly about what does not work.
I did manage to modify one of the sample web templates and post to Sharepoint.
After a few more mods I think it will do the job,, however needs a bit more macro work.

I'm seeing a huge amount of potential,,, but little online support for the web side.
Microsoft doesn't seem to be pushing this too hard which concerns me. I don't want to put a lot of time into Access web databases if there isn't much of a future.

[Ruegen]

My complaint is that the explanation and the reasons as to why you do something aren't supplied easily or explained well by Microsoft - it's like trying to navigate through an abyss blindly to find what can do what.

I really appreciate the help I get on this forum.

[ItsMe]

If you want to learn about relational databases and how to develop them I think Access is great. As far as a back end for a web server, I don't know. I am not an expert. I don't have much experience with the newer versions of Access and its capabilities. Several years back I would say a better a solution would be SQL and visual studio and .net.

It all depends on what functionality you are expecting. Exporting static data into an HTML is very easy. Creating an interactive website is quite another. Detailing the number of users and the features you expect might help others here to offer advice.

[Lift]

Hello ItsMe,

I work for a medium sized global company which has been using Sharepoint for about a year now.
Though we have a few thousand employees,,, I would expect no more than 100 to be using most database applications on Sharepoint.

I've just spent the last 2 weeks learning to use Access 2010,,, would you suggest that Visual Studio would be a better option?

Lift

[ItsMe]

I can't really suggest what the better option is. I don't know what the capabilities of the newer versions of Access are. Actually, the reason why I joined this forum is to learn about Access 2010 and maybe 2013.

Historically, developers would argue that Access 2003 has security issues that are better addressed using Microsoft SQL server. If you wanted to use a web browser to interact with Access you would have to use Active Server Pages with an ASP extension or Access Data Pages with an HTM extension. There were limitations for both and browser versions/settings very restrictive.

SharePoint is another story and I have never used it. If the users are ALL SharePoint junkies, I would say a lot of your problems are solved. Access has its limitations for the number of concurrent connections. 2003 is 25 users I believe. I can't imagine that SharePoint connections would differ. Generally speaking, SQL Server is more robust and scalable. I would approach it from the SharePoint side and see what those users recommend too.

Having said that, I love Access and how forgiving it is. If relational data base development can be forgiving. It is very intuitive and offers a lot of GUI to generate things that work behind the scenes. You can use Access to discover a lot of things about building relational database applications. Plus, it is a great relational database tool.

Hope this helps a little anyway.

[Lift]

Considering the options for creating a database app in Sharepoint (Access, Visual Studio, Sharepoint Designer, and so on), I decided to search for a good Sharepoint user forum for advise,,,,,

The Sharepoint forum at //social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/sharepoint is littered with unanswered post.
Several of the Sharepoint forums I clicked on while searching are down and the remainder are stagnant at best (no recent activity).

This is not a good sign and was also a bit depressing.

For now,,, I have published a web database from Access 2010 to Sharepoint. Still need to correct a macro error which may be related to permissions,,, not sure yet.

In the meantime,, any Access/Sharepoint developers here?

Lift

[LisaEllen]

Hello,

Please forgive my for piping in and if you already know this but wouldn't you want to use Access 2013 for this - see below.
What's new in Access 2013

What’s new in Access 2013? In a word, apps. An Access web app is a new type of database that you build in Access, then use and share with others as a SharePoint app in a web browser. To build an app, you just select the type of data you want to track (contacts, tasks, projects, and so on). Access creates the database structure, complete with views that let you add and edit data. Navigation and basic commands are built-in, so you can start using your app right away.

LisaEllen

[Lift]

Hello Lisa,

My concern here has been comparability. We are running Sharepoint 2010, Office 2010 and my operating system is Windows XP. I knew that Access 2010 was compatible but have my doubts regarding 2013 until we upgrade the other services.

Thanks,
Lift