Can an Access Program (exe) be de-compiled or modified?

[Joseph_Rice]

I help people receive medications that they cannot afford. I have been using access 2000 based software to enter new patients and provide my service.

It's a desktop program and the vendor appears to have now gone out of business.

I need to be able to keep program updated with the latest medications available.

I DO have the password for all the access data tables. But there is no schema diagram.



Can anyone enlighten me on what options I have.

Thank you everyone.

Joseph

[John_G]

You cannot modify the .EXE Access program; that does not matter because that isn't what you need to modify. Your application is an MS Access database, which will have a file extension of .mdb or .mde. If you have an .mdb file, you can make any structural or programming changes you need to it, provided you have access to the tables, forms, etc. (it sounds like you do, since you have the password).

If you are using an .mde file, then the changes you can make are very limited, but you can add data to the tables with no problem.

[Joseph_Rice]

Thank you John ,
I have table access, but they are .mdb tables.
One more question, if I may.
Can the User Interface be updated to something more contemporary?
One more question if i may. Can the Program UI be modified to a more contemporary look?

[pbaldy]

That isn't a really SSN, is it? If so, it should be blurred too.

[Joseph_Rice]

thank you pbaldy

[John_G]

they are .mdb tables.

It is the whole file that is an .mdb MS Access file, and it contains the tables.

If all you have is tables in the .mdb, then you may be out of luck. That screen image does not look like an MS Access form, especially with those icons down the left side. If you really are executing an .exe file to run that application, then you will have to determine what program produced it, and hope that by some miracle you can find the original uncompiled source. MS Access does not produce .exe files.

That is one reason I would NEVER enter into a contract for a custom application like that with a vendor who would not supply the original uncompiled source code.

BTW - I agree with Paul's comment - you might want to remove that screen image - if that is real data, there is way too much personal information visible in it.

[pbaldy]

No problem. I'll let John follow up on your actual questions, I just noticed that SSN.

[Joseph_Rice]

Thank you again. I am not likely to get sourse code
And I have blurred the S.S.#
tHANKS

[ssanfu]

It's a desktop program and the vendor appears to have now gone out of business.

If the company is out of business, you can't find current comparable software, and your current app is either an EXE or mde, you could consider reverse engineering the software. It can get expensive... but you would have the source and you can have improvements made to the app.

You would need to find a capable, competent Access programmer close to you, unless you have a lot of Access experience. (this is the expensive part)

You can cut down on the cost by documenting as much as you can. For instance, the form you posted. There is a menu bar at the top, a tool bar along the left side and buttons in the form. Start by printing the form. Write down all of the options available when you click on each of the menus - File, View, Data, etc.
Then write down what each of the text boxes are for.
There are 6 buttons below the address controls. What does each button do? Since you have the tables, you can figure out where the data comes form. Sometimes it might be a table, sometimes a query. Do this for every form and report.

Having data makes it somewhat easier because you can compare the new app data to the old app to see if the same data is being retrieved.

You can create forms in the new Access dB and make them look exactly the same as the current app. Then it is a matter of making the data fill in the controls - creating queries, other times using a table, sometimes writing code. (expensive part)


Sidenote:
In 2005, I started converting a compiled Clipper dB (used dbf files - part of the "X Base" group of databases) - remember the Y2K bug and the effect on calculated and displayed dates??
So... Converted the dbf data files to Access 2000. Then documented the forms & reports. Using A2K, I created a excellent (IMO) GUI interface (remember, Clipper was a DOS program - just text on the screen), created queries and started writing some code. Then - Wham! Project canceled after 3 week of work. Someone was worried about expense. So they kept using the Clipper app that was written around 1989 (IIRC).


But it is possible to recreate your app....

Good luck with your project.....