Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?

#111

Post by dustingetz » Fri, Sep 15, 2017, 5:25 PM UTC

Norther wrote: post #100

dustingetz wrote: post #54

JOIN tables, sparse tables, deeply nested JOINs - all this is needed to code link-following in the relational model. So you need an ORM to handle the JOIN pain for you, but relational db query perf degrades as your joins get deeper, so the ORM needs to make hard choices around caching and database query round tips - but the ORM doesn't have enough information about the UI to make these choices - you end up needing to…

Dustin, wow. I can see a lot of work went into your talk. I read along for about 80% and you make some great points. Hyperfiddle looks impressive - I signed up to the dev mailing list. As an aside, do you think traditionally built apps should be moving away from SQL and towards immutable stores like Datomic?

yes! Data driven UI (which is what this thread is about) will never succeed on sql.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?

#112

Post by vram22 » Fri, Sep 15, 2017, 9:47 PM UTC

Multicomp wrote: post #108

vram22 wrote: post #85

Modern XBase clones like Flagship (Clipper clone, sort of), Harbour project (ditto), and many others come close. You still have to do some programming, but it is not too difficult for an IT-savvy non-programmer to pick up. Clipper apps still run many small businesses in India (I know for sure) and likely many other countries too. Data entry in such apps is extremely fast once the operator gets used to the app. They d…

Company I work at still has their core HR, payroll, security, inventory, customer service, and other systems in a Visual FoxPro application backended by a SQL database.

Long back, I reverse-engineered the dBASE .DBF data format (with only a few hints from some mag or book, plus the use of a hex editor (DEBUG.com)), and then wrote programs in Turbo Pascal to read .DBF files and process them further, generate reports, etc., for a management / marketing game project that I worked on for an Indian conglomerate. Did this without Internet access. That was actually my first freelancing gig and first job. Heh.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?

#113

Post by giancarlostoro » Sat, Sep 16, 2017, 11:03 AM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #48

giancarlostoro wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sort of surprised LibreOffice hasn't tried to fill this gap, it would be a nice way for them to earn some income if they do it just right enough. I say this because Open Source projects need to be funded some way, somehow.

You mean with a web based database? I thought LibreOffice did have a local Access equivalent called "Base".

It's not that great of an experience out of the box. Non-tech savvy users can make use of MS Access.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a modern MS Access clone?

#114

Post by sreenadh » Mon, Sep 18, 2017, 12:26 PM UTC

I started off my developer career as a MS Access developer, developed CRUD applications that helps a business. MS Access is a very versatile tool and I love it. I even prefer it over Excel. I once made a MS Access application for a client that wanted a web based application as a upgrade to the existing excel solution.

Many alternatives were had as a replacement for one of the apps in MS Office. I did test out LibreOffice's Base. It did not seem to be a proper alternative for the purpose of making a standalone application. The whole application in 1 file.

Access has flaws too in terms of backing up data. That is the biggest drawback and in the web era, Access seems like a relic. VB6 has limits in terms of making a full fledged UI. But it is functional.

The closest successor i think would be a SQLite+electron app. I have not worked on it to see how it will turn out.