Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 114 posts

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

#41

Post by gadders »

kimi wrote: post #5

Maybe because writing an Access database still requires a programmer, and you can get better value by hiring a PHP programmer to write two pages and three tables.

The thing is though, you actually require a server and apache etc for the PHP example.

For a front office/business person who doesn't do IT as a full time job but has a reasonable grasp of technology, they can create something "good enough" quite easily, without having to go through the whole Corporate IT process.

This is also why Corporate IT doesn't like the Front Office getting Access, as they still ask for support when their home-brew app goes wrong.

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

#45

Post by giancarlostoro »

tyingq wrote: post #16

There are quite a few products that attempt to be a web based equivalent of Access. The two that seem to be the closest to me are Google's AppMaker ( https://developers.google.com/appmaker/ ) and Bubble.is ( https://bubble.is/ ). I call these two out because they both allow for coding when the "default path" runs into a wall, and both include more than just forms and tables. However, they both still have warts. Appma…

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.

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

#46

Post by blowski »

dhimes wrote: post #32
kimi wrote: post #5

Maybe because writing an Access database still requires a programmer, and you can get better value by hiring a PHP programmer to write two pages and three tables.

I think you are right. For soft applications, Excel is a powerful enough database that non-programmers can use. Anything Excel can't do can be done 'easily' by mysql. I know that I've sat down to learn access (and later LibreOffice Base) but by the time I start into it I just think "there's really no advantage to using this over just mysql and a web page front end" and stop learning.

I'd say that the "new Access" is WordPress or Drupal. They're often used in much the same way - create a bunch of entity types that automatically connect with forms and views.

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

#47

Post by russellbeattie »

igravious wrote: post #14
CPLX wrote: post #6

FileMaker Pro has been around forever and is still supported with new versions as far as I know.

Not that searching is difficult but I'll put the link here anyway: http://www.filemaker.com/products/ 1) I didn't know that Filemaker was still around. 2) I didn't know that it is an Apple subsidiary. 3) Pity there's no Linux version, I'd use LibreOffice Base if you're in Linux as someone else here has pointed out.

That's incredible - I remember FileMaker from the 1980s. Look at the functionality of that app and the great design of the site! If that were a startup run by a bunch of hip Millennials out of San Francisco, it'd be worth a couple billion dollars, easily. (Instead we get one-off, single purpose hosted apps like Trello, and FileMaker languishes in obscurity.)

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

#48

Post by tyingq »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #45
tyingq wrote: post #16

There are quite a few products that attempt to be a web based equivalent of Access. The two that seem to be the closest to me are Google's AppMaker ( https://developers.google.com/appmaker/ ) and Bubble.is ( https://bubble.is/ ). I call these two out because they both allow for coding when the "default path" runs into a wall, and both include more than just forms and tables. However, they both still have warts. Appma…

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".

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

#49

Post by radva42 »

I'm working on such CRUD app builder, which might be interesting to you. It's self-hosted and because it's written in Golang the entire server is a single binary - users can simply download the binary, run it and that's it. The data is stored in PostgreSQL. The form builder generates JSON, which is stored in the database and the server builds the resulting app on the fly. I'm building the first demos as we speak. So far I have an invoicing app with payments tracking, overdue invoices, etc. and a second app, which is Bill of Materials. It can calculate manufacturing costs based on recipes with different inputs like raw materials, processing, other parts and assemblies and so on.

I'll try to put the demos on the site by tomorrow.

It still cannot work with any third-party APIs though, but other than that virtaully anything can be built in a matter of a few hours (maybe a day or two for the more complex and large apps).

Also I've implemented implicit workflows, where what happens is defined in the forms based on what components are inserted into it. There isn't the traditional "when A happens, do B" kind of workflows. IMO the implicit ones are much more pwoerful and flexible.

You can check it here (demos coming soon, currently one one basic tutorial): https://www.formbolt.com

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

#50

Post by Bellyache5 »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #45
tyingq wrote: post #16

There are quite a few products that attempt to be a web based equivalent of Access. The two that seem to be the closest to me are Google's AppMaker ( https://developers.google.com/appmaker/ ) and Bubble.is ( https://bubble.is/ ). I call these two out because they both allow for coding when the "default path" runs into a wall, and both include more than just forms and tables. However, they both still have warts. Appma…

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.

LibreOffice Base (http://www.libreoffice.org/discover/base/) fills the gap. It's a combination Access-like local database as well as a ODBC/JDBC client.
Post reply on HN