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Microsoft Access: The Database Software That Won't Die

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Re: Microsoft Access: The Database Software That Won't Die

#291

Post by jalla »

kabes wrote: post #280
jalla wrote: post #278

Any database system that has a 'Repair' function is a liability. Access should be taught as a primer at schools and universities on what not to use. It's the BASIC of databases - considered harmful.

Then again, you can use a connector to connect it to MSSQl, MySQl, Oracle and others. And you still have a very powerful tool for reporting, forms, queries etc.

Still, the database engine was/is a liability as long as the locking policy and the transaction support messed up your data. As a one-user only system it was fine, however people developed critical, multi-user business systems with this toy engine. It allowed uneducated cowboys to develop systems fast that failed horribly.

Re: Microsoft Access: The Database Software That Won't Die

#293

Post by jmkni »

My first proper dev job was in a call center.

When I started, they used Microsoft Access almost exclusively. They would put an MDB file on a shared network drive and every agent would open it to input caller data via the forms. Maybe 100 people with the same MDB open. Mental. No backups, lots of (data) corruption!

Re: Microsoft Access: The Database Software That Won't Die

#294

Post by mbreese »

floki999 wrote: post #289
WrtCdEvrydy wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if sqlite could become this in the future.

All these responses demonstrate the typical issue with today’s dev mindset... i.e. wanting to develop a solution where there is no problem to solve, and very often resulting in an alternative with more issues than the original tool. There is a reason why MS Access and Excel endure: they are far from perfect and have tons of limitations, but they do solve the very basic function they were designed to fulfill. An IT so…

I don’t use Windows, so Access isn’t part of the MS Office equation for me (on a Mac). However, I’d very much like to have a simple database that I could use instead of tracking certain things in Excel.

So... I can completely understand why someone would be interested in making a more universal solution for this very common problem.

Re: Microsoft Access: The Database Software That Won't Die

#295

Post by ebiester »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #252
ebiester wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know you say that being something other than a web application is a feature, but we have Microsoft's replacement for access in Office 365 and it's PowerApps combined with Flow. I haven't been able to dive too deeply, and it definitely has a learning curve, but so did access. Further, data is actually backed up and permissions can be applied. I also have fondness for Access, but I think that we have a chance for som…

O365 still gives you desktop versions of the Office software. It does makes me a little worried, but I'm hoping Microsoft isn't suicidal and won't pull the plug on desktop software, leaving us only with the half-featured web versions. Flow is interesting, but AFAIR it requires extra clicking in the administrative interface to get running, so it might not work for shadow IT as well as Access does.

I am hopeful that between MS's financial commitment to the suite, improved JS performance in the browsers, and a set of practices coming around, it will reach parity in the next few years. I run Linux and while I miss features, I can do my job in an O365 org rather than having to have a mac or run a windows client for office suite.

Re: Microsoft Access: The Database Software That Won't Die

#296

Post by bdavis__ »

gedy wrote: post #190
bdavis__ wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the AF we called it PMEL. My anecdote is getting a 9 track tape of all of the test equipment part numbers and calibration intervals (TO-1-1-100 , maybe?). transfer the tape to a disk file, sort it and use binary search. a couple of years before ms access, but turbo pascal was king !

Man haven't heard "PMEL" in years - Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory if I remember correctly?

yep.

Re: Microsoft Access: The Database Software That Won't Die

#297

Post by TeMPOraL »

ebiester wrote: post #295
TeMPOraL wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

O365 still gives you desktop versions of the Office software. It does makes me a little worried, but I'm hoping Microsoft isn't suicidal and won't pull the plug on desktop software, leaving us only with the half-featured web versions. Flow is interesting, but AFAIR it requires extra clicking in the administrative interface to get running, so it might not work for shadow IT as well as Access does.

I am hopeful that between MS's financial commitment to the suite, improved JS performance in the browsers, and a set of practices coming around, it will reach parity in the next few years. I run Linux and while I miss features, I can do my job in an O365 org rather than having to have a mac or run a windows client for office suite.

On the one hand, I'd like it too. I use Linux as a daily driver - but I recently replaced my sidearm machine, and I keep it on Windows, so that I have a computer on which I can run desktop Office.

On the other hand, I'm convinced that once Office on-line reaches feature parity with the desktop, they'll quickly drop files, and turn Office into just another SaaS that holds my data for ransom. I don't want that.

Re: Microsoft Access: The Database Software That Won't Die

#300

Post by paultopia »

Of course Access isn't dead. It's a:

- widely known

- sold by a major and trusted (wisely or unwisely) enterprise company

database

- that was once shipped directly to essentially every end-user on earth when it was bundled with office,

and with

- an actual GUI designed more or less by people who know how to design GUIs.

who on earth would ever have thought that it would die, in the absence of any replacement with similar properties?!

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