Understanding and Creating an Access Project
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In the beginning there was a file based database product called MS Access. It had a terrific front end. Database administrators did not take it seriously, however, since it was small fry for them. SQL and Oracle databases were "the real stuff." But the real stuff was expensive, and did not have a front-end to speak of. For a while, you could use DTS to get data in and out of anywhere, including MS Access and SQL, and it was not a big deal. With an MS Access Project, you have a new construct. You may have data in SQL Server, but you can transparently see it in an Access database. It may have a few limitations, but it works well. This tutorial is about this new construct, available in MS Access 2000 onwards.
MS Access is a file based database product with a very user friendly front-end. Some of the reasons why one may prefer SQL Server, Oracle, or others is because of considerations regarding the sizes of the databases, security, extensibility, stability, number of connected clients, and so on. However, MS Access has an extremely user friendly programming model, whether it is GUI based or VBA based. It is also relatively inexpensive, bundled with the Office products from the very beginning. For these reasons, it has been used by many small companies, as well as many departments in bigger corporations. Many work arounds have been implemented in the past to have a client/server experience with this product, keeping data separate from business objects such as queries, forms, reports, and so on.
What is an MS Access Project?Microsoft Access Project gives you access to data stored on SQL Servers via familiar OLEDB technology. With an MS Access Project you can work in the client/server mode as easily as in the file server mode, which you could do with earlier (prior 20 Access 2000) versions. With the Access Project construct, Microsoft has extended the playground of MS Access to the RDBMS arena. The data is all stored in the SQL Server (or, its junior version, MSDE), but the Access application will have access to this data by the OLEDB connectivity which can be implemented in the Access application (or by establishing a connection outside the application) as you will see in this tutorial.
These are some of the significant items to remember with regard to MS Access projects.
- The Project file has an *.adp extension and not *.mdb, or *.mde.
- The Project file does not have tables or queries. The SQL 2000
server stores tables and views. - SQL Server stored procedures replace Access's action queries.
- The project connects to SQL Server by OLEDB and not by
ODBC or Jet. - Instead of DAO (Data Access Objects) you will use ADO
(Activex Data Objects)
This tutorial is about this new construct available in MS Access from MS Access version 2000 onwards.
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