Access Applications

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TC

General question: Do people actually build marketable applications with Access?

Sure!


I have seen code examples, and VB applications using Access tables but I
haven't actually seen an Access application. Do you people actually ever
create "stand-alone" applications that you could market through a website?
Or is 99.9% of Access work custom one-off ... build-to-order type of work?

If you do build a "stand-alone" product - how do you distribute it? I
understand that you must have the Access Runtime or the person must have
Access loaded on the target machine. How do you "ship" it? With an
install program like other software?
Click to expand...

I personally believe that using the Access Runtime (with or without 3rd
party scripts like SageKey etc.) is just a big headache. Require the
customer to have "a working copy of Microsoft Access version <blah>" on
their PC. This saves loads of hassles. And it eliminates the risk that
installing *your* product, will instantly kill some other, Access-based
product that is already installed on their PC.

For shipping, you package it up with a professional installation program
like installsheild or whatever. My product's install program checks, for
example, that the target PC has a copy of a suitable version of Access. If
it doesn't, the install program issues appropriate warnings & takes
appropriate actions, instead of just leaving the user in the dark, as to
what is happening.

In summary, you can build highly capable, professionally presented products
using MS Access. If you see a crappy product, that is normally down to the
developer - not MS Access.

HTH,
TC
 
General question: Do people actually build marketable applications with
Access?

I have seen code examples, and VB applications using Access tables but I
haven't actually seen an Access application. Do you people actually ever
create "stand-alone" applications that you could market through a website?
Or is 99.9% of Access work custom one-off ... build-to-order type of work?

If you do build a "stand-alone" product - how do you distribute it? I
understand that you must have the Access Runtime or the person must have
Access loaded on the target machine. How do you "ship" it? With an
install program like other software?

Just curious as to the marketability of Access.

Thanks
Alan
 
"Alan" wrote
General question: Do people actually
build marketable applications with
Access?
Click to expand...

Yes. Some do.
I have seen code examples, and VB
applications using Access tables but I
haven't actually seen an Access appli-
cation. Do you people actually ever
create "stand-alone" applications that
you could market through a website?
Click to expand...

I've created and been part of a team creating applications that _could_,
presumably, have been marketed. But, in fact, they were "bespoke
applications" done for a single client.
Or is 99.9% of Access work custom
one-off ... build-to-order type of work?
Click to expand...

All of my paying Access development has been "bespoke" (one-off,
build-to-order); most of that has been Access client applications to various
server databases. I'd say your percentatge may be a bit high,based on Access
people I know personally. I would agree that the majority of Access work is
for the use of the developing organization, or bespoke systems.
If you do build a "stand-alone"
product - how do you distribute it?
Click to expand...

In those cases where it wasn't just a matter of copying a front-end database
to the desktop of a small number of users who already had Access installed,
our team used Wise InstallMaster. At the point we originally chose it, it
had "install from the web" and InstallShield did not, but both have it now.
These are two very popular products, but if you want to distribute the
runtime, you _still_ must license Office Developer Edition to get the
license to distribute it.

I know of a few people who've tried to package their apps using only the
Office Developer Edition, with varying results. If I were going to try to
distribute a commercial Access app, I would likely invest in Wise or
InstallShield and the SageKey scripts, as well as the Office Developer
Edition. Just be aware that, to get beyond the simple, point-and-click mode,
you have to learn yet another scripting language for the install software.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP
 
Thanks for the great insights TC, Larry, Lance and Paul.

Paul: I looked at the link you provided. Can you give me an idea how you
maintain an application across so many versions of Access?

Thanks again.
 
I'm guessing you would develop it in Access 97 using dao,
then convert it to 2000/2002. In other words, you want to
develop it in the lowest version so you can use the same
code base.
 
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