Does Access 2002 (XP) support ADO...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul Laska
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Paul Laska

I'm trying to find out if Access 20002 supports ADO as a
native RecordSource for forms and reports in a .MDB file,
before I recommend it to a client. Does anyone know?

Thanks
Paul Laska
 
For an MDB file (tables stored in an Access database), you are better to use
DAO in my view. That is the native library for Access/JET.

You can certainly open ADO recordsets into JET tables, but it generally
provides less flexibility.
 
Hi Allen,

Thank you for your help. I agree, DAO has been more
flexible with MDB files. From what I've read in the
Access 2000 Developer's Handbook Volumes I&II, Microsoft
is pushing ADO as the way of the future, but didn't fully
implement ADO support for the forms in Access 2000.

I was thinking I might be able to recommend Access 2002
as a possible solution for my client. They are working
on creating an Access application that can attach to a
seperate Access MDB file, and they want to support SQL
Server in the future. My hope was that with ADO they
could write the application once, and extend it to
support SQL Server at a later date, without having to do
a bunch of rewrite, or support for older database
drivers. In other words, slap the SQL Provider in for
the ActiveConnection, and the rest of their ADO code
should work (Assuming they handled anything that was
Provider specific).

If you've got any suggestions I would be glad to hear
them. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Paul Laska
 
Unfortunately, while you can change the provider and have your application
work with another data source, it's really not that simple if you want
reasonable performance. You usually have to do other things like changing
your queries to Pass-through, so that they run on the server, and so on.

If your intent is to eventually move to SQL Server, you may find the
following book useful:

Microsoft Access Developer's Guide to SQL Server by Mary Chipman and Andy
Baron (SAMS, 2000)
ISBN# 0-6723-1944-6. 864 pages, $39.99.
Microsoft Access 2000 Developer's Guide to Microsoft SQL Server provides
much needed information and guidance for the Access power user or developer
who wants to exploit the power of SQL Server. Written by Access experts and
Microsoft MVPs Mary Chipman and Andy Baron, this hands-on guide provides you
with the practical knowledge you need to harness the enterprise-level power
and scalability SQL Server offers, while using the Access tools you are
familiar with. More than just a migration guide, you will benefit from the
authors' expert discussions of topics including the new Microsoft Database
Engine (MSDE), Transact SQL, building stored procedures and views,
converting your applications to SQL Server, working with SQL Server
security, and building Access interfaces to SQL Server databases.
 
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