excel or access database?

  • Thread starter Thread starter sam
  • Start date Start date
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sam

Hi,

I have a huge excel sheet with links that navigate user to different
documents (word, PDF, etc.)

My Question is:
Is it advisable to migrate to access database?

I also want to create forms (accessible by others over intranet site) in
access (or excel) using macros that would be filled by others and the details
filled would populate the access database (or excel sheet), the forms filled
by others would be available on an intranet site and will have accept and
decline button. If I click accept, it will populate the database (or excel
sheet) with the corresponding cells in the database (or excel sheet). If I
click decline, it will still populate the database (or excel sheet), but will
also set a status of declined in the database (or excel sheet).

Which tool will be more compatible with my requirements? Microsoft Access or
Excel? The forms that I am talking about should be created using macros. It
this possible?
 
Well, Access is certainly more than capable of handling your
data, and may ultimately be the better tool for the job, but it
has a steep learning curve. Access is a relational database and
handles data in a different way than Excel. You will need to
"unlearn" some of the methods you use in Excel to get the
best use of Access. The first question that you will need to
answer for yourself is do you have the time and effort that it
will likely take to learn the fundamentals of relational database
design, and then design all of the objects (tables first, then queries,
forms, reports, etc.) in order to create a useful application.

If you decide to proceed, here are some research resources,
starting with the tutorial by Crystal;

A free tutorial written by Crystal (MS Access MVP):
http://allenbrowne.com/casu-22.html

MVP Allen Browne's tutorials:
http://allenbrowne.com/links.html#Tutorials

Jeff Conrad's resources page:
http://www.accessmvp.com/JConrad/accessjunkie/resources.html

The Access Web resources page:
http://www.mvps.org/access/resources/index.html

Tony Toews' website:
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access
 
sam said:
Hi,

I have a huge excel sheet with links that navigate user to different
documents (word, PDF, etc.)

My Question is:
Is it advisable to migrate to access database?
Click to expand...

Excel is a spreadsheet application. It behaves like a spreadsheet as soon
as you open it. Access is a toolkit to enable you to build a database
application. It does nothing for you when you first open it, *you* have to
build the application so you first have to learn how to use the toolkit and
how databases fit together. If that's what you want to do then Access is
about as good as you'll get in a file-based system.

Keith.
www.keithwilby.co.uk
 
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