Free Alternate to MS Access

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mathew
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Mathew

MS Access is great for really quick data manipulation that can then be
further anaylsed in spreadsheet form. I know there is MYSQL, but I
cannot find a free GUI table and SQL builder. Manually takes too long
for throw away work...

Is there an alternative?
 
Mathew said:
I use open office and it does not have a database application....
Click to expand...
There's a separate database application called Adabas.
 
Mathew said:
MS Access is great for really quick data manipulation that can
then be further anaylsed in spreadsheet form. I know there is
MYSQL, but I cannot find a free GUI table and SQL builder.
Manually takes too long for throw away work...

Is there an alternative?
Click to expand...

I'm not the guy for giving expert advice in this area, but have a
look at DBDesigner4 (in combination with MySQL), I think it might
come close to what you want:

http://www.fabforce.net/dbdesigner4/

Regards,
Wald
 
jacky:

Do the OpenOffice have a data base program?

--
Saludos!
Matias.-

El Viernes 21 de Noviembre del 2003, jacky escribio:

j> open ofice
 
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jacky:

Do the OpenOffice have a data base program?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it does have database support. See
<http://www.openoffice.org/product/dbase.html> for their info on it.

--
»Q« It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you
mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers.
It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and
likewise yours and theirs.
-- Oxford University Press, Edpress News
 
The latest versions of OO have dropped the database and offer a front-end
application you can link to an existing database. I got a free copy of the
latest StarOffice at a convention and Sun packages a crippled version of
Adabas with it (database size limited and no support from anyone. As a
marketing plan for Adabas, this is a complete bust, I have a far more
negative opinion of Adabas than I had before).

I couldn't get either the front-end or Adabas to work together OR
separately (even tried to use the Front-end quickie connection to Access and
no go) and I consider myself something of a database geek. The database
portion of OO definitely needs work before it is ready for a casual user.
And let's face it, for OO to be a truly viable alternative to MS Office, it
has to be usable "right out of the box" for a know nothing casual user.

I would say right now, if you want a super easy and still reasonably
powerful PC database application with a reasonable level of handholding
and/or convenience, you will have to settle for (and pay for) MS Access or
Corel Paradox. I haven't seen any freeware that is ready for the
non-hobbyist or database pro. Maybe in time, but not right now.


»Q« said:
X-Newsreader: The Bat! (v2.00)
CD5BF9353B3B7091, MyGate/2.5.2.153
(http://barin.com.ua/soft/mygate/)
Click to expand...

When using TB! and MyGate, you should use %singlere in your templates
for Usenet replies. That'll prevent the "Re[n]:" from showing up the
Subject. (Well, it'll just prevent the "[n]" part. ;)
jacky:

Do the OpenOffice have a data base program?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it does have database support. See
<http://www.openoffice.org/product/dbase.html> for their info on it.

--
»Q« It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you
mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers.
It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and
likewise yours and theirs.
-- Oxford University Press, Edpress News
Click to expand...
 
Wald:
You wrote on Fri, 21 Nov 2003 08:51:11 +0000 (UTC):

??>> MS Access is great for really quick data manipulation that can
??>> then be further anaylsed in spreadsheet form. I know there is
??>> MYSQL, but I cannot find a free GUI table and SQL builder.
??>> Manually takes too long for throw away work...
??>>
??>> Is there an alternative?

W> I'm not the guy for giving expert advice in this area, but have a
W> look at DBDesigner4 (in combination with MySQL), I think it might
W> come close to what you want:

W> http://www.fabforce.net/dbdesigner4/

I've done some testing of DBdeigner4, VisualBasic Database,
IBeasy/Inferbase, dbworx, SvW Data keeper and Open Office Database
Organizer.

It depends on what you want to do: If you want to do a quick and dirty
database single table, no forms, dbworx is your best bet. If looking for
more one-to-one functionality with Access - Multiple tables, Forms, Queries,
and Reports - Open Office Database Organizer works surpisingly well. Take
a look at Garry Knight's article on creating a database from scratch in Open
Office found here:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/garryknight/linux/oodbase.html



John H.. E-mail: (e-mail address removed)
Website: John's Best of Free Software:
http://home.wi.rr.com/johnhood/freeware/
 
John H. said:
Looks interesting, but the origianl poster asked for an Access replacement,
not an Outlook replacment. A database developer, not a database.

Looks interesting though. Where did you find this? Do you use it?
Click to expand...

I presume it's an earlier version (date .exe file: 4th Jan. 2003) of a
commercial product.
http://www.softviewer.com/treedbnotes/

I had a quick look at it and it looks nice. Program can export notes
in txt, rtf and html formats (did not see the .doc options for export
yet). It saves files automatically, not on demand, which is a major
drawback imho. Also I saw no configuration possibilities. You can only
search in notes, not in a tree. It save in it's own format and
probably you can't rescue text fragments from a corrupted database
when something goes hopelessly wrong.

If you want a similar program for textual information only (no layout)
then Treepad (free version) is a very good alternative. It is easy to
use, has an unclutterd interface and a good search facility (notes
and tree!) and it saves the trees in plain text format, with a few
codes added, and you can export notes or a tree to HTML.. If you want
RTF, pictures etc. then KeyNote(s?) is probably a good bet. Both are
pricelessware iirc.

Joan
 
Would you happen to know how to connect MS Access to MySQL, or
PostgreSQL, or even Firebird? I would like to use a real back-end
with Access, but am unfamiliar with how to do it. Is it as simple as
adding an ODBC driver?
 
Mark,

My only experience with using MS Access as a front end app has been with
TerraData, Oracle, and we used ODBC in those cases. ODBC is probably the
easiest way to connect to a different database though it is a tad slow (but
very usable nonetheless).

In broad strokes, you install the database, set up appropriate userid and
passwords, resolve any back end connectivity issues for using a front end,
Install Access, Install the ODBC Driver and then connect thru the dialogue
in Access using the passwords and userid along with the location of the
backend database. The most recent versions of MS Access make this pretty
easy with wizards and dialogue boxes though setting up the backend databases
can be tricky.

This is not a task for the casual user, and is frequently much less
necessary for the casual user with the most recent Access releases. Access
no longer uses the Jet database engine but uses a subset of SQLServer. This
makes Access a more powerful DB in its own right and (at least in theory and
marketing hype) makes connecting to SQLServer WITHOUT ODBC virtually
seamless.

Hope this helps.
 
Access
no longer uses the Jet database engine but uses a subset of SQLServer.
Click to expand...

Since when? From Access 2000, MSDE (which is a throttled version of SQL
Server) has been an *option* in Access. But the default is to use Jet
(currently at version 4). And if you are running multi-user, you're
probably better off using Jet than MSDE.
 
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