Cnews-ms said:
I want to know if I can distribute my access database and app to internal
clients if I buy the office develeopment kit. They dont have a demo so I
dont want to take the plunge until I know it will work.
The Office Developer's Version is at its best when you are distributing to
"known" users meaning that you have some control (or at least knowledge) of
the hardware/software on their systems and where NO version of Access is
already installed.
If you need to distribute to users who are a mixed bag where some have
Access, some don't, and those that do have various versions then things can
get nasty. Most of the problems involve the installed version of Access
and your Runtime installation stepping on each other toes (so to speak)
regarding file associations and registry settings.
In many companies there are people who have Access installed by virtue of
having the Office Pro Suite who have never even opened Access. It is
simply "there". You would likely not have too many problems with these
types. Users who need to use your app along with retail Access for their
own purposes are where the snags are most common. Even if it's the same
version of Access there can be problems although that is less likely than
if the versions are different.
You can augment the Developer's distribution with scripts from Sagekey
together with using a product like Wise or InstallAnywhere for the
installation and greatly reduce these problems, but you're talking about a
bit more cash layout to go that route. Many developers just create a
multi-purpose install program where they only install the Runtime on PCs
where Access is not present and on PCs where it is installed just provide
an application file of the proper version. Most serious developers have
multiple versions of Access for this reason.
