Hi Mark, I will take a stab at it...
Mark Fuqua wrote:
I just purchased and installed sql 2000 so I could do the Plum tutorials. I have been using ms access for quite some time and I am comfortable with it and the IDE. However, sql 2000 looks like a beast. I have managed to figure out how to use the enterprise manager (sort of) and have imported a previously completed database from access. I have some real newbie questions for anyone out there who feels so inclined: 1. What do I use in place of autoNumber for primary key values? Is there a way to preserve the primary key on import and change the field type automatically? It seems like all my tables have varchar30 values and no primary key where the autoNumber fields were.
In SQL Server it is called an Identity key, and in the designer you would set the Identity to yes for your row attribute. You will also need to set a seed and increment value.
If you have Office Professional with Access, you should be able to find the Access Upsizing Wizard, which will do better than an import; it will translate your Autonumber fields into Identity keys, create your indexes, relationships, etc., as well as import your existing data I have used it before with great success. I have not tried upsizing a Plum Starter database though, so not sure if it will work.
2. Can Plum use a view just like it does a table? I think I read that somewhere in the help but a search today did not prove fruitful. Access does not support views and that is the primary reason I wanted to start with sql 2k (and the tutorials of course). The project I want to do with Plum has alot of joined tables and without views, it does not seem like the framework would provide me with much (I mean no disrespect). All of my add/edit/delete actions involve multiple tables.
I don't think the IDE will recognize a view at this point. I just created a view and ran the Plum database synchronization wizard and it didn't see it, so I would say it is not part of the IDE. You could probably build a form manually and call the view, however, once you become more familiar with the framework. This looks like a good ER candidate for the 1.1 release.
3. Aside from the tutorials, plum supports access. If access does not support views and Plum does, how does plum work that out?
See previous answer. Plum may manually support views but not through the ide.
4. If I want to develope in ms access and then import into sql2k, are there things other than autoNumber I should avoid? Forright now, I really do feel alot more comfortable with access.
As long as you are not worried about stored procedure and/or trigger support, you could probably start the project in Access and use the Upsizing Wizard to move it into SQL Server later.
HTH, Jeff
Thanks alot, Mark ********************************************************************** You can subscribe to and unsubscribe from lists, and you can change your subscriptions between normal and digest modes here: http://www.productivityenhancement.com/support/DiscussionListsForm.cfm ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** You can subscribe to and unsubscribe from lists, and you can change your subscriptions between normal and digest modes here: http://www.productivityenhancement.com/support/DiscussionListsForm.cfm **********************************************************************
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