On Mon, 19 Aug 2002, Brian Robson wrote: > (3) Access - Where is the Linux version? > ======================================== > > As a fan of Access, IMHO Access 2 (1994) was the best thing Microsoft has > ever produced. However it contains at least 100K of pure assembler code to > make it perform, and it has never been translated to the Mac platform for > starters. It's a clever concept, but it does not fit easily in a Linux > environment, and these days many people use Access as an easy front end to > reach other databases such as SQL server. > > The problem in the Linux world is that the concept of a full-featured > "Desktop Database" is essentially false on a multi-user, multi-tasking, > networked machine. The best features of Access need to be cut into two > parts, and this is what is emerging. The front end is a GUI product, with > all the best bits of Access to do with building queries and making > relationships, and there are already lots of interfaces that can build > screens or forms just like in Access. The SQL engine back-end already > exists in MySQL and similar products, there is no need to reinvent the > wheel. As much as it would be nice to have a clone of the Pro Versions of > office, this is actually a foolish concept. Access simply has to be split > into parts.
This is a technique I have always used when I build Access dbs (which isn't often these days). Everything bar the tables goes in one .mdb and the tables alone go in another. That makes it reasonably easy to dump the Access tables and substitute an SQL backend. I have used MyODBC quite successfully and I find that it does not have the performance problems that existed a couple of years ago. -- Howard. LANNet Computing Associates - Your Linux people Contact detail at http://www.lannetlinux.com "Flatter government, not fatter government." - me Get rid of the Australian states. -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
