Access 2007 Web Services - Add-In or VBA Class?

[JAllen]

I've done some limited research into consuming web services in Access 2007.
There seems to be one school of thought that prefers using VBA-code (perhaps
created by the Web Services Toolkit on an XP machine but not on Vista). The
other school prefers developing a managed add-in in .NET.

It seems as if VBA would be the simpler route in terms of time, but are
there advantages to the managed add-in?

 

[Jack Leach]

I've never really worked with either, but .NET offers far superior
functionality for working with a web interface than VBA does. I would guess
this is why some people would prefer the addin (assuming those people are
versed in .NET).

--
Jack Leach
www.tristatemachine.com

"I haven't failed, I've found ten thousand ways that don't work."
-Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

 

[vanderghast]

WCF (easier to access through DotNet than VBA) *can* also offer a relative
independance of the transport (TCP, HTTP, IPC, MSMQ), host (IIS,
self-hosting, ...) and binding (binary, text, ... ) without having to change
the code (well, to a constant or two, to specify your choice, and to some
extent, such as binary binding with HTTP does not make sense).

On the other hand, if you plan a 'one shot' development, and the tool you
have in mind cover your needs, maybe using the tool would be the faster way
to get a first version running well. Can be a big competitive advantage,
even if further development may become harder (to support stuff not
supported by the tool, if any).


I am afraid that there is no absolute and universal answer to your question,
and that YOU are in the best position to know what is really involved.


Vanderghast, Access MVP

 

[ryguy7272]

This is my take on the topic:

#1)
I've used this before:
http://www.hkvstore.com/aspreportmaker/

I think it cost $100. It works great with an MS Access back end. As the
developers states, the tool can be used with any 'ADO data source'.


#2)
If you are feeling really ambitious, you may want to try this:
http://www.microsoft.com/express/vwd/

It is totally free and very powerful!! Only one reason would prevent me
from full recommending this as a solution...it take a bit of work to get
acquainted with web development with VWD. It really depends on your appetite
for these types of things, but I would think it will take a good year or so
to get very proficient with VWD. However, you can probably find some video
tutorials online (there are many) and join some discussion groups (there are
many) and buy some books (there are many) and get up to speed with some BASIC
things in maybe a few weeks or month or so.

HTH,
Ryan--