Access db and the internet

[Niniel]

Hello,

I have a small db for private use, and I'd like to be able to look things up
on the web, and maybe even add new records.
I don't have a server as such, but I do have a domain with some web space,
so I'd have to upload the file/s onto that. Not sure if that could be done
with Access though. Or any db, for that matter. But maybe there are ways...
that are not too complicated. I'm primarily interested in finding
information, searching through my records.

Any advice on what I should approach this?

Thank you.

 

[Steve Schapel]

Niniel,

If you have Access 2007, the first option I would look at is to publish
your database to SharePoint. You could then work with your data from
your computer via your Access application, but also use it elsewhere via
a SharePoint site. As you don't have your own server, there are a
number of web hosting services that provide WSS 3.0 very inexpensively
as part of their web hosting packages. For example www.webhost4life.com

Other possible options to consider (neither of them cheap or simple):
- Build a frontend web application to your database using ASP.Net and
run that on a web server
- Put your Access application on a computer that is always running, and
access it from elsewhere using a Remote Desktop type of technology, for
example
http://www.thinsoftinc.com/product_thin_client_winconnect_server_xp.aspx

 

[Mike Mueller]

You can place your db on a website; however, you would need to do all of
your database activities using server-side scripting such as ASP or PHP,
furthermore; to use an Access db online you would need to be hosted on a
Windows Server.

 

[Niniel]

Hello Wayne,

Thank you for the reply although I'm afraid it didn't really make things
clearer for me.

Sounds like I need to look into ASP.

 

[Wayne-I-M]

There are many ways of doing this. I have just created a full on line
booking system (and I really know very little about web design) with an
inbedded access DB - linked to an external access DB (for retreiveing
bookings).

I am not sure about this (you would need to check or ask an expert) but I
found the simplest programme (I looked at "lots") was the keep everything in
"MS Office" and create the webpage in Frontpage. If your web host can handle
ASP extensions it really is simple (not on a unix server as thi will work
with asp).

Do a google and ask any questions in the frontpage forum and you will get
loads of good advice.

Good luck

 

[SteveM]

You will have to contact your host to see if they will set up your database.
Just because you have some web space doesn't mean you can upload a database,
it depends on your ISP/Host.

Frontpage 2002 and onward have a data wizard. This creates ASP pages for
data retreival and updating. So you can use it to build your pages for you.
It's pretty simple once you get the hang of using Frontpage tables (place
holders on the web page, not like database tables).

To do something simple like findng data and the odd update, you wouldn't
need to know any ASP since the wizard generates it all for you. If you want
to do anything more complicated and don't know much ASP, you may want to
check out the EasyGen product on Symbiant.com.

Steve

 

[Niniel]

I'm pretty sure my domain runs on a Windows server, but I'll check that.

Thank you everybody for your input, it's a start.


Oh, and I just have A2000.

 

[Mike Mueller]

As others have stated, you can keep it in the Office family; however, FP is
becoming obsolete. It is replaced by Expression Web which is much more
robust when talking to dbs. There is even a free trial download available
for it

 

[Niniel]

That's good to know, thank you for mentioning it!