Access versions and SQL

[Leony]

I just started on a Database course.

The instructor has listed ''MS Access 2000 SQL'' as a required software. I
am new to databases and I have very little knowledge about the different
programs.

I have MS Access 2002 which came with the Office package.

Because some of us students are having difficulty finding out about the
different programs, I asked the instructor whether I could use the Access
version I have or do we have to have an Access version with SQL.

He replies that there are different versions of Access and that we should
use one that supports SQL.

My question is:
Does Access 2002 exists in an Access 2002 SQL version? If so, how do I find
out whether the Access 2002 I have is the SQL version?

If the version I have is not the SQL version how do I buy it, because in the
microsofts pages there is no reference to it.

Please help.

Kind regards.

 

[Rick Brandt]

I just started on a Database course.

The instructor has listed ''MS Access 2000 SQL'' as a required
software. I am new to databases and I have very little knowledge
about the different programs.

I have MS Access 2002 which came with the Office package.

Because some of us students are having difficulty finding out about
the different programs, I asked the instructor whether I could use
the Access version I have or do we have to have an Access version
with SQL.

He replies that there are different versions of Access and that we
should use one that supports SQL.

My question is:
Does Access 2002 exists in an Access 2002 SQL version? If so, how do
I find out whether the Access 2002 I have is the SQL version?

If the version I have is not the SQL version how do I buy it, because
in the microsofts pages there is no reference to it.

Please help.

Kind regards.

Can you get your money back for the course? Either you misunderstood your
instructor or he is clueless about Access.

SQL is a language for querying data in databases and virtually all database
systems use it (in slightly varying "flavors"). To the extent that Access
"supports SQL" every version does since Access 1 so his comment is meaningless.

 

[Jerry Whittle]

I agree with Rick: Either you misunderstood or your instructor is wrong.

I teach Access 2003 and often the students only have Access 97 or 2000. They
can not complete all the homework with those programs.

If you have Access 2002 (AKA XP) you should be able to do all the work
required in a 2000 coures. Just make sure that the default file format is
Access 2000 when you create a new database in A02. Also some of the graphic
interface isn't the same you you might have trouble following instructions a
little.

 

[Ken Sheridan]

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It is used for extracting
information from databases and for updating data in a database (updating
includes inserting rows in a table, deleting rows or changing data in rows).
Access refers to both of these types of operations as 'queries', the latter
being an 'action query'. Strictly speaking in SQL only the first are
queries. In SQL 'action queries' are better termed SQL statements. SQL also
refers to 'Views', which are roughly the equivalent of a saved query in
Access. SQL also includes a Data Definition Language used for creating
tables etc. and Jet SQL includes such a DDL language, details of which are in
Access Help.

Access databases (.mdb files) use Jet SQL. If you design a query in design
view in Access you can switch to SQL view and see it in Jet SQL. You can of
course write a query directly in SQL. Later versions of Access can also be
used to create Access Projects (.adp files). In these Access is used to give
native-mode access to a Microsoft SQL Server database. SQL Server is a true
client-server database in which the processing is done on the server and only
the results of a query are passed back to the client machine. SQL Server is
also much closer to the SQL Standard than Jet SQL. Access .mdb databases on
the other hand are file server applications in which the processing is done
locally. The server in this case merely houses the 'back end' data file(s).

I would imagine that by 'supports SQL' your instructor is referring to the
ability to create Access projects as he is probably keen that you learn how
to use a version of SQL as close to the SQL standard as possible. Your copy
of Access 2002 should be fine for this. You should in fact find that it
includes an Access Project version of the sample Northwind application. You
should find this under the Help|Sample Databases menu item on the main Access
menu bar. If you try to open it Access may prompt you to install the desktop
version of SQL Server which comes with Access. If so you'll probably require
the installation CD to do this. Its been a long time since I had to do this,
however, so I'm a bit hazy as to the details.

I think you should quiz your instructor a bit more as to just what he does
mean by SQL. Any version of Access uses jet SQL so that may be all he's
interested in.

BTW, if your instructor hasn't recommended Joe Celko's book 'SQL for
Smarties', suggest it to him. It's not a book for beginners (John L.
Viescas's 'SQL for Mere Mortals' is better as a starter), but once you've
learnt the basics of SQL you'll find Joe's book is worth its weight in gold.
These are not directly related to Access, however, as SQL is the universal
language for relational databases, coming in a number of variations, and some
things in standard SQL won't work in Jet SQL and vice versa.

Ken Sheridan
Stafford, England

 

[Leony]

Thanks to Rick, Jerry and Ken for the answers.

You guys have answered this question and clarified much of the trouble I had
the last couple of days trying to figure out how things function.

No. I have not misunderstood the intructor. He replied my question in the
class forum and clearly states what i mention in the original post. He is the
co-authour of the text book which we all MUST BUY and use for the course In
it also he refers to Access as Access SQL. This book is a mess. Nothing makes
sense, it seems as though they have taken stuff from many places and have put
the book together in a hurry.

Can't understand why they couldn't just write something like what you guys
mention in your answers in the first chapter. I could have saved hours of
searching and reading trying to find what Access 2000 SQL is.

It is such a pity that some teachers make easy things so difficult. I can't
get my money back ca. US $ 500,- and US $ 70,- for the stupid book. So I will
have to follow this course with him. Hope he is not going to teach any more
courses I am planing to take at that school.

Thanks so much.

 

[Jerry Whittle]

What a deal. Gets paid for teaching the class and money from the book that he
wrote and you have to buy. Quite a racket.

 

[Tony Toews]

The instructor has listed ''MS Access 2000 SQL'' as a required software. I
am new to databases and I have very little knowledge about the different
programs.

He replies that there are different versions of Access and that we should
use one that supports SQL.

Your instructor is an idiot.

BTW I'd suggest http://www.scobiz.com for Access training. Sco has
folks flying from all around the USA to take his courses.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm

 

[Jerry Whittle]

Could you post the full title of the book or maybe the ISBN number? I'd like
to take a look at it on Amazon.com if it's there. Would it happen to be:
Learning SQL: A Step-by-Step Guide Using Access? If it is the book, you might
just want to check out some of the reviews on Amazon especially the first and
last one.

Possibly the course is more about SQL than Access. Then the course could
potentially be a very good one for you. Once you grasp SQL you can easily
move to other databases such as Oracle and SQL Server. Good luck.

 

[Leony]

Hi Jerry,

The book is not in English, it is in an Skandinavian language. I don't want
to publish the name here because for all I know the teacher must be browsing
this forum, and it won’t be nice for him.

Today I ‘talked’ to a student who has taken this course earlier. He said he
just gave up on the book and used another book (DATABASE SYSTEMS, A Practical
Approach to Design, Implementation and Management, 3rd Edition, Thomas
Connolly, Carolyn Begg . ISBN 0201-70857-4). Maybe I’ll do the same. Some
years back this book has been the text book for the course, untill our genius
with another genius decides that they should write a book.

I don’t think that the problem with the explainations and the book is that
he doesn’t have the necessary credentials; the school would never employ
anybody who is not highly qualified. He is just having a serious problem with
formulating accurately what he means and defines things in a very diffuse
way. So, teaching and authoring books is something he should have kept away.

To refer to Access as Access SQL, says a lot what to expect throughout the
course The entire course is an internet course, which makes it even more
important that the material is written in an accurate and easy to understand
form.

kind regards
L.

 

[Leony]

Hi Tony,

I am not in the States.

 

[Tony Toews]

I am not in the States.

Ah, ok. But then neither am I.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm