Analysing existing dbs

[david]

I am new to Access & have been given a building companys
undocumented db to add new features to. It has been
developed over several years by a single programmer who
went missing 3 years ago! The users only know how to use
it via a switchboard & nothing about its internals. It is
in Access97 contains 42 tables with many relationships,
172 queries, 84 forms,48 reports & 31 macros and runs as
a split server backend & users frontend.

Is it worth deconstructing/reconstructing it - importing
object by object into a new db to find out how it works
or redesigning it from scratch knowing what the client
needs & currently has.
Is, at some point, Access not the right db to be using?
Any advice general or specific is welcome.

 

[Larry]

-----Original Message-----
I am new to Access & have been given a building companys
undocumented db to add new features to. It has been
developed over several years by a single programmer who
went missing 3 years ago! The users only know how to use
it via a switchboard & nothing about its internals. It is
in Access97 contains 42 tables with many relationships,
172 queries, 84 forms,48 reports & 31 macros and runs as
a split server backend & users frontend.

Is it worth deconstructing/reconstructing it - importing
object by object into a new db to find out how it works
or redesigning it from scratch knowing what the client
needs & currently has.
Is, at some point, Access not the right db to be using?
Any advice general or specific is welcome.

.
Access is the right db to use. It should not be that hard

to document what is already there.
Use Tools/Analyze/Documenter as a starting point

 

[Jeff Boyce]

David

You've described the components and asked if Access is the right tool for
the job. A bit like me describing a windshield, tires, and an engine, and
asking if "it" will do what I want (but not describe what I want!).

What business need is this application supposed to solve?

How many folks need to use it simultaneously? For data entry or lookup?

What kind of equipment (?and network) are you using?

Which version of Access?

What do the users have to say about the adequacy?

(and many MANY more questions...)

Good luck

Jeff Boyce
<Access MVP>

 

[david]

Thanks Jeff for your reply.

"Is, at some point, Access not the right db to be using?"

I was trying to ask a more open ended question here
really about Access and not my specific task - for
example are there any rules of thumb for when Access
would be an unsuitable choice - considering variables
like equipment, #users, ease of
expandability/development, max sizes, etc. So given a
brief description of a task you could say wooo dont use
Access for that you need to use xyz db.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

David

Yes, given a brief description of the task, issues about the suitability of
Access would be possible. Do you have a "brief description of the task"?

Jeff Boyce
<Access MVP>

P.S. I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm trying to point out that you've
told us nothing about what you're trying to do. The questions in my
previous response were an attempt to elicit some of the description that
would help the readers in this 'group respond appropriately.