convert Access 2k to .NET, how?

[mittalk]

Hi
I have developed an access 2k database application. I now need to
distribute it to several users. Since most of the users will not have
( & can not have) MS Access on thier machines, I am looking at a way
to package the application as a standalone VB 6 or pref VB .NET
application. Having no background in .NET I am not sure how or if this
can be done successfully.
ANY pointers/ advise on how to proceed in this regard would help a
lot.

Thanks!!

 

[Van T. Dinh]

An Access database cannot be converted easily into a VB / VB.Net App.

There are some software packages that claim to be able to convert Access
Forms to VB Forms but the consensus is that none does a good job of
converting and we may as well re-write the application from scratch.

You can, of course, use the existing database (MDB/MDE file) to store data
for your VB App but in this case, you only use the JET portion of the
database file.

Beware of the substantial time / costs in re-developing the application in
VBA. It will certainly be a lot more than the license fee for a Microsoft
Office Developer Edition which allows you to create an installation package
that can install the Access run-time files (royalty-free) with your Access
database so that the users without the full-version Access software CAN use
your Access database appln.