general question

[JohnE]

I had the big bosses come to me today and asked if VB6
could be used as the front end for A2k tables. At first
I thought, sure it can be done that way, but why? They
want to place the app on the Citrix server. I still
asked why vb6. I never did get an answer. My first
suspicion is that Oracle showed up one day as a test run
but I think the cost could be more then what can be
afforded so that is why the big dogs asked about this.

So I am now wondering myself, if the app is going on the
Citrix server, could VB6 be used as the front end for the
back end A2k tables? (and don't ask why like I did)
If VB6 can be used, is there any quirks that should be
known?
Would it beneficial to do it this way?

Thanks for response.
*** John

 

[MacDermott]

The simple answer is yes, VB6 can be used to build a front-end for A2K
tables.
I'd add immediately that the consensus I've seen in newsgroups is that it
takes about 3 times as long to build a VB6/Access application as it does a
pure Access one.

Some of the reasons I know of for using a VB6/Access architecture:
1. This does not require a copy of Access for each user (even using a
Citrix server, the Access dlls must be on each user's "desktop" if you are
using a pure Access solution. If this is the only Access application your
users have, this can be a resource-gobbler.)
2. A VB6 application compiles to a relatively small footprint.

HTH
- Turtle

 

[John]

Turtle, thanks. I might go with added resource time to
persuade to stay with A2k all the way.
***John

 

[Larry Linson]

Some of the reasons I know of for
using a VB6/Access architecture:
1. This does not require a copy of Access
for each user (even using a Citrix server,
the Access dlls must be on each user's
"desktop" if you are using a pure Access
solution.

But, if you have the Developer Edition of Access 97/2000/2002, or the Visual
Studio Tools for Office 2003 System, the msaccess.exe on each user's desktop
can be the Access runtime support, so it doesn't mean you have to buy a copy
of retail Access for every user.

If this is the only Access appli-
cation your users have, this can be a
resource-gobbler.)

Could you clarify?

2. A VB6 application compiles to a
relatively small footprint.

True, but to use an "Access" database, the Jet database engine will have to
be installed... so it's not quite as much difference as it might be. And, in
these days of dirt-cheap disk and memory, that's not as much an issue as it
once was.

I did a presentation for my user group on using Access or VB for database
applications -- you can download it from
http://appdevissues.tripod.com/downloads.htm. It might be useful.

And, just for the record, the current Visual Basic is Visual Basic.NET,
which is rather different from VB6.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

 

[MacDermott]

Could you clarify?

I was thinking mostly of hard drive space.
AFAIK, an Access RunTime installation takes about as much space as a full
Access installation.
You're quite right that with today's hard drives and RAM, this may not be
much of an issue, but it seemed worth mentioning.
I'm no expert in this, but it's my understanding that on a Citrix server,
each user would have a personal copy of all those files. If there are many
users, this could add up some...

Admittedly, this is likely to be more of an issue for users who are not on
Citrix:
1. Users with smaller, older machines.
2. Users who will be downloading the app over the Internet (especially
with dial-up connections).
It's amazing how fast we (I'm including myself) forget what it's like to
have an older machine, older OS, and dial-up connection. Yet I keep being
reminded that there are a lot of those out there!

- Turtle


- Turtle