How can I make an Access Form into a web page?

[NimBiotics]

I haven't programmed in Access in a while. At this moment I am faced with
the need to crear a (suposedly) simple application with an Access DB that
should allow users add and/or edit records using a web browser.

I have already been doing some basic tests using a web page that offers free
sharepoint hosting (5Mb only,
http://enroll.freesharepoint.com/uddi/freesharepoint/),

I created a table, put in on the server and was able to manipulate it with
(almos) no problem ast all.

Mi question is wheather I can or not convert an Access form into a web page.
If so, how? and if not, what are my alternatives?

I long for dynamic pages ...

Any comment will be highly appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advanced!

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

The only way that an Access form can be turned into a web page is by using a
Data Access Page, which won't work on the Internet (intranet only) and which
works kind of haphazardly anyway.

If you really need a web app, write a web app. If you really prefer the rich
client abilities of an Access form, use a Terminal Server. If you need lots
of concurrent users, Access and JET isn't a good choice anyway.

 

[NimBiotics]

Thanks a lot for your prompt answe Arvin.
Jet is definetly an option for this application, my problem is that my boss
wants to be able to edit records using a web browser and I do not have any
experience whatsoever with web application development. Can you please
explain a bit more about the terminal server solution?

Thanks a lot in advanced,

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

Using a terminal server or terminal service or RDP (remote data processing)
you can edit an Access form on a server (or any other machine that you can
connect to) For an example:

Start >>> Run

then type: mstsc.exe

You must know the IP address or the external computername of the computer
that you are connecting to, or you can connect through your company server,
then use that to connect to a machine on that network. If you use a VPN, it
is far more secure than any other means. You can use my mirror website to
find your IP address:

http://datastrat.mvps.org/IP/

Try it, and if it sounds like something you'd like to know more about, post
back.

 

[NimBiotics]

Again, thanks for your prompt response...

This sound interesting and I have actually worked with one application in
such manner. My concern about this is concurrency.

I said earlier Jet is not an issue, the application is not to have too many
users concurrently, but I can't totally avoid it. The application is to have
some concurrency. I would say that up to 10 people might, at some point be
working on the same DB at once.

Can you please give me more insight?

Thanks a lot in advanced,

 

[Dominic Vella]

Have you considered using .ASP development. .ASP uses the familiar Visual
Basic Programming and runs very well on MS-Windows networks. To develop
interaction with users you would need an understanding of HTML Forms.

There is a lot of .ASP information on the internet. Simply go to a search
engine, such as google, and type .ASP. You will find many sites that offer
freee tutorials.

Dom

 

[NimBiotics]

Thanks a lot Dom. I;ve been doing my homework, searching the net and I'm
afraid you are right: my only solution is a crash course on ASP ...

Thanks a lot,

 

[MikeB]

Thanks a lot Dom. I;ve been doing my homework, searching the net and I'm
afraid you are right: my only solution is a crash course on ASP ...

Good luck on the crash course.

Arvin pointed you to the simplest solution that will work within a few hours of
time as opposed to several days with ASP, notwithstanding a substantial
investment in a development environment to properly debug ASP.

If you are bent on using a total web solution and you are not already
proficient in the concept of ASP, I might point you to CodeCharge Studio

 

[Arvin Meyer [MVP]]

Ten users is nothing, we've operated with 31 users using Microsoft's
Terminal Server and hundreds (not Access though) on a Citrix cluster server.

The cheapest solution would probably be WinConnect, for up to 21 users:

http://www.thinsoftinc.com/product_thin_client_winconnect_server_xp.aspx

A good asp programmer will take an average of 5 to 6 times longer to create
a similar ASP application than a good Access programmer. Even then, using a
browser means using a thin client, not a rich client so you won't be able to
do anywhere near as much on 1 form. If you are learning ASP, it will take
much longer and there will be many things that you won't be able to do
without considerable experience.

Couple that with ASP being replaced by ASP.NET, you may want to consider the
..NET application instead. VBScript, the language of ASP, is very similar to
VBA. VB.NET (or C#, or others) are not close at all, so you'll need to be
prepared for a longer learning curve.

The only conversion that I've done, was in reverse (ASP to Access) and the
savings was huge on a complex application.

Before making any decisions though, you can see what kind of performance you
have by using the information I already mentioned about connecting a single
session (you are allowed up to 2 without a Terminal Server product and
license)

First turn on RDP if it is turned off (Control Panel >>> System >>> Remote)

Then:

Start >>> Run

then type: mstsc.exe

You must know the IP address or the external computername of the computer
that you are connecting to, or you can connect through your company server,
then use that to connect to a machine on that network. If you use a VPN, it
is far more secure than any other means. You can use my mirror website to
find your IP address:

http://datastrat.mvps.org/IP/

 

[NimBiotics]

Thanks a lot. will analyze my options in the following days ...

 

[NimBiotics]

Thanks a lot. will analyze my options in the following days ...