Using Database instead of Excel

[AccessHelp]

Good morning,

We have 5 departments in our company, and we track the jobs of those
departments so that the upper management can see what is going on.

This is how we do currently. I designed a job log in Excel for each
department, and those job logs are linked to an Access database. The
management then run the reports to see the status of those jobs.

I know that is not a sufficient way to do it. Unfortunately, we only have a
limited number of Access licenses.

I want to know what you guys would do in my situation. Can the departments
use the MDE files without having Access on their computers, and how does it
work?

Any suggestions or inputs would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jerry Whittle]

An MDE alone won't help. You'll need to install the run time plus buy an
expensive package to create it.

You might be able to create Active Server Pages and put them out on your
network. Then people can work with the database through their web browser.

 

[AccessHelp]

Jerry,

Thanks. Can you tell me more about Access and ASP? I know what is ASP, but
I have not used ASP with Access. Or can you give me a web site where I can
go to learn more about it? Do the users need to have Access on their
computers for the ASP? As I mentioned in my initial message, the users do
not have Access on their computers.

Thanks again.

 

[Pat Hartman\(MVP\)]

There is a cost associated with using asp and it is much more than with
purchasing the VS Tools for MS Office which would allow you to distribute
the Access runtime engine. You have to buy it. You have to learn it. You
have to develop the web pages you need. You have to test them, etc.

Only users who need to make development changes to an Access database need
to have the full retail version of Access installed. Users who just run
applications created by someone else can use the runtime engine. The
package that includes the unlimited distribution rights to the runtime costs
around $500. Much less if you are a non-profit or educational company.

The runtime is not without problems however. You need to have complete
error trapping and that means removing virtually all macros and you need to
make custom menus. If this solution interests you, search the knowledge
base and MSDN library for articles and problems.

 

[AccessHelp]

Hi Pat,

Thanks for the information. I am just wondering what you would do if you
are me on this project. Or what would be an efficient way of tracking the
jobs?

Thanks again.

 

[Pat Hartman\(MVP\)]

As long as your company is willing to buy the VS Tools for you, keep
everything in Access. If they won't, you can distribute reports from Access
in .snp format (the reader is free if you don't already have it installed).
You could also export spreadsheets as reports.