VBA or SQL atfer Access?

[Parvaiz]

Hi everyone,
I'm VERY new to MS access.
I have Access 2007 on my laptop and did MS's On-Line Access 2003 course
modules which I thought were great. (Not much available online for Access
2007 yet).
Anyhow, I felt that I learned a great deal.
I went out and purchased some "For Dummies" books and am now just comming to
the end of Access 2007 - Forms and Reports (Includes queries).

I also have two more books I'd like to work thru:
Access 2007 VBA Programming and
SQL within XML and Access 2007 Environments.

To all you boys and girls that have already gone down this road before me,
I'd simply like to ask which is the next logical book/subject I should tackle.

I am really keen to get my teath into both, but is one subject better
tackled first in order to get the maximum benefit for the next?

Any suggestions from your personal experiences would be greatfully
appreciated.

 

[John W. Vinson]

I also have two more books I'd like to work thru:
Access 2007 VBA Programming and
SQL within XML and Access 2007 Environments.

To all you boys and girls that have already gone down this road before me,
I'd simply like to ask which is the next logical book/subject I should tackle.

I am really keen to get my teath into both, but is one subject better
tackled first in order to get the maximum benefit for the next?

Well... they're actually going off in different directions. You may want both,
but they're not particularly sequential!

The SQL book will help if you need to move the backend - the table storage -
into SQL/Server. Doing so is really important if you need 24/7 connectivity,
or rigorous data security, or continuous "hot backups", or web access; but an
Access frontend will work very similarly whether the data is in JET tables
(.mdb file) or SQL tables.

The VBA programming is useful on the "other end" of the application, facing
the user. Basic bound forms and controls can do a great deal; but for fully
developed user-friendly applications you'll surely need some programming
language interface and VBA is the current language of choice for Access.

It sort of depends on which you want to develop first, based on your needs!

John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[Parvaiz]

Thanx John.
I come from many years within AS/400 Operations background. (The 24/7 shifts
were killling me).
As you can/have to "Embed" SQL into VBA (in Access), I thought I might have
to learn this subject first to make full sense of the value/power of VBA.
Im I right? or can I dive straight into VBA without giving myself a migrane!!?

I know that eventually, I will want/need them both as I would like to change
my job role to Junior Business Analyst/ Access DB Designer-Developer.

Many thanx
Parvaiz.

 

[John W. Vinson]

Thanx John.
I come from many years within AS/400 Operations background. (The 24/7 shifts
were killling me).

My sympathy... and just let me say *DON'T* become a SQL DBA!

As you can/have to "Embed" SQL into VBA (in Access), I thought I might have
to learn this subject first to make full sense of the value/power of VBA.
Im I right? or can I dive straight into VBA without giving myself a migrane!!?

Well... you can't really "embed" SQL into VBA. You can construct SQL Queries
as text strings and execute them from code, but it's not like T-SQL or
Oracle's PL-SQL: they're still separate languages.

I know that eventually, I will want/need them both as I would like to change
my job role to Junior Business Analyst/ Access DB Designer-Developer.

I'd be sure to have a good grounding in normalization, table design, and query
design first (using either JET or SQL backend as appropriate), and then work
on VBA.

John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[Fred Boer]

Dear John:

My sympathy... and just let me say *DON'T* become a SQL DBA!

I'm curious about the above statement... (DBA = Database Administrator,
right?) What's the background behind this?

Cheers!
Fred

 

[Parvaiz]

Thanx for all your advice John.
I'll do just that !.

 

[John W. Vinson]

Dear John:


I'm curious about the above statement... (DBA = Database Administrator,
right?) What's the background behind this?

If you think job pressure and sleep deprivation apply only to Operations,
you've never known a corporate DBA! My sister has been one, and a good friend
- and they have led stressful lives.

John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[Fred Boer]

Dear John:

Well, I know nothing about Operations or being a corporate DBA - and sleep
deprivation to me means being woken repeatedly and politely invited to stop
snoring... but, thanks, I think I get the drift now..

Cheers!
Fred

P.S. You AND your sister are database Wysards?! Must be in the genes....

 

[SmartbizAustralia]

Sounds like you also need some real business applications on Access.

Building Access Applications by Viescas will give you a start in the
right direction.

Regards,
Tom Bizannes
Sydney, Australia

 

[aaron.kempf]

there is no such thing as a Jet backend

learn SQL Server, kid

 

[aaron.kempf]

bull shit kid

Access MDB is a piece of crap

learn SQL Server, it is the worlds most popular database server on
Windows, the worlds most popular server OS