Access Web Database
100 TopicsFuture of Microsoft Access: PowerApps|CDS|VSTO|VBA|Flow|JS|VS|.NET|Graph Cloud|Mobile|Web|Developers
Access & Office Development Roadmap & Suggestions In addition to summing up recent Access updates & resources (including those from Access), I've compiled some suggestions & questions for the Access & Office Dev Platform teams (ranging from PowerApps & Common Data Service integration to VSTO Add-in dev, VBA & VBE) here. I've also recapped the recent Microsoft reorg changes along with thoughts on potential implications for Access & Office. Also, if at all possible, any glimpse the Microsoft Access and Office Developer Platform (VBA, VBE IDE, Office.js, VSTO) teams could provide us with into what they are considering (even if not confirmed yet) as possible future enhancements, fixes and data connectors for Access and improvements for Access developers (automation/macros/add-in development) for Access 2019 / Office 2019 (expected Q2 2018) onward would be greatly appreciated. Promising Trend of Access Updates vs. Cloud-first Focus & Dropped Web Support Considering, on one hand, the number of promising recent Access updates (summarized below, per Access Day) and, on the other, the deprecation of Access Web Apps (AWA & Access Services for Microsoft-hosted SharePoint Online going read-only by April 2 '18) and Microsoft's recent Cloud-first focus (PowerApps, Common Data Service, Azure) and Cloud vs. UX reorg. shakeup. Microsoft Reorganization (Cloud vs UX Shakeup) Implications Also, I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on possible implications of the just-announced Microsoft "Cloud vs. UX" reorgization on Access, Office development and Microsoft Office / Office 365 in general. Specifically, as I will detail in my next post, Microsoft has combined their 4 groups into just two groups, essentially splitting by Cloud vs. non-Cloud - a "Cloud & AI" group, including Azure, PowerApps, Power BI, Dev Tools/APIs, among other things vs. a "Devices & User Experience" group, including Office, Windows, Surface & Mobile. Recent Access Features & Updates I'd like to start off by recapping all the recent advancements we've seen with Microsoft Access, at Access Day and beyond. Considering all the features removed from Access in recent years and toying with removal of Access from most Office editions, it's really great to see that Microsoft ended up (after the user backlash) adding Access to almost all Office & Office 365 editions instead! More than that, its really incredible to see all the new Access updates, such as new Data Connectors (Microsoft Dynamics & Salesforce), Large Number (BigInt) support, an upcoming bringing back dBase support, Access Templates on Office.com (experimentally) and 32-bit SSMA release (with the SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access previously only usable with uncommon 64-bit Office installs). Also, I'm glad to see the Access Accessibility Updates (Screen reader, F6 navigation, high contrast, etc.), which even as I understand, helped lead to Microsoft receiving the USBLN Accessible product design award for tech enabling the over 1 Billion across the world with disabilities. Congrats to the Access, Office and Accessibility teams on that achievement! Access Team's Support & Updates I also very much appreciate the new content and support from the Access team. For those not familiar with all of it, that includes new resources under and Access Help Center with Docs and Video Tutorials, as well as Access Templates on Office.com and the attention the Access dev team is providing to Feedback & Suggestions on User Voice pages for Access and User Voice for Office Developer Platform (VBA, VBE, Add-in Dev), as well as all the activity in the the new Access blog and Access forums here. Upcoming Features for Access and Access Day Revelations I was exciting hearing about the upcoming support for New Chart types and R2 update of Access Redistributable 2016, all covered at Access Day 2018 by Access Program Manager Michal_Bar, as seen in her Access Day presentation video (thanks to ArmenS and his post on the new charts). Access Dropped from Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) for .NET Add-in Development However, there are a few things long-missing or rarely updated which I would love to see to simplify life for Access developers and enable better integration with or taking advantage of the latest, Cloud-focused Microsoft product and developer tool/API advancements. For example, I, and many others as seen in this LinkedIn discussion, would really like to see at least Access supported with VSTO for add-in development again, as well as modernizing development tools/APIs for macros/automation. Specifically, it would be great if at some point in the future we could see updates to the VBE / VBA IDE (eg. adding tabbed documents, both forward/backward edit navigation, etc. as missing most VS updates since forked from VS around VB6), updates to VBA language (which hasn't seen much in the way of updates since VB6 it was based on), Visual Studio use for VBA (for macro coding, debugging & edit-and-continue), Microsoft Flow automation (eg. using On-premises Data Gateway or VPN connection or OneDrive), Office.js API, and/or VB.NET / C# / .NET for macro coding. VBE (VBA IDE) Issues There are also long-standing issues with VBE (VBA IDE) like it being unable to handle multiple monitors with different resolutions without ghosting when resizing tool panels. And missing modern text editor features (let alone modern Visual Studio features) like Tabbed Documents, Forward & Backwards edit navigation/history, etc. We ended up seeing and dealing with this for example (in addition to encountering it all the time myself) even during the presentations at Access Day. Automation (Macro & Add-in Development) API Limitations For Add-in developers and VBA Macro/Automation developers, Access could really benefit IMO from adding events, like for OnAppExit, OnSave globally and for each object/window, access to multiple objects selected in Navigation Sidebar, defining hotkeys via code (vs AutoKeys), extend the Nav sidebar context menu - to name a few. I will likely post a compiled list of suggestions later on regarding Access and VBA/VBE Automation APIs. Documentation & Samples Missing However, developer docs and content is completely missing for Access from samples on Office Developer site and training videos at the Office Dev Center for Access, and Official Office Roadmap (which only has 3 entries for Access: Salesforce + BigInt as completed, and Dynamics 365 connector shown as still WIP/Still Rolling Out) as well as Office Add-in Development docs, Visual Studio Office Development docs and project templates in Visual Studio. Content missing from those last three places is likely due to Access being dropped entirely from VSTO for some reason, but even then there are other ways (eg. COM APIs, 3rd party wrappers, etc.) that could at least be mentioned there, or even include older VSTO docs. People are developing add-ins with Access, regardless of it being dropped from VSTO, but there is no documentation on how to do that. Making the Access Templates Experiment Permanent Also, Access Templates should definitely be kept permanently and shown to everyone all the time. As Michal had pointed out, Access Templates end up being shown randomly (for A/B testing) just for some users on the Office Templates site. However, after refreshing 2 dozen times, trying with a dozen Incognito sessions across several dozen sessions it took dozens of attempts to finally see it, so I'm not sure it's shown as often may be though. Cloud Data Connectors (Common Data Service and Graph) like Excel & other Office Apps Similarly, I would love to see Common Data Service and Microsoft Graph support (and maybe direct access to Power BI-embedded data) in Microsoft Access. As Juan Soto had pointed out, Excel and other Office and MS apps provide Common Data Service support, with just Microsoft Access as the one missing out. Access Web App "Replacement" PowerApps Supports Everything Except Access For other improvements beyond Access/Excel/Office Macros and Developer Tools/API, I'd really think it valuable for PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and Power BI Online (beyond just Desktop version, for Service / Premium / Report Server / Mobile / Gateway, and without import Desktop to Service hack) to provide direct support for Access databases. On-premises Data Gateway: Possibility for Using Access from PowerApps & Power BI for Web & Mobile It's frustrating not even being able to setup the On-premises Data Gateway (installed on local PC for "File System" access, shared by PowerApps and Power BI) to support Access databases in PowerApps - just Excel workbooks. Concerns Regarding Microsoft Priorities for Azure & PowerApps vs. Access However, considering how even Access Services (for SharePoint-Access integration via Access Web Apps (AWA) as well as earlier Access Web Databases) being deprecated and going read-only (April 1, 2018), I wonder how likely that might be that we get further Cloud/Web/Mobile features. Considering this and how Microsoft attempted to even remove Access from most Office editions recently, as well as their Cloud-first focus, it's a bit concerning. It seems like with Access being included in Office there is a lot less revenue to be made from it compared to billing monthly (and by usage) with PowerApps, Power BI, Azure, etc. I can understand Microsoft's business priorities there, but, considering Access is often used for prototyping databases for SQL Server and Azure SQL, as well as quick, end-user-editable front-ends for them, I think it would make more sense IMO to expand Access' integration with Azure and Cloud Services versus trying to drop it from Office editions and replace with PowerApps which can't even connect to Access (pushing use of Excel spreadsheets for data storage and queries instead, for file system connectors). There is little-to-no support for even connecting to Access Databases from PowerApps and Power BI and even OneDrive/Dropbox deployment not being feasible (unlike Excel, now with its real-time multi-user collaborative desktop editing enabled when deployed that way, let alone Excel Online deployment). Remaining Deployment Options: VPN File Shares & Remote Access (RDP, RemoteApps, Citrix) Considering this, the we are limited for multi-user deployment to Network Shares over VPN (not feasible if want clients or customers to be able to use, or access from home for many) and Remote Desktop (RDP - though RemoteApp is a pretty good option), or Citrix & other RDP-like options (now that Azure RemoteApp hosting is deprecated). Questions for Access & Office Dev Platform Teams To sum up, my primary questions (and suggestions) for the Access development team are the following: Is there any chance we may see Microsoft Access integration with PowerApps, Common Data Service, Azure, Microsoft Graph, Power BI Online, SharePoint, Office Online, On-premises Data Gateway, OneDrive, Dropbox and/or Microsoft Flow? Any other possibilities to simplify Web, Mobile, Cloud Drive (eg. making OneDrive feasible to use, like with Excel for multi-users), or otherwise simplifying Multi-User use and deployment for Microsoft Access? Is there any chance we could get Access added back to Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) for officially supported and documented (complete with Visual Studio project templates) for .NET Add-in development for Access, like with Excel and other office apps? Any possibility of updates to VBA, VBE IDE, or support for Visual Studio for VBA or C#/VB.NET for macro coding, or JavaScript (eg. Office.js), or even Microsoft Flow (eg. via Gateway, VPN, or OneDrive) for automation?Solved27KViews6likes6CommentsSteps To Decompile Your MS Access-Database
"Steps To Decompile Your MS Access-Database 1)On a Windows system go to Start and type ‘msaccess.exe /decompile ‘in the Run command line. Here msaccess.exe includes the complete path of the Access Database. 2)Now go to Access and open the database you want to decompile. 3)Open any module as per your requirement and compile it through Debug, Compile.., and then File, Save...." My question: It´s about ACCESS 2013. Everyone is mention the Debug in Tool menu. There is no Debug option under Tools in our MS Access 2013 Database: Please see screenshot (Swedish version) Here´s the english translate the sceenshot. -References -Macro -Properties for DB -Digtial sinature As you can see, no DEBUG in the below screenshot. Really appreciate your answerSolved23KViews0likes4CommentsMigrating Access back end to the cloud
Hi. I am an amateur. Using Access 365, I have created a small Access database for a local charity and I would like it be usable by 3 or 4 people at once and so I think I need to get the back end (the tables) into the cloud. I have tried to set it up with Azure SQL, SQL Server and I've tried to use SQL Express as a stepping stone. But, in every case, the technology is impenetrable. I have downloaded endless software packages that I think the guys in India have recommended (although the language barrier is very difficult) so that I have installed MS Data migration assistant, MS SQL Server Express, MS SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access, MS SQL Server Tools 2018 and SQL Server Configuration Manager. Can anyone direct me to a step-by-step procedure, suitable for dummies, that can help me achieve this? Regards GrahamSolved16KViews0likes39CommentsI want to use access but I have a Mac
Hello, I was wondering if there is Access for Mac or if there is an online app where I can use it. Also, is it possible to save data in the cloud and have access to it from another computer. For example, I want to view the data that I entered at work on my PC in my laptop at home. Does this make sense?Solved15KViews0likes1CommentNumber of simultaneous users allowed to access database
Hi All, So far I have designed access applications for less tha 20 users. Now I have a requirement to develop something wherein users are around 130. I am thinking to develop front end using excel and back end using access database. However I am concerned whether such huge number of users are allowed or not. In total these 130 users will make around 21000 read write operations in a day . Need expert advise over it. Thanks in advance8.9KViews0likes4CommentsSharing and updating an ACCESS database on the cloud
I have implemented an ACCESS database. I would like to store it on the cloud so my colleagues can access it simultaneously. Some of them may be updating some data while others will look for certain records and files being stored within the database. I realize that I should do all my design and coding on my local PC then upload the file on the cloud; however, this central cloud copy of the database file should be accessed and updated while it is on the cloud by multiple users. I am not sure if storing on OneDrive would allow me to do this. I would highly appreciate any experienced developer in this issue.8.6KViews0likes12CommentsMicrosoft Access Giving error, File is already in use ,if access by more than people on shared netwo
Hi My name is Varun , happy new to everyone, I came across a issue with the Microsoft access Giving Error Cannot access the a file which is on shared drive, it can only work for one person at a time. if someone else try to use it says file is already in use.6.3KViews0likes7CommentsAccess on cloud
Good morning, I have designed a MS Access database and the frond end already contains all of the necessary UI. It is a multi-user database but not everyone have access to it. Meaning some of the colleagues have Macs. Could you maybe suggest a cloud based platform like a virtual machine environment or something where everyone can log into the browser and have access to the same MS Access file without needing to have MS Access on their personal comouters?5.8KViews0likes5CommentsMS Access & Sharepoint limitations
Hey everyone, I've got a topic I'd like to discuss that relates to my MS Access database. The situation is that I need to make it accessible remotely for multiple people scattered across Europe. Now, I know there are two options I can explore: Splitting the current database into two files, the Front End (FE) and Back End (BE). I'd store the BE file in the cloud and keep the FE file on my local machine. Rewriting the whole thing in SQL and storing it in MS SQL or something similar. My main focus right now is on the first option. But here's where I need your help: If I want to store the BE file in SharePoint, do you know if it can be done with SharePoint Online or if I need SharePoint Server? And how do I go about setting it up so that the local files stay connected to the backend at all times? My ideal scenario is to have multiple people with their own FE files, and any changes they make should update the BE in real time. I've spent ages searching for answers and even talked to support, but I just end up confusing myself more each time. I'm really looking for straightforward information rather than opinions. If any of you have any insights or can lend a hand, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!5.2KViews0likes1CommentAccess web apps will be read only on April 1st, please plan accordingly
A year ago Microsoft announced that Access Service in SharePoint will be discontinued. We hope you've had a chance to migrate your app, but if you haven't here are some of the platforms you can recreate your application into: PowerApps - Web App Microsoft Access - a "regular" Access file that is not a web app Another web technology such as php or .Net Other platforms Which technology you pick will depend on: Your IT department's guidelines on applications, some may prefer .Net or don't have any preference Your budget to re-architect the solution, some platforms, such as PowerApps, are easy to develop but are not as powerful, others such as .net are more powerful but much more expensive to develop, with Access in between the two Your time constraints: Given the short period between now and April 1st, you may need to put together an Access application instead of .Net just because it's faster. What you should absolutely not do is wait, the time to act is now if you do have a mission critical access web application.Solved4.1KViews3likes13Comments