A front end for Access

HI: I am setting up a database for industrial archaeology sites in Nova
Scotia, Canada. People email me the information and I format it for the
database.
On the search web page I would like to have users only see some boxes to
enter their search. E.g. First box they could enter Site type, or dates of
use, or location. Second box Boolean operators. Third box more choice of
input. Fourth box more Boolean and so on.
Is this a dumb idea? The page would have a short explanation of how it works.
Similarly on the reports end I assume I can set up a report format which
will appear on screen.
You guess that I'm a total beginner at the web end of things!
Maybe there is a book which explains this or a nice simple program.
Thanks, Donald

You can use an asp or asp.net web page as a front-end for an Access/Jet
database. If the system is a closed system and you don't have may users, it
would be a lot cheaper to use a separate Access front end and a Terminal
Services client to make the connection. A very inexpensive thin client can
be found at:

http://www.thinsoftinc.com/product_t...server_xp.aspx
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access
http://www.accessmvp.com


"Donald Wyllie" Donald wrote in message
...
HI: I am setting up a database for industrial archaeology sites in Nova
Scotia, Canada. People email me the information and I format it for the
database.
On the search web page I would like to have users only see some boxes to
enter their search. E.g. First box they could enter Site type, or dates of
use, or location. Second box Boolean operators. Third box more choice of
input. Fourth box more Boolean and so on.
Is this a dumb idea? The page would have a short explanation of how it
works.
Similarly on the reports end I assume I can set up a report format which
will appear on screen.
You guess that I'm a total beginner at the web end of things!
Maybe there is a book which explains this or a nice simple program.
Thanks, Donald

No it's not a bad idea to have a central repository and web based interface
to pull data.

However, I wouldn't drive a web site off Access. You can do it and it will
kinda work but not really designed for concurrency. Use SQL Server if
possible for tables and have an Access front end and a web front end. The
website would have to generate the report.

If you need to use the Access reporting writing features to make what you
need, you could use our Report Server product to drive reports for a simple
web site (without any SQL Server database), http://www.rptsoftware.com.
Also lots of other good reporting tools for the web (ActiveReports, Crystal,
SQL Server Reporting Services).

With Access people usually go the "run access remotely" option. Because web
based development is a different skillset.

Depending on how difficult the reports are would determine which methods
work best.

Pick up a book on ASP or ASP.NET or do some google searches (should find
lots of info and examples).
You could email me with more details and I'll give you some ideas.

HTH,
Mark
RPT Software
http://www.rptsoftware.com

"Donald Wyllie" Donald wrote in message
...
HI: I am setting up a database for industrial archaeology sites in Nova
Scotia, Canada. People email me the information and I format it for the
database.
On the search web page I would like to have users only see some boxes to
enter their search. E.g. First box they could enter Site type, or dates of
use, or location. Second box Boolean operators. Third box more choice of
input. Fourth box more Boolean and so on.
Is this a dumb idea? The page would have a short explanation of how it
works.
Similarly on the reports end I assume I can set up a report format which
will appear on screen.
You guess that I'm a total beginner at the web end of things!
Maybe there is a book which explains this or a nice simple program.
Thanks, Donald