Replying to LO25651 --
Hello Peggy and Follow LOer's,
If I understand your situation correctly you have four large databases and
several small ones. It appears that every time your company has a data
need a new database is built.
If that is correct then you question about database design is the place to
begin. Access is a relational database, meaning that a database is a
collection of linked tables. This is different from your current use of
Access which sounds like a one table per database. I've included a list
of sites below that would help you understand the relational database
approach. In a nutshell, a piece of data is entered one time, in one
place, and it can be used everywhere else. It saves many data entry
errors. It is useful to know as much as you can about design when you
talk to the IT programmers. They speak a different language and often
don't know how to understand what you do and how you need a database to
act even though they are excellent programmers. As with so many things,
communication is key.
You question about 'similar database needs' is a little vague. My
question is how big is your data network? Without knowing that explicitly
let me hazard an answer. I use MSAccess97 over a corporate network which
has set up an internal workgroup where I share the database. I have a
handful of people set up to use that database and access it over the
workgroup. The database is on my desktop computer. It is a small
database with about 1500 clients. However, MSAccess97 is not optimized
for over the network use in a large company with a large database and many
users. I have only read this in my studies and have not directly
experienced the limitation (yet). For larger use a BackOffice
(server-based) application is more robust (like Oracle or SQL server),
more expensive, and more difficult to maintain.
It might be more economical to develop your understanding of database
design and see if you can streamline your data structures. As you build
your data structures you can find out if MSAccess will handle your
situation. If an SQL database is required at that point, I believe that
Access can be used as a front-end to get to your data. That could be
discussed with the programmers. By then, you will know their language and
your data needs. Those are the most important pieces of information to
have.
The following are some web sites that I've used for their online tutorials
and other resources regarding relational databases. Another source of
classes is www.smartplanet.com; <http://www.smartplanet.com;> some are
self-instruction and some are instructor-led.
Dorothy 's Place - Welcome
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Platform/9266/
<http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Platform/9266/>
Overview of the Relational Model
http://www.utexas.edu/cc/dbms/utinfo/relmod/index.html
<http://www.utexas.edu/cc/dbms/utinfo/relmod/index.html>
Relational model overview
http://www.compapp.dcu.ie/databases/f037.html
<http://www.compapp.dcu.ie/databases/f037.html>
Jose's Database Programming Corner - The Relational Database Model
http://www.citilink.com/~jgarrick/vbasic/database/rdbms.html
<http://www.citilink.com/~jgarrick/vbasic/database/rdbms.html>
Joe Garrick's Database Programming Corner - Database Object Naming
Conventions
http://www.citilink.com/~jgarrick/vbasic/database/naming.html
<http://www.citilink.com/~jgarrick/vbasic/database/naming.html>
Welcome page for DCU guided tour through WWW courseware
http://www.compapp.dcu.ie/databases/welcome.html
<http://www.compapp.dcu.ie/databases/welcome.html>
Library Home
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?URL=/library/officedev/bapp200
0/acbatitle.htm
<http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?URL=/library/officedev/bapp20
00/acbatitle.htm>
Helen Feddema's Home Page
http://ulster.net/~hfeddema/ <http://ulster.net/~hfeddema/>
Diaxon Home Page
http://www.personal.u-net.com/~dibookco/
<http://www.personal.u-net.com/~dibookco/>
Hope this is helpful to you. Peace and Happy Thanksgiving.
Chuck
-------------------------------------
Name: Charles Gilbert VOC: (704) 355-5261
Carolinas Medical Center FAX: (704) 355-8424
Dept of Pediatric Research digPager: (704) 355-4088 : 2058
PO Box 32861
Charlotte, NC 28232-2861
Date: 21 November, 2000 Time: 1:30 PM E-mail:
cgilbert@carolinas.org
DISCLAIMER: {"The opinions are my own and not necessarily shared by my
employer."}
Sent by Outlook under the 60 Hz electron recycling project
-------------------------------------
"The Indians addressed all life as a "thou" --- the trees, the stones,
everything. You can address anything as a "thou," and if you do it, you can
feel that change in your own psychology. The ego that sees a "thou" is not
the same ego that sees an "it."" Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth
>My organization is reviewing whether or not our database software is
>meeting our needs and I would like to ask you two questions...
--"Gilbert, Charles" <CGilbert@carolinas.org>
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