Best of Breed (MS Access 2000)

Member Name: dave27

Product:	MS Access 2000
Date:	27/02/02 (235 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very powerful and flexible

Disadvantages: Fiddly

Microsoft Access - the best - who says so - Me.

Oay, now that's all I really wanted to write here because it sums up the reason why anyone actually rates something - they like it more than any other and they don't need to justify it to anybody else, but that would be pretty boring for all you keen as mustard Dooyoo-ers out there, so I'm going to give you a few other reasons to be cheerful.

Just to summarise, however, Microsoft's Access in all its various formats and versions is probably the best and most commonly used database software around today - now commonly used isn't always a guarantee of quality, but in the case of this little beaut, you get a program which is excellent, very powerful and flexible and puts "all the power in the hands of the people rich enough to buy it" (Thanks to Joe Strummer).

Access is much more than just a database program which allows you to list all your record collection and allows you to sort it into alphabetical order (you sad gits). If that's all you want, use Excel - Access will do that sure, but it only really comes into its own when you really organise things to build relationships between entities.

I feel an example coming on chiz chiz chiz.....

Sorry, folks, I tried writing up an example but it got very dull and anorakist, so I'll leave it at this (Mrs dave27: "I wish you would you boring old man.") suffice to say it's a database regarding Leeds United - you have to work out the relationships between the different sets of data tables you want to hold and if you set things up right you can do virtually anything with that data - I can, for instance, pull up an automatic report listing the details of every game played by a player, a summary on a season by season basis of his performances, a list of all the results of every game played against Liverpool, etc etc etc...

Now unless you're interested in stats this is al
l very dull and boring, but when you ally it to the possibilities of using Access to build an automated application, you can quickly see the possibilities. In the right hands, Access can be an amazing tool - you can build an accounting system, a holiday booking system, records of Dooyoo ops, you name it you can do it.

I was astounded by the possibilities when I really got into Access about three years ago - at first it had felt extremely complicated and fiddly, but I've become more comfortable with it now and consider myself a VERY gifted amateur.

I'll regularly and quickly use Access to manage all sorts of problems, both business and pleasure, and once you've got something up and running it can save you hours of work.

Now in my younger days I sued to swear by Borland's Paradox and got very annoyed when people tried to get me to move onto Access - it felt too fiddly and difficult to grasp. However, a gap of using any database of about 18 months allowed me to come afresh to Access and I was absolutely delighted by it.

When you've got a problem or an application that really suits the facilities of a relational database management system, then you'll know that Access is undeniably THE ONE - the absolute pick of the bunch, a tool so powerful you could easily be marching into Poland with it...

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