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To Convert or Not To Convert

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    To Convert or Not To Convert

    I've got an VB front end that I going to rebuild in A5. The back end data is MSAccess.

    Looking at Actvie-Link tables it seems that A5 creates a DBF file for each MSAccess table that it's linked to - as a gateway I suppose.

    What do you folks think? Should I convert the MSAccess tables to DBF or use Active-Link and stay with an MSAccess back end.

    Using DBF I'd have to write a conversion routine for existing users. Not such a big deal. But... what's better?

    Thanks,

    David

    #2
    Re: To Convert or Not To Convert

    In my humble opinion... if your application is targeted at a large, diverse, audience, i.e. if it is or if it is your hope that it will be, a "widely distributed commercial application," and if cost is not so much an issue for your end-users/customers... I would go with Active Link Tables.

    I say this because, like it or not, your application will be judged by how state-of-the-art "it seems," and by using Active Link Tables (regardless of if you ship support for only Access, or you support a number of other popular SQL backends, it will be more readily accepted in today's SQL-oriented marketplace.

    Just my two-cents... and that's about what it is worth :-)
    "all things should be as simple as possible... but no simpler"

    Mike

    Comment


      #3
      Re: To Convert or Not To Convert

      Thanks Michael... something to think about. The app is used by adjusters and they don't care what's in the back end so long as it works... and mostly only on standalone PCs and laptops. The users wouldn't really know a SQL database, what it means, what it's for, etc.

      Any advantages/dis to developing with Active-Link or local dbf's?



      Originally posted by michaelwpayton View Post
      In my humble opinion... if your application is targeted at a large, diverse, audience, i.e. if it is or if it is your hope that it will be, a "widely distributed commercial application," and if cost is not so much an issue for your end-users/customers... I would go with Active Link Tables.

      I say this because, like it or not, your application will be judged by how state-of-the-art "it seems," and by using Active Link Tables (regardless of if you ship support for only Access, or you support a number of other popular SQL backends, it will be more readily accepted in today's SQL-oriented marketplace.

      Just my two-cents... and that's about what it is worth :-)

      Comment


        #4
        Re: To Convert or Not To Convert

        In that case... and again, in my humble (read: in my not very experienced with Alpha compared to others out here) opinion... based on what you are saying, I would just use the native DBFs.
        "all things should be as simple as possible... but no simpler"

        Mike

        Comment


          #5
          Re: To Convert or Not To Convert

          David:

          I have used both native Alpha files and Access DB with no problems. I had several Access applications that I wanted on the Web and instead of converting to DBF files, I went with the active link and it worked seamlessly.

          Steve

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            #6
            Re: To Convert or Not To Convert

            We chose to convert everything from MS Access to A5. A significant reason for doing so was the ability in A5 to see the individual tables in Windows Explorer. This allows for easier maintenance if the DB gets data corruption. A second reason is that fact that you avoid the complexity that will be introduced when using non-native tables.

            On occasion, we have been able to correct data corruption by simply deleting the index (.CDX file) and letting A5 rebuild it. Alternatively, we have also on occasion been able to replace a .DBF file with a different one. One must be careful doing things like this, but I am not aware that Access even allows this sort of DB maintenance. When data corruption occurred in Access and the fixup routine didn't work, we simply had to fall back to a prior backup. This usually necessitates re-entering data.

            If you willing to deal with the additional complexity of active-linked tables, my impression is that an SQL backend would be a better choice than Access because it is more appropriate for a multi-user environment. I should confess, however, that I have very little experience with SQL databases.

            If you are new to A5, I recommend you convert everything to A5.

            -- Dick James

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              #7
              Re: To Convert or Not To Convert

              Given the scenario you describe, I would convert to DBF's .
              Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
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                #8
                Re: To Convert or Not To Convert

                Excellent thoughts... thank you all so much.

                Staying with dbf's I won't have to update to the Ulimited RunTime - I can stay with what I have - so that's a little bit of a bonus... although it all pays for itself anyway.

                I think I've decided to convert to dbf files... I'll need to write a routine that can run on the users machines under a runtime but that should be ok.

                Thanks again.

                David

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