I work part-time for a document storage company as an Access Programmer supporting about 10 users, as well as contract work out of my home creating databases ranging from employees to supply parts. All in Access 2000. I've worked with Access off and on since day 1 of the first version saying, "What in the heck is a query??"

I have never thought that data access pages were usable, nor have I met anyone else that has.

It's funny...each time I meet a new client to create a database for, they always say, "I could create this myself, I just don't have the time." As if they could learn it in a day!

I do think it should allow common users more usability with regards to web pages in the future.

mkoch

I began with 97 for PhD research transferring 19th century household schedules onto a searchable database (now converted to 2003). Then worked on a major research project designing and managing a database holding short-distance migration and movement information for a university department. I now use 2000 at work, a secure mental health institution for: monitoring incidents and accidents, patient allocations, addresses, budget tracking, a risk register and stock taking. At home for fun: little learning games for my niece, a character database for my fiction, and a language matrix.

~c

I earn money analyzing very very large datasets for lawyers doing class action lawsuits. IMHO, Access is unparalleled for doing complex data analysis on very large (millions of records) datasets.

I also use Access to help me with doing bulk email messages with various organizations I work with. I found managing mailings to be very easy using Word MailMerge to send bulk OUtlook messages to my address list which is kept in Access. I've found the OUtlook Address book to be unmanageable when you start getting lots and lots of addresses.

I'm also using Access to catalog the data that I've stored on floppies, zip drives, CDs, and hard drives over the past ten years.

I came across this topic while looking for clues to how I could create an Access application that would run from within an Access database, as well as from the web (from a single point of maintenance, of course!) Many of the posts have been instructive, and I was impressed with the diverse backgrounds and Access uses.

I came at Access fairly late in life after a multi-decade experience with mainframes, UNIX, DB2, very expensive data transformation tools, and data warehouses. After leaving HAL, I began to focus more on what the customer wanted, and my second customer had some basic reporting needs and a small budget.

They also had no database expertise, didn't want any, and preferred to see their data visually as simple graphs. And could I also please let them see the individual records for each summarization? (e.g. the records meeting the selected criteria for June) We eventually settled on Access, and to meet their requirements I built several backends (depending on the desired endpoint) that dynamically generated all the SQL used to fetch data (I realize this is not typical Access usage). The results were then jammed into a PivotChart view in Access 2002, udner VBA control. I'm glad the PivotChart object was available, since the previous alternatives looked more cumbersome to drive. The Access application also has a form that drives a deletion of all table data and reloading from next week's refresh contained in text fields. Another backend application (SPSS or Stata) does some reasonably complicated data transformations during the reload. It turned out the graphing is what they predominately use; most of the canned reports that were also built go unused.

In summary, Access did everything it was told to, and at a low cost to the customer compared to many other solutions. And because all the data is in Access, the customer can extend the applications with their own queries and reports if they ever work up the courage to try.

However, based on what I understand about Access's behaviour with joins between linked tables, the large client memory costs, and the latest Microsoft attempt with Access 2002/2003 to link Access web applications to a licensing $$ grab, I think Access's best use remains as a desktop database for 1-10 users on a good network (no dialup please). I know you can get around the join problem with SQL views, but I think that will only give you some breathing room until a more scaleable database and application environment becomes the better choice. However, I still like the price!

I use Access at work for a ten year old client database. It is currently in version 97 - soon upgrading to 2003 and SQL backend. Would love to access via internet but there are concerns: speed and reliability being the top two. Have also used Access for contract jobs with Public Works Department in small city, in research projects - entering questionnaire data and preparing for analyzing and reports, and use an Access database to track inventory, computer problems, etc.
I love Access! Nervous about moving to SQL backend.

i was using it to develop applications for a hospital trust - patient tracking, endoscope tracking, document management, clinical information recording, that kind of thing.

Now im working in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, im developing a calalogue listing system that will allow people to access our records, at first on computers here in the building and later over the internet, rather than having to come in and order out the physical document, it will also allow them to search for document, so they know the references for when they visit.

oh and a number of smaller apps as well when they pop up.

I use Access for various things both in my personal life as well as the professional side. The version of the program normally depends on where I am employed at the time. I am a Consultant (not IT related) and find that some companies I am assigned to work with are still using Access 97 or 2000 where others have finally upgraded to the 2003 version. I myself personally own the 2003 version but use the default file save setting of the 97-2000 format due to the compatability issue I mentioned above.
As far as what I use it for ... professionally, I have been involved in or independantly developed 5 seperate Access DB applications for use by electric utilities to assist them in managing their inventories at specific generating stations (all nuclear). Personally, I have developed 2 different applications for my wife, one to assist her with a Fitness Facility that she owns and another to assist her with Customer Tracking at a major cosmetic company that she manages a counter for. I also am currently developing a Visual Basic application for tracking the record of a sports franchise utilizing an Access database as the storage container for the data. I haven't yet developed anything in the xml side or web based, but I can see that on the horizon for my employer. Depending on how complicated things get I use either a macro to string things together or just write the code directly into the form or control.
I personally think that Access has come from a fairly cluncky beginning into a respectable relational database system. Prior to using Access I worked for a short time with Fox Pro (not Visual Fox Pro) and loved what I could do with it but it didn't have the ease of use that Access 97 had. Where it is going ... who knows. I think that Microsoft has a lot of time and resources tied up in it and don't see them lagging in their support anytime soon.
I would lke to commend you on a wonderful site that provides a convenient way to find answers when necessary.

Sincerely,

Robert C. Maples

Over the years i have used access for a variety of purposes, most of which are business related. Some of the primary large scale uses have been a database that provided a method of scheduling and tracking the activities of employees, this one was used by approx 55 users. Another was utilized as a records keeping database regarding customer accounts and was used by over 100 people. I LOVE access!!!

Our team uses Access 2003 on WinXP Pro.

95% for business, 5% for personal use.

We use it to track and schedule training for approx 1800 medical personnel. Most of our users access the db backend through our ASP pages. Only about 15 use the Access front-end.

We don't use XML or data access pages. Some macros, but mostly VBA.

Access is a great cost-effective solution for the low-end database spectrum, but it certainly brings in its share of headaches!

As it is a Microshaft product, I'm not sure I want to know where it's going...distributed apps, probably.

We use it for managing employee activity from planning through to live run. We also use it for payroll by capturing employee time in attendance or otherwise.

it kills a bit of time here and there at work

I am actually sort of forced to use Access for an internship to get my diploma...

Started out really negative, the "Bah, I hate Access for no apparent reason" mentality, but with my predecessor gone and me here on my own, I am really starting to see the functionality that can be achieved.

Now, I have only been using Acces (2k) for maybe... two months, and that includes self-learning the basics. Though I came here with mainly PHP and MySQL experience, so basic programming and database skills were no problem.

Right now, 2 months later, I am diving head-first into the VBA code of this database, which has been in development for a couple of years (!) by interns. Really, I haven't seen such chaotic programming in years.

But just as a matter of prestige, I would like to get some modules working perfectly, including an agenda linked with Outlook, and preferrably finish a big chunk of this project.

So yeah, I use it for work, and I quite like it, now that I have settled with it. Haven't used it at home, but I did use a small database in the summer, registering IP's, switch-, portnumbers and nicknames, while being Field Admin on an outdoor LAN party.

Most important thing I still have to learn: think simple when encountering problems... saves a lot of time.

I used to use Access in my job as a report tracking application. I now use it in my freelance business helping small businesses with whatever needs they have. I have done a couple of inventory systems and a survey creation/tracking system and am currently working on a production tracking and calendaring system that I hope to connect to MS Outlook's calendar.

Thanks for all your help in the past and in the future - I'm learning new techniques all the time from you and others.

I use it for business purposes.

It is needed where I am (govn't) due to the policies around applications - the ones that are deemed 'too small' aren't created at all, whether they're needed or not. (This is where I come in)

I use mostly code-based forms and reports - no macros.

Before using XP, I hadn't used it since . . . 97 I suppose (both version and year-ish), and don't remember 97 much. I would like to see Access go a little bit further to help the developer, instead of bending over backwards to people who have trouble with the concept of a database.

Adam

My boss makes me use Access to store, retrieve, and modify virtually piece of info for his business

I use Access as an excuse to take a cigarette break whenever I run smack into a brick wall.

So far, it's working out well for both of us.


I can't honestly say that I have an idea of where Access is going in the future....

I can say that I'm probably going to be along for the ride

I use access to build a decently large scale tracking and publishing database. The office I work in used to create HTML docs with Frontpage and created Powerpoint slides manually.. I came in and built a database that tracks all of their reports, sets up a QC process, shows a preview of what the export will look like and then exports out either an xHTML webpage or a PowerPoint slide depending on the criteria set. Helped a lot with standardization.. which I am anal about.

I agree with Adam above, I hope that Access becomes friendlier to the developer (i.e. Mouse scrolling in CODE VIEW!!, how can they leave such a thing like that out of there for soooooo long.. especially for those of us who can't use third party software.) I am hoping to be able to pull myself away from access in the future and go towards SQL server with VB.Net, but who knows what will happen, right now I have a stable job with self-made deadlines, cant really argue with that. Then again I work in a team of 1.. so no one to help out with the work load or to bounce ideas off of.. ah well

The .... Mouse scrolling in CODE VIEW!! thing has been fixed in Access 2007.
I use "Free Wheel" in earlier versions to get the mouse wheel in the vba code window.

RDH

Loading the beta on a machine with 2002 also fixed the problem in 2002.
I thought that was pretty cool.

I wish I could use FreeWheel but I cannot use any software on my system that is not approved by security officials (which is not an easy process to go through, actually it is nearly impossible, been trying for years to get php loaded onto the server). If I was caught downloading any software I would get my account deactivated and would have to attend training on proper computer use. I barely get away with downloading Access database samples, and that is only because the IT guys here think that they are just databases, not applications.

I am a professional developer and have done most of my work in Access since the mid-ninties (version 2.0). My clients' applications are as follows:

Flower export company, Sales and Purchasing solution. Used for buying flowers from 600 growers in 2 countries, and selling to 500 customers in 8 countries. Custom solution needed for flexibility of product seasonality and frequent order item editing, product substitutions. Architecture is 3-tier with Access front end (all VBA, no macros), VB6 COM+ DLL middle tier, and SQL Server back end. Replaced a user-authored 1-tier Access solution.

Outdoor Lighting manufacturer, a Production Order solution. Used to consolidate Orders onto an Orders To Make screen on trolleys at factory workstations, eliminating paper-based production orders. Package Accounting software vendor refused to customize, so I was hired to write this Access solution. It replaced a terribly slow web solution. 2-tier with SQL Server back end.

Aquaculture company, an Inventory Management solution. Converted a user-authored Excel soltion to Access and extended functions. Tracks shellfish populations of tanks, and uses business rules to forecast growth and transfers from over crowded tanks for planning tank construction and harvest volumes. 2-tier with Access front and back ends

Accounting company, a Cashbook data entry solution. Used by 80 clients to enter monthly items from bank statements, then emailed into the accounting company where data is imported into a Review database that allows accountant to view and edit data before posting. Replaced a user-authored Excel solution. 1-tier (Cashbook), and 2-tier (Review) with Access front and back ends

Stone products company, a Quoting solution. Designed for an IT network engineer who is an amateur Access developer and wanted to do the project for his client, the Stone products company. Designed and developed 80% of the way, then delivered with training on how to finish the job.2-tier with Access front and back ends

Intermediate school, student assessment solution. Replaced a teacher-authored Excel solution. Package software vendor refused to customize, so the school wrote their own Excel solution. Access solution ensures teachers see only relevant student/subject combinations and summarizes data into half-yearly Parent reports formatted in the style required by the school. 2-tier with Access front and back ends

My own business,
>> Contact management solution. extesion from the template-based Contact Maagement solution, used to track marketing efforts and call histories.
>> Invoicing solution. Access database imports monthly data from Outlook from each staff person (using Outlook as an Automation server), allows edits, project coding, then produces Invoices to be sent to clients, both hourly rate and Fixed price projects, multi-currency.

Regards
Terry