[WEB4LIB] Microsoft Access: a second try to get info.

[Chris Gray]

Yes, I agree with you on every point.  Alternative products (even if free) 
entail other costs in time and effort to install, learn, and support. 
Sometimes misuse of a hammer is the most economical course.  I began using
Access 97 for experiments with intranet dynamic database publishing since
we already have Win95 and Office97 installed on 100+ workstations.

But you are faced with the limitations of using a tool not fully adapted
to the task.  Access97 came out when Microsoft's enthusiasm for the Web
was a new thing and they were retrofitting everything using a wide variety
of technology much of which they subsequently stopped supporting.  So
Access's Web publishing capabilities have definite limits and so does the
Web and book literature on it.  The best treatment I know of is the
chapter in the Ashenfelter book I mentioned. 

I've done some experimenting with the report publishing problem and I
can't find anything that works.  Reports in Access are definitely aimed at
being printed with Web publishing an afterthought.

Sorry I can't end your frustration,

Chris Gray
Library Systems
University of Waterloo

On Fri, 4 Jun 1999, Bill Drew wrote:

> I would like to thank all of you that had suggestions on Microsoft Access.
> One thing that bothered me was people recommending other products and even
> other computer platforms.  The tools I have are Windows 95, Microsoft
> Access, Word, and very soon FrontPage.  These may be the proverbial "hammer"
> but it takes hammers to build houses too. I don't want information on Office
> 2000 (not yet anyway)
> 
> Here is what I am trying to find out:
> 
> 1. Using the report how do I get the Save as HTML to output all records to
> one file or how do I remove the page break from the report?
> 
> 2.  What other sources besides Microsoft are available via the Internet
> concerning Access and its uses?
> 
> 3. Any really good books on Microsoft Access?
> 
> Sorry to sound like I'm whining but this is getting frustrating.
> --
> Wilfred Drew (Call me "Bill"); Associate Librarian (Systems, Reference)
> President, SUNY Librarians Association (SUNYLA)
> SUNY College of Ag. & Tech.;   P.O. Box 902;  Morrisville, NY 13408-0902
> E-mail: drewwe at morrisville.edu powwow:drewwe at wedrew.lib.morrisville.edu
> Phone: (315)684-6055 or 684-6060 Fax: (315)684-6115
> Voicemail:877-324-6289 Box # 607400110 (Toll Free)
> Homepage: <http://www.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/>
> Not Just Cows: <http://www.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/njc/>
> LibraryLinks: <http://www.morrisville.edu/pages/library/>
> SUNYLA: <http://www.albany.edu/library/sunyla/>
> --
> 
>