[WEB4LIB] Re: Access2002 vs. SQL .. which way do we go?

[Jeff Eisenberg]

I may be missing something here but I think your solution is fairly
simple.  I think extracting to text to run through a script would be
complicating things and you most likely don't need to convert to SQL
either.  If you use ASP or probably any other server side language like
JSP, etc, you can put a simple database connectivity string that points
to your database as long as your web server can access the file .MDB.
This allows you to extract datasets from Access and show them in your
web pages.  If your access database is somewhere else, you can probably
just copy it to the web server when it changes.  This would also work
even if you have multiple load balanced web servers.  Basic SQL queries
can be made on an access database.  Actually, I think that is your only
choice if you're coding in ASP or JSP.  The ASP, JSP, etc script will
use these queries to get datasets from the database and show them
through your web pages as you choose.  Moving you data to SQL would
allow you to put your stored procedures (queries) on the server (amongst
other things) and not have to code them in to you web pages but if you
queries are fairly simple, it probably doesn't make much of a difference
anyway.

Hope that may help.  I did a lot of ASP web pages that displayed data
from an SQL server and sometimes a flat file access database.  It was
fairly simple, especially if your data is well organized in the database
tables.

Jeff Eisenberg
The Galecia Group
Network Engineer
http://www.galecia.com
  



-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib at webjunction.org [mailto:web4lib at webjunction.org]
On Behalf Of Richard Wiggins
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 7:19 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [WEB4LIB] Re: Access2002 vs. SQL .. which way do we go?

There probably isn't a simple, slam dunk, black and white answer. Here
are
some thoughts from what I've observed over the last 3 or 4 years.

-- There's a really strong paradigm of developing database-driven apps
in
Access, then deploying them in production in SQL.

-- An Access-driven app CAN work in production, if you know your volume
is
low.

-- The back-end database engine for Access has gotten much better over
time.

-- You really can't declare that Access won't work, or that SQL is the
sine
qua non, without thinking about overall performance goal, hardware used
for
servers, size of the database, nature of transactions, and transaction
load. 

-- If it's in production with a potentially high transaction load, I'd
go
with SQL as the back end.

-- Contradicting all of that, it's possible to worry too much.  :-)

/rich



Vicki Falkland wrote:

> 
> dear all,
> 
> our library is planning to convert our static HTML journals list into
a
> dynamic list. i am a total newbie when it comes to dynamic websites
and
> databases. i do follow threads posted here on this topic, and have
searched
> the Archives, but i need to ask something about different methods
please
..
> 
> CURRENTLY: our journal titles are all contained in an Access(2000)
database
> (by a colleague), which we use to print hard copy lists and reports,
but
> the web version is hand-coded (by me). therefore, we are maintaining
two
> lists. 
> 
> THE ORIGINAL PLAN: with help from our organisation's webmaster (for a
fee;
> our webmaster charges for his time and expertise), we would move the
info
> from the Access database into SQL, which i presume would mean we'd
have to
> learn SQL to maintain it. we would also have a web-based admin page
set up
> so that either of us could edit the (single) list as necessary.
> 
> THE PROPOSED NEW PLAN: my colleague has now suggested that Access2002
is
> miraculous and will do everything we want without having to bother
with
> SQL, or the webmaster, or the webmaster's fee (although of course
there
> would be the cost of upgrading Access). the claim is that Access2002
is
> more "flexible" than SQL, and that it will be easier for us to
maintain.
> 
> i'm nervous .... and not convinced that Access2002 is the answer.
> can anyone give me reasons (in simple terms please!) why i'm wrong to
think
> this proposed new plan is a Bad Idea ? 
> 
> i'm willing to BE convinced, but i need to hear it from someone far
more
> experienced and knowledgable on this topic than myself OR my esteemed
> colleague :)
> 
> thanks,
> vicki
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Library Information Technology Support Officer
> 
> ===============================================
> Women's and Children's Health
> J.W. Grieve Library
> Royal Children's Hospital
> Flemington Rd, Parkville, Vic, 3052
> Ph: (03) 9345 7010
> Fax: (03) 9347 8421
> Email: rch.library at wch.org.au
> Internet: www.wch.org.au/library
> ================================================

____________________________________________________
Richard Wiggins
Writing, Speaking, and Consulting on Internet Topics
rich at richardwiggins.com       www.richardwiggins.com