My own recent experience of Access isn't that good. The Windows software we develop at work normally uses a Sybase or Oracle database, but in order to distribute evaluation systems without having to worry about licencing issues, I recently had to convert a system over to use Access, in addition to Sybase. The main problem was that differences seemed to exist even in the Access version by itself, depending on whether the Access database was accessed via the JetEngine or ODBC. In fact, I found I had to use the JetEngine in order to specify any referential integrity constraints at all. Access also seems to implement security features in a slightly non standard way, by means of a workgroup information file, that can be a pain to maintain if the database needs to be password protected. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I found Access to be quite noddy compared to Sybase or Oracle, although it does have its uses. For example, it's handy that Access itself doesn't actually have to be present on the machine, so an Access database and Windows application can be distributed to potential clients, and should work so long as the relevant version of the JetEngine has been installed with Windows. For live systems though, we'll be sticking with Sybase.
Want multiple users to connect to a database at the same time? Get FileMaker Pro. My company depends on this.
Do you have PCs and Macs that need to access a database? Get FileMaker Pro.
Which is cheaper? FileMaker Pro.
What has a WAY better front end? FileMaker Pro.
Wanna publish a database as a web page? Get FileMaker Pro.
I even merge data in Word and Excel 2001 (Mac) with FileMaker Pro. Sweet. And I don't export to text first. One stop shopping...
Guess what the #1 selling database app for the PC is? Access. Duh. But seriously, the biggest selling (non-MS) database for the PC is FileMaker Pro! You gotta remember that MS bundles Access with other MS products sometimes.
Filemaker is a great system to develop for small buisness. It's flexible, fast, not too hard to learn, and can run multi-user applications easily.
Now, if you want to sell your systems, that's another ballgame. FM Developer will let you compile your system into a working application, but it's single-user only. If you want a multi-user app, you're better off leaving it in raw database format and putting it onto a server.
I've coded a full scheduling/maintenance database for a college Motorpool department in FMP. Took quite a while (as I was learning FMP at the same time, and also doing tech support work at the school), but in the end we had a decent little application that could be accessed by the entire MP department as necessary.
With a little work, we could've tied it into the web server, but there's no need for outside access in this case.
I think Access is great. I've used it for 5 years and still haven't hit a wall on features. No corruption issues, ever, and some of my applications top out at 85MB. FMPro is cool too (used it for 7+ years), but when I use it I long for Access' more robust feature set.
If you want a cross platform solution, I'd go for Access and VPC. I've never used this setup, but that's what I would try first.
Comments
[ 03-03-2003: Message edited by: RodUK ]</p>
Do you have PCs and Macs that need to access a database? Get FileMaker Pro.
Which is cheaper? FileMaker Pro.
What has a WAY better front end? FileMaker Pro.
Wanna publish a database as a web page? Get FileMaker Pro.
I even merge data in Word and Excel 2001 (Mac) with FileMaker Pro. Sweet. And I don't export to text first. One stop shopping...
Guess what the #1 selling database app for the PC is? Access. Duh. But seriously, the biggest selling (non-MS) database for the PC is FileMaker Pro! You gotta remember that MS bundles Access with other MS products sometimes.
[ 03-03-2003: Message edited by: dstranathan ]</p>
[ 03-03-2003: Message edited by: doxx ]</p>
Now, if you want to sell your systems, that's another ballgame. FM Developer will let you compile your system into a working application, but it's single-user only. If you want a multi-user app, you're better off leaving it in raw database format and putting it onto a server.
I've coded a full scheduling/maintenance database for a college Motorpool department in FMP. Took quite a while (as I was learning FMP at the same time, and also doing tech support work at the school), but in the end we had a decent little application that could be accessed by the entire MP department as necessary.
With a little work, we could've tied it into the web server, but there's no need for outside access in this case.
If you want a cross platform solution, I'd go for Access and VPC. I've never used this setup, but that's what I would try first.