Next version of Access...

P

Paul Mason

Hi folks,

Does anyone know if MS are planning on making Access a full or even partial
..NET application for the next version, which I believe will be out later
this year?? I can't find anything on the MS website.

Cheers...P
 
A

Albert D. Kallal

Paul Mason said:
Hi folks,

Does anyone know if MS are planning on making Access a full or even
partial .NET application for the next version, which I believe will be out
later this year?? I can't find anything on the MS website.
Click to expand...

All of the office suite is still programmed via VBA. While office VBA
language is not a full OO (object orientated) development system, you can
still create class objects, and that is certainly a nice feature.

Further, there is a SOAP ad in kit for office, and that lets you consume
..net services. You never could develop activeX components in ms-access, or
com objects anyway. However, you can certainly consume .net web services
with the SOAP ad in. And, don't forget that ms-access got some neat-o XML
support also now.

I am not sure if you are looking for a particular feature, or are just
curious about the next great version that MS is working on? At any rate, you
can certainly automate ms-access with .net code, and you can certainly
consume .net web services in ms-access.

And, as new technologies have come out over the years, Microsoft does tend
to integrate and offer these new technologies for use in ms-access. So, for
example we got things like creating of class objects (a real nice feature).
You can read about creating class objects here:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Articles/WhyClass.html

When ADO came out, again this technology was offered, and integrated into
ms-access. The same goes for XML (access 2003 has XML enhancements). And,
now we also got the SOAP ad-in, and thus now ms-access can consume .net
services. And, we even got windows XP themed support for a2003.

So, I have no knowledge about ms-access and .net, but I certainly say that
the track record over the years is that we ms-access developers tend to get
all of the goodies in terms of new and forward thinking technologies that MS
has to offer.

If the past track record of all those cool technologies being integrated
into ms-access continues, and I see no reason why this track record will not
continue, then the future of ms-access certainly looks bright to me....
 
P

Paul Mason

Hi,

I have been using Access since it's inception. I've just got a bit behind
because we struggle to get access to magazines (I work for a charity) etc
and we've been focusing on ASP.NET development for the last year and a half.

I didn't know there was a SOAP add in.....that's useful to know. I take it
this is part of the whole web upgrade that Access 2003 had. We are
currently using Access 2000 and keenly aware that it's upgrade cycle is
coming to a close (if not closed already).

I suspect it's probably worth us waiting for the next version of Office, but
don't know when this will be. It would be too much ££, even at education
rates, for us the upgrade to Access 2003 and then go through another upgrade
in three years time.

Cheers...P
 
J

John Vinson

go through another upgrade
in three years time.
Click to expand...

<sigh> I wonder when education funders will realize that a three year
upgrade cycle on software is about like a twenty year upgrade cycle on
motor vehicles...

But I suspect there are plenty of 1980 vintage school busses out
there, so maybe they do realize it.

Good luck.

John W. Vinson[MVP]
 
D

Douglas J. Steele

We're still using NT4 with Office 97 on roughly 100,000 desktops world-wide,
John. The cost of upgrading (which we're starting now) is on the order of
$250 Million, so we don't do it that often.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP

(no e-mails, please!)
 
J

Jeff Conrad

We're still using that setup as well Doug.
We are always way behind though.
I spent most of December 31, 1999 working with our computer
consultants setting up and ghosting NT 4.0 machines for all
of our locations. These "new" machines were to replace
very old computers ALL running Windows 3.1 with NO
Office programs. We were pretty sure that the old boxes
would blow up after Y2K. Fun few days. ;-)
 
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