Releasing software written in Access 2003.

[Adrian Brown]

I have office professional 2003 and have written a program in Access that i
am looking to sell. Ideally i need to package it with the runtime as well.
Can anyone let me know what the license rules are to releasing software - do
i have to have any licenses? What is the best way to package everything
together?

Many Thanks

 

[Chris Mortimore]

if its written in access, the end user will need access to run it. i very
highly recommend scrapping that plan and writing your software in something
that can compile to stand alone, such as C/C++ (these languages dont require
"runtimes", and make distribution a lot easier than things like visual basic
because you are not reliant on somebody elses files.)

 

[Paul Overway]

Very dumb advice. Especially given the amount of development time it would
take in order to achieve half of the functionality found in Access. I see
no reason to slam distributing any runtimes...they are developed/provided as
an aid to rapid development. C/C++? Fine, if you have an enormous budget
and a lot of time on your hands. I'll stick with Access or VB and get the
job done.

 

[Paul Overway]

If your users already have Access, you can distribute your application "as
is" and how it is licensed is up to you to decide. If they don't have
Access, you'll need to distribute the Access runtime with your application,
and would need to buy a license for Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for
Office, which contains the Access Developer Extensions and the runtime. You
get distribution rights for the runtime with your license. c.

Personally, I don't like the packaging tool provided in the ADE. I use
Installer2Go. A lot of Access developers like SageKey. Some developers use
Installshield, Wise, etc. Whatever you use will depend on your needs and
those of the application.

 

[Charlie]

You can get MS Access Developer Extensions for about 500 bucks which gives
you a slick and legal way to package your app with a runtime version of
A2003. Protects your "source code" if you package an MDE version. What's not
to like....
Charlie

 

[Adrian Brown]

Thanks for that - ill order a copy and look into those different
installation packages.
In reply to the Visual C/C++ comment from Chris Mortimore - Yes that was an
option at the start, but the project would have been harder to program etc.
I did think about it, but for every job there is a tool, and C/C++ wasnt the
tool for this job