What about a 'Viewer' option for MSAccess

O

oldsilverado

So, Okay, there is a 'Viewer' option for both Word and Excel, where documents
can be viewed but not eidted.
So, why not a similar 'Viewer' for Access?
I am an analyst working for a local Law Enforcement Agency in the UK, we
currently have MS Access for use by the Analysts only (just 16 of us), but
the data we use is of high tactical (and strategic) value to the operational
side of the agency, but we cannot afford full 'professional' licences for all
machines (some 3,000 terminals) a simple solution would be an Access 'Viewer'
to view the data we use, analyse and report on, without the ability to affect
that data.
Does anyone think that this is a viable proposition...

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-8290-5b318ec9a8b0&dg=microsoft.public.access
 
N

Norman Yuan

Access is a totaly different type of software from Word, Excel. It is not
document orientated. It is database (well, in the case of Access, it is both
database and database application, which make things a bit more
complicated). Data (information) in Access is not stored in a single
document/workbook that you can generate whenever you want and do copying,
renaming...In Access, data must be stored in a series of tables with certain
relations defines (it is very very rare you only have a single table in a
database). A database must be designed before you can use it. An average
computer user usually do not know what database means and do not know how to
use it. That is one of the reason, Access is not included in MS Office
Statndard version: it is not meant for user who does not have basic
knowledge on database.

Once a database has been designed and developed, users are exposed to
various forms and reports in user-firendly interfaces (they could be
significantly different from database to database, or different even the
underline data set is the same). In database world, the "Viewer" you want,
is the database application developed by someone, hopefully, he is
professional database developer, if the database application must be
accessed by 3000+ users.

oldsilverado said:
So, Okay, there is a 'Viewer' option for both Word and Excel, where documents
can be viewed but not eidted.
So, why not a similar 'Viewer' for Access?
I am an analyst working for a local Law Enforcement Agency in the UK, we
currently have MS Access for use by the Analysts only (just 16 of us), but
the data we use is of high tactical (and strategic) value to the operational
side of the agency, but we cannot afford full 'professional' licences for all
machines (some 3,000 terminals) a simple solution would be an Access 'Viewer'
to view the data we use, analyse and report on, without the ability to affect
that data.
Does anyone think that this is a viable proposition...

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.
Click to expand...
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-8290-5b318ec9a8b0&dg=microsoft.public.access
 
R

Ricky Hicks MVP

You can ouput reports in a .snp format.
The Snap Shot Viewer can then be used to view the report on a machine that
does not have Access installed.
This viewer is on the Office installtion CD and can also be downloaded
"free" from the Microsoft Download site ...

R. Hicks
 
T

tina

there is a Snapshot Viewer for Access. you can download it from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...3F-6D74-423D-8274-8B7E6313EDFB&displaylang=en
(above link is line-wrapped, should be on one line.)

you might want to consider printing your reports to .pdf format instead of
..snp format, since .pdf readers are much more widely and commonly
distributed. see
http://www.pdf995.com/
http://www.cutepdf.com/products/cutepdf/Plus.asp
for a couple software options (there are other out there, if you google).

hth


oldsilverado said:
So, Okay, there is a 'Viewer' option for both Word and Excel, where documents
can be viewed but not eidted.
So, why not a similar 'Viewer' for Access?
I am an analyst working for a local Law Enforcement Agency in the UK, we
currently have MS Access for use by the Analysts only (just 16 of us), but
the data we use is of high tactical (and strategic) value to the operational
side of the agency, but we cannot afford full 'professional' licences for all
machines (some 3,000 terminals) a simple solution would be an Access 'Viewer'
to view the data we use, analyse and report on, without the ability to affect
that data.
Does anyone think that this is a viable proposition...

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.
Click to expand...
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-8290-5b318ec9a8b0&dg=microsoft.public.access
 
L

Larry Linson

Have you looked into creating Access applications and distributing them with
runtime support? That will require obtaining the appropriate Office
Developer Edition for Access 2002 and earlier, or the Visual Studio Tools
for Office 2003 System.

The cost is negligible spread over 3,000 users and the users will be able to
edit, enter, and change data -- they just won't have access to design view.
You create the application on a full Access install, then package it with
the runtime and send it to the users.

That's a bit more than a viewer, but since no one has mentioned it, thought
I would.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP
 
P

(PeteCresswell)

Per oldsilverado:
is of high tactical (and strategic) value to the operational
side of the agency, but we cannot afford full 'professional' licences for all
machines (some 3,000 terminals) a simple solution would be an Access 'Viewer'
to view the data we use, analyse and report on, without the ability to affect
that data.
Click to expand...

This is predicated on the assumption that PDF or SNP formats for reports are not
the issue and 3,000 installs of the version of MS Office that includes MS Access
is.

Never actually having done it, I may talking out of my arse on this, but my
reaction is:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Write a little VB program to present the users with a list of available
reports and lists of selection criteria.

2) Deploy that compiled .EXE to the 3,000 users.

3) When the user specifies a report and criteria and hits GO, the .EXE sends a
message to an instance of MS Access running on a file server.

4) The server instance of MS Access parses the request from the .EXE, creates a
..PDF, a .SNP, or an (MDI?) file of the report output with filename tailored to
the PC of the person making the request.

5) The .EXE on the person's computer keeps looping - looking for files with the
PC's ID in the tailored filename and shells out to the appropriate reader (e.g.
Acrobat) to open same.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The .EXE could push messages to the server via DCOM or just create little
trigger.txt files somewhere that the server app is constantly scanning.

If this passed proof-of-concept, I'd think that scaling to 3,000 users would be
a matter of having multiple instances of the MS Access app running on multiple
PC's and either having a list that assigns each user PC to one of the servers,
or having the .EXE somehow evaluate which servers are relatively free by beating
down the .txt files in a "TasksInProgress" folder maintained by all of the
Access instances.
 
P

(PeteCresswell)

Per (PeteCresswell):
I'd think that scaling to 3,000 users would be
a matter of having multiple instances of the MS Access app running on multiple
PC's
Click to expand...

The number of servers would be much, much, much less than 3,000.

How much less?

That would depend on how much time each report took and the user's tolerance for
response time.

I'd start with three - just to shake down the server selection thing.

If it were possible, I might try to approach this as a Beta rollout - get a few
people (who understand that this is something new...) using it and see how
response time goes. Response time could easily be logged centrally by the
little VB program. As response goes down the toilet with more users and/or
more requests, an additional instance could be added.

Also, that way, you could be building a constituency that might help create
pressure for more budget money too...


One more time: I've never done this exact thing before, so I may be talking out
of my arse...
 
P

(PeteCresswell)

Per (PeteCresswell):
talking out
of my arse...
Click to expand...

Larry has pointed out the obvious.

Larry's approach SB tried before even *thinking* about the stuff I described.
 
C

Craig Alexander Morrison

I am an analyst working for a local Law Enforcement Agency in the UK, we
currently have MS Access for use by the Analysts only (just 16 of us), but
the data we use is of high tactical (and strategic) value to the
operational
side of the agency, but we cannot afford full 'professional' licences for
all
machines (some 3,000 terminals) a simple solution would be an Access
'Viewer'
to view the data we use, analyse and report on, without the ability to
affect
that data.
Click to expand...

The best option, already suggested, is to install a runtime version of your
application/database.

To allow this to work your current application/database would need the
addition of some form of main menu from which the various forms and reports
could be run, viewed and printed.

Basically everytime you use the Database Window (where you select the forms,
reports, queries and tables) you will need to build a function to do that
selection, should not be too complicated.
 
Top