Re: Three Basic Questions about Developing a Runtime Version of Access

From: Paul Overway (paul_at_i.hate.spam.logico-solutions.com)
Date: 06/10/04

  • Next message: Ethan: "Changes to shortcut in installer package" 
    Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 14:16:04 -0400

    See answers in-line.... 

    -- 
Paul Overway
Logico Solutions, LLC
www.logico-solutions.com
"Dave" <david.frickNOtoSPAM@homestore.com> wrote in message
news:%234tI$1wTEHA.3660@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> 1.  Is it worth the effort to distribute a run-time version of an Access
for
> a single user? Or would it be worth the cost to just purchase a copy of
> Access for this user?
>
Not really...plus the run-time is sufficiently crippled that most people
would find the retail version worthwhile in the long run
> From what I've read on this newsgroup, distributing a runtime version of
> Access is a tricky proposition, particularly with Access 2003 and the
> digital signing and sandbox mode issues.
>
> Is the amount of time involved in working through all the runtime signing
> issues worth the cost savings in software?
See above
>
> And if I had my choice of which version of Access to distribute, is one
> better than another? IOW, are the runtime versions for XP, 2000, or 97
more
> stable or reliable than 2003?
>
>
> 2.  How do I perform upgrades on a runtime version of Access?
>
> The user is inputting and modifying data and I need to modify the schema
or
> interface of the Access application.  How do I preserve the data?
>
You create 2 databases.  One contains all the tables/data and nothing else.
The other contains your application, i.e., queries, forms, reports, macros
and code.  The 2nd database should have table links to the database
containing the data, and code to relink the tables to the data file should
the existing links become invalid.  This way, you can just replace the
application database without overwriting your user's data.  If you have
changes to table design, it is a more complex situation requiring
programmatic addition of the tables/fields etc, or importation of existing
data to a new data file containing the new tables/fields.
> Does the user send me an mdb (or is it an mde) file which I then open in
the
> development environment and make my modifications?
>
Typically no...if you do as suggested above.
> Or do I make my changes to an empty database and then import the data from
> the user's runtime version?
>
See above
>
> 3. Which tool do I need to create a runtime version of Access 2003?
>
>     a.  Office Access 2003 Developer Extensions (English)
>
You need this
>     b.  Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System 2003 (English)
>
This comes with a from above.  You probably will have little use for VSTMOS,
unless you develop applications for Word/Excel...but you do need ADE.
> And can either of these be installed on the same box with Visual Studio
NET?
>
>
Yes
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