Re: Do not want data to auto sort


Rick B wrote:
> Again, is this adding anything useful to the conversation? Your little
> semantics are interesting, but don't really add anything to the topic.

You admit you knew nothing about cursors. This isn't semantics, this is
fundamentals. How, then, can *you* contribute to a discussion about
sorting data? Then you accuse me of having nothing useful to add!

> As far as the interface comment, if you will read the previous posts, you
> will find that many newer users work directly in the tables. They add data,
> view data, sort, delete, etc. They do not take advantage of the objects
> designed for this purpose. They use the table as a user interface to the
> database. An interface is the screen used to allow a user to communicate
> with the computer. In most cases, this would be a form, but many newer
> users mistakenly use the tables.

Ah, I think I've worked out where you've been going wrong. You may be
in for a shock here but Access is not a database. Access is a database
management tool and a forms-based Windows application development
platform. The 'database' in question in usually Jet (it could be
something else but let's not complicate matters; when someone says
'Access database' you can usually take it as read that they mean 'Jet
database').

Access does not 'own' Jet; more like the other way round because the
elements Access requires (Forms, Reports, UI settings, etc) are stored
in the Jet database.

I use Jet .mdb and .mdw files everyday but - guess what - I don't use
Access. I have an application built on another platform which uses ADO
to manipulate the data and schema. It's a lot cheaper than a licence:
from MSDN I can download MDAC 2.5, which includes Jet, and then upgrade
to the latest MDAC plus the latest Jet service pack, all for free. The
..mdb format is freely distributable and can be created using ADO.

So, for example, if I want to look at the data in the Employees table
in Northwind I'll retrieve a pre-save connection string to Northwind
and type, or rather extract from by interrogating the schema) a SQL
query such as

SELECT EmployeeID, LastName, FirstName, ... FROM Employees

then open a recordset write a the first portion of the data to a grid
control on a form.

When you do the same in the Access UI you essentially go through the
same processes. I'm going out on a limb here (because, as I've already
admitted, I haven't used Access much) but I'm guessing that rather than
looking at the table itself (whatever that means) you are in fact
looking at the results of a recordset (or very similar object) on a
form on screen. If there is an ability to sort this view then I wager
behind the scenes the recordset is being sorted and the view refreshed.

In short, you are deluding yourself if you think viewing data in the
Access UI is the 'real' table. You may not have designed the form
yourself, written the SQL or instantiated a recordset but that doesn't
mean they are not their, lurking under the covers. If you have been
tricked into thinking you are looking at the 'actual' table, then hats
off to the Access designers!

.

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