ASP vs.... Access 1

[bdfigler]

Hi guys. I posted this on an Access forum, and I'm curious to see if I'll get different responses on this forum. Thanks in advance for your insight. -Brad

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There's a push at my company to change our internal data entry/storage system to an ASP/SQL-Server model. I have been very vocal about using Access as a front-end instead of ASP (SQL Server would backend nevertheless). We are using Access now (though not well) so employees accessing/using the software isn't a problem. My reason for pushing Access is simply that it will take less time (read: money) to design. Also, it can run faster for some operations because lookup tables and form information is stored locally. Before I make my final push, I would like to get some feedback here.

 

[ToddWW]

Your biggest difference is going to be Security. Because ASP runs on a web server, it is accessed through a web browser which has it's security limitations. You'll notice a slight difference in speed, but if this is running on a corporate intranet, it'll be managable.

The plus is that you will be able to access the application from any computer on the network that has a browser installed on it. Furthermore, if you build your ASP to be IE compatible and forget about Netscape (would require everyone to use IE), you can do much more with automation, etc... Because you can deploy client side VBScript.

Another big plus is that you can design your web server to be easily accessible from the outside and secure it with VPN if you wish.

You can deploy signed scripts in JavaScript that will loosen the handcuffs on the security issue a bit, but again, if you require IE to run the application, you can use VBScript as your client side script and do much, much more.

Hope this helps.. You can spend some time looking at the Knowledge Base at

http://www.microsoft.com

regarding ASP conventions.

You mentioned that you intend to use SQL Server as the back end. Stick with that idea !!

Hope this helps..

ToddWW