FG: Needs Information

[Guest_imported]

Hi All,

I need advice and information from you all

1) can I run vb as front end and access as backend in multiuser environment

2) when I save my project in vb it says "do u want to add it to visual source safe" and I say no. I know VSS is a database which holds myltiple version programs datewise. my question is that

a) where will vb save the project if I say yes
since we dont have VSS Server on our network

b) is VSS Server a engine based (like oracle) server
or file base (like access) server

c) if VSS is a engine based sever where can I find it
does it comes with visual studio

Regards,
Rani

 

[Terpsfan]

Sure, you can use Visual Basic as a front end for an Access database. Access comes natively with VB 6.0. You can use VisData to create your Access database backend without the need for having a copy of Access on your computer. I'd use ADO as your Data Access Method. As for multi-user concerns, remember that Access works optimally with 10 concurrent users or less. After that the application begins to slow down. If more than 10 users are involved, I would seriously think about using SQL Server. One thing I do to minimize the usage of the database engine is to only allow users to bring up one record at a time.

 

[chiph]

Rani -

1) can I run vb as front end and access as backend in multiuser environment

Yes, you can. But you shouldn't.
Access is good up to about 8-10 users, after which it has problems. You'll need to use a real database above those levels, such as SQL Server, Oracle, or DB2.

a) where will vb save the project if I say yes
since we dont have VSS Server on our network

SourceSafe will still store the file where you tell it, only if it's been Checked In to VSS, it will be marked read-only. You should use VSS to do a Check Out before making any changes to it (Check Out removes the read-only flag).


b) is VSS Server a engine based (like oracle) server
or file base (like access) server

It's a little bit of both. A VSS client can talk to a VSS server (or a VSS client can use a VSS database directly). But calling it a "database" isn't entirely true, as VSS uses a file structure to store your changes. Look for a directory called "Data", and you'll see directories named A..Z underneath it with many binary files in them.

c) if VSS is a engine based sever where can I find it
does it comes with visual studio

I believe it comes with VS Enterprise Edition. Also available separately, of course.

VSS's big advantages are it's integration with Microsoft's development tools and it's ease of use. VSS's biggest weakness is it's tendency to occasionally corrupt the file storage. If I were shopping for a source-code control system today, I'd also take a look at Perforce, who not only is multi-platform, but has a nice GUI now for Windows clients.

Chip H.

 

[SIRLUIS]

1) for me, it depends of so many factors. If you can afford SQL Server or Oracle licence... Without a doubt use it !! is the best and secure option (users control, replication, etc). Also you need to consider if your application will be very simple and doesn't requires long records to be transfered by the network, you can use Access in order to avoid the cost of SQL server or Oracle licence. Actually, I have one application like this with 25 concurrent users and it works very well. But if you have some restrictions about network traffic or data is business critical.. Access is not an option.