MySQL vs MsAccess for Small Biz Apps

[carps2]

Hello,

Our very small company (3 people) is planning
to develop an in house DB app for managing the
common business operations dealing with customers,
orders, inventory, etc.

Initially it will work on a single Windows PC.
However, in the future it might migrate to a
Client-Server approach.

The main goal is to find some plataform that:
- is stable, does not crash all the time;
- easy to use, not requiring deep coding and/or learning;
- allows not only the managm. of tables and queries,
but also of forms and reports (or something similar);
- provides a good and flexible interface to the user;
- low plataform cost (free or under $100).

From what I've seen it appears that MS Access
is the most recomendable plataform in such a
situation. However, I would like to know about
other alternatives, namely:
* MySQL + Some Easy2Use GUI Client

Does it make sense use MySQL in such a situation?

Do you know of any similar examples that I can
learn from?

Carlos
carpsmail@excite.com

 

[sleipnir214]

If you are in a pure Win32 environment, then using an Access database shared in a file on one of your servers is the easiest. However, Access will, from time to time, corrupt your database when used my multiple users simultanously.

I'm a firm believer in using a database server whenever you need to share files by multiple users. And you really can't beat MySQL's price.


You could also use a hybrid solution. Access will create a database, the tables in which are all connections to ODBC data sources. And there is an ODBC driver for Win32 for MySQL.

If you are thinking about going client/server in the future, it might be a good idea to develop your app from the start with that methodology in mind. Perfection in engineering does not happen when there is nothing more to add. Rather it happens when there is nothing more to take away.

 

[KarveR]

I would seriously recommend you look at taking the pc, loading it with redhat and during the install process choose to add Apache, PHP and mysql.

This will handle multiple users accessing it through apache, give you a programmable reporting interface(php) and database (mysql).

This combination is awesome in speed, has more wordlwide support than I care to count (read look here you can find the answer to any given problem) and is VERY stable.
The price rocks .. Free , Free, Free, and Free. - ok you gotta provide the hardware.

You will not have database corruption from multiple user usage and PHP is dead easy to learn, that will save you a bundle in place of something like Crystal Reports (painful to use and yeeeeeuach! ).

You can also download a (Free) ODBC manager if peeps want to access it using Excel etc.

Hope this gives you some good vibes about it, I believe its something like 58% of the worlds database driven websites chosen config. ***************************************
Party on, dudes!

 

[jimoblak]

If you are new to both MS Access and MySQL, start with Access as it is a lot more user-friendly and develops more rapidly. Then in a few months or a year, do everything over in MySQL as MySQL is much more versatile to web-enabled workstations.

(you need PHP or some other scripting technology to display ).

The question is: how much time do you want to invest in a database system now or later? I don't think there is a GUI RAD app for MySQL - You are looking at plain old SQL and plain text output. MySQL is basically a text based database program that relies on other technology like PHP to make it look pretty in a browser. You will need to be able to script PHP pages (or something similar) to display MySQL data.

My predecessor did some projects in MS Access but I am now finding it essential to have everything done in MySQL so that there is no licensing (cost) and access problems. Anyone with a web browser (and authorization) can now access our company database, wherever they are.

I still keep a few Access database front-ends running to appease the older users - but they unknowingly connect to a MySQL database hiding in the back.

You may also want to look at the Access Developer's Edition which allows you to package and distribute runtimes of the Access engine to run MDB files you create in the full Access application. This may cut down cost with several users.

 

[KarveR]

I've started using access AFTER mySQl , can't say that I found anything hard abuot learning it at all. ***************************************
Party on, dudes!

 

[ToeShot]

I am using both Access 2000 and MySQL. I find that I don't have a lot of problems with Access 2000 apps But nothing can beat good design, normalization, maintence training etc... but that goes for any piece of software. I do know of the horror stories about access and its shortcomings, max size 2 gig, bloats with images corruption from replication and if you make a real bad mistake you can lose everything. I know from early beginnings when I firs started. As for MySQL very stable, scalable, Fastest I have seen, still lacks in transactions, union queries and of course tech support not saying that you will need it but if the time arises where something happens and you need it fixed yesterday, umm good luck.

I am not saying either one is better or worse than the other, they both have good and bad. On a scale though Access is easier to learn with all it's wizardry and would be a good starting point. And if you follow this link you can get a tool for Windows that will act as an interface for MySQL for Windows

http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,65147,.html

this tool will not creat forms but it will allow you to edit and creat databases, tables and hock queries. Plus it will import your Access Database. Then All you would need is the MySQlODBC Driver and you could interface Access to your MySQL database.

Basically this is what I am doing and it works great, well the import does. As for the Access interace I am not sure since I use VB5, but that does work with the MySQLODBC driver.

I hope this helps in some way.

p.s. if the link is no longer available let me know and I will email it to you
Dave
ToeShot@Hotmail.com
Today Is Tomorrows Yesterday. So Why Wait

 

[PCSAARON]

We asked ourselves that question 6 years ago. Six years ago, we never heard of MYSQL or PHP! So, we used access. Over the years, it has come apparent that Access is a hunk of junk when it gets bigger and there is more usage. It was great with 3 machines and not very much usage.

DO NOT run access over a network and use windows 98/95/ME as a fileserver! There are so many problems that will occur... Database corruption is the biggest.

Access is also slow. 15 to 60 seconds to open a simple form and fetch some data!

We still use our Access app that been developing for 6 years! But we made some silent changes in the backend, meaning MYSQL. It sped things up TREMENDOUSLY! No more waiting for forms to open! We are also in the process of changing the front end. We are working on PHP and in VB as well.

Good luck with what you choose, but in the learning stages, do what we did and start easy. If you are finding that you are learning to much, switch and learn the BETTER of the two! I wish we knew about PHP and MYSQL back then! We would have been 100 steps ahead of the game!

Aaron

-Life; we live and we learn from our mistakes!

 

[snowboardr]

Well MySQL is FAST it can read (approx) 6667 rows a second..

rows = records

I believe that access can only handle LESS then 150 connections. (thats what i heard anyway, I havn't found any benchmarks yet)

A good idea would be to design your database in Access if you are familar with it, then import it into mysql. You could actully build your whole site using access, then just import the db to mysql and change a few things..and your off!
A great GUI for mysql is

http://www.anse.de/mysqlfront

I also have a tutorial on my site on how to set up mysql, using obdc drivers, and setting up a dns etc.. Pretty easy..

http://www.vzio.com/tutorials/mysql_database.asp

Good luck!

www.vzio.com

/

 

[codestorm]

One major flaw of using Access for both front and back ends (separate apps) is that when you use the old lazy binding controls, grids, filters, etc, in Access, it still pulls down all data from all tables involved, before filtering. codestorm
Fire bad. Tree pretty. - Buffy
select * from population where talent > 'average'
You're not a complete programmer unless you know how to guess.
I hope I never consider myself an 'expert'.
<insert witticism here>

 

[LinuXelite]

YOU CAN USE ACCESS TO DEVELOP AND MYSQL AS THE DATABASE

this is the solution you are looking for. You link your database with an ODBC driver to the mysql database.

Use mySQLfront to manage your mysql database EASYLI.

You can do it... and use Linux for mysql

franck