Customer Reviews

Microsoft Access 2007 [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have been using Microsoft Access since the early 1990s, and I have been teaching it in the classroom and online for over a decade. I was a contract database developer for many years.

Access is one of my favorite programs. It has all the power that most people and small businesses need to create extraordinary databases, yet it's easy to use. You can be up and running with Access in just a few hours with the help of a good book or tutorial.

If you are new to Microsoft Access, and you have never used it before, you're going to LOVE Access 2007. The interface is clean. There are plenty of features, and you should have no problems navigating it - especially if you're familiar with the new interface in Word 2007 or Excel 2007.

If you have been using Access for a few years, and are used to previous versions, such as Access 2003 or XP, be ready for a new learning curve. It's going to take you a while to figure out where Microsoft put everything with the new "ribbon" menu system. Personally, I don't like it - but then again, I'm not used to it yet.

Do NOT purchase Access 2007 to upgrade your business database thinking it's going be a smooth, easy transition. Unless you have a few WEEKS to kill learning the new interface, upgrading your database, and ironing out the rough spots. Most of my databases upgraded without a hitch, but a few of them had VBA code that just wouldn't work in the new version.

DO purchase Access 2007 if you're new to Access, or you want to take the time to learn the new system, experiment with it, or build NEW databases. It is a wonderful program. I just wish that Microsoft would have kept those of us in mind who have been using their product for the past umpteen years before completely redesigning the interface.

Richard Rost
President
AccessLearningZone.com

Author of Microsoft Access 101 Video Tutorials & eBook

P.S. I've seen some other comments on here about using a "real" database like SQL Server or Oracle. Yes, I agree that Access doesn't have the most powerful database engine, but it's fine for 99% of small businesses. Plus, you can always upgrade later and keep your Access front-end attached to an SQL Server engine.

I upgraded from Access 2000, and noticed that I could no longer paste a Microsoft Word picture into an OLE Object field in my database. I searched Help for everything I could think of, but to no avail. So I took my computer to a repair shop and it cost me $50 to find out that I had to convert my datafiles to 2007 format. I think that Microsoft should have warned me to convert when I opened my datafiles for the first time.

I started using Access 2 in 1992. Before that I used DBASE, RBASE and Paradox. I didn't like Access and thought that RBASE was the best of the 4. However, as things go, Microsoft won and the others are dead, either entirely or mostly. So, I decided to stick with Access and have for the past 15 years.

Access is a good tool for many things and 2007 is a definate upgrade to 2002. However, getting used to it is a little bit of a challenge.

I've used access as a stand alone product or as a front-end to a DBMS like SQL Server so I could get a significant performance boost out of it.

I use it to manipulate data for data quality issues and for data exploration and dup checking. And, it works great.

I've also created some pretty complex and cost effective application with it over the years with lots of positive results.

This is an excellent program with a steep learning curve. You have to follow its rules exactly. Familiarity with the new ribbon interface is a must.

I found the book "Access, The Missing Manual" to be a big help.

My Access 97 backend/frontend database had over 700 objects and pretty complex reports and VBA code for an EDI translation application, so I was impressed when it only took me one afternoon to upgrade it to an Access 2007 database. First of all, after installing Access 2007, I downloaded and installed Office 2007 SP2 right way - I didn't even want to find out how an unpatched Microsoft product would behave. To upgrade an old database format, Access 2007 can automatically convert it for you to the new format, but you are likely going to have to do a few fixes yourself. The major caveats I encountered were:

* If you use DAO (data access objects) and try to add DAO to References in VBA, you can't - you will get a "Name conflicts with existing modules" error. Apparently, DAO is already built-in to Access, hence the "name conflicts" error when you try to add the DAO reference again. To make DAO work, change all "Dim r as Recordset" statements in your VBA code to "Dim r = DAO.Recordset". This can be easily done with find & replace.

* The "Cancel = True" statement in a BeforeUpdate event procedure causes "Property not found" error. Apparently, Cancel property no long exists in BeforeUpdate event even though the documentation says it does. The workaround is to replace "Cancel = True" with "Docmd.CancelEvent".

* The navigation pane in Access 2007 takes some getting used to. It shows all objects (table, queries, etc.) in one top-to-bottom list, so if you have hundreds of objects like I do, it can be a pain. It is always docked on the left side, and cannot be undocked. It spans from top to bottom, and its height cannot be adjusted, so it covers up major screen real estate. It can be collapsed or opened by pressing F11, but it is always on top of other windows. I hate to say it but this could be a deal-breaker for some people, in addition to the top ribbon bar that also annoys some users. Be sure to download a 30-day trial version of Access 2007 from Microsoft and try out the navigation pane yourself.

* If your Access 97 database has custom toolbars, Access 2007 will convert them also (!), but you won't be able to edit them as far as I can tell. The custom toolbars will be oddly placed under the "Add-ins" pull down menu. Clicking "Add-ins" will turn the entire ribbon bar into your custom toolbar(s). Another way is add your custom toolbars to the your "quick access toolbar" - go to Access options, Customize, All Commands, and find your custom toolbar name(s) to add. Again, I haven't found any way to edit custom toolbars, nor any way to create one in Access 2007.

* Compiling modules can sometimes crash Access 2007 - same thing can happen in Access 97. You just have to find the offending module(s) and recode or delete it/them.


Minor caveats:

* In the VBA window, you cannot compile individual module as in Access 97 - you must compile all modules in the database at once.

* In Datasheet view or Form view, if you press Ctrl-F to bring up the "Find" dialog, you won't see "Find first" like you do in Access 97. It is apparently gone. You can only "Find Next".

* Access 97 and 2007 can actually coexist; but opening Access 97 after you have installed Access 2007 will, for some reason, cause the Access 2007 reinstall dialog to come up the next time you open Access 2007.

* Not really a caveat, but in case you are too used to the unlimited installations of Office 97: You can only install Access 2007 on one PC with no hardware modifications, and you can only install on a different PC once every 120 days.

I am not sure what MS hoped to accomplish with this version of Access, other than to make it easier for most Access users, who seem to use Access as a glorified Excel spreadsheet. Having developed in Access for many years, this major revision is a little off-putting. It looks just like FileMaker, which I personally dislike.

That being said, it has all the basic functionality of the older versions, except with a very forced FileMaker interface that is hard to overcome. You can down-convert to mdb files, so that is a good feature. Otherwise, the most significant update is the menu ribbons, which are a pain to relearn, and the XML formatting, which remains to be seen if it will be useful in the Office environment. Since they are pushing SharePoint quite succesfully, I think this will pay off for MS in the long run, but otherwise, just be prepared to shell out some retraining dollars.

I am developing an application for management of Donor and Donations data for a county non-profit organization. MS Access works very nicely for this activity. It is very easy to set up queries, forms, and reports using the foundation data. With the availability of Visual Basic, I have been able to provide excellent data validation routines that are critical for effectively managing this data. We have many volunteers who enter the data into our database. Previously, the quality of our data was less than desired. Now our results are excellent, with minimal number of duplicate names/addresses on file, resulting in reduced costs for mailings and improved image for our non-profit in the county.

Access 2007 does basically the same as any other previous versions, but they changed the screen presentation, so now everything is either hiding or in other places. It is like having bought a different manufacturer's product. (In a car, now the brake pedal would be in the steering column and the light switch would be the accelerator....)
I think I would have been better off downloading Open Office (for free.)
Also, it is very expensive.

Upgrade installation from 2003 to 2007 was a breeze. My Access DB uses a lot of form views and data entry was muddy slow. Installed MS Hotfix SP2 and the mud went away like magic.

I started with a single table and zero knowledge 11 years ago. Today I have a rather full featured application used for so many operations of our small business that I can't imagine functioning without it. I'm not a developer, am totally self trained and not very bright. If I can do it, anyone can. Thank you, Microsoft!

You'd be better off using some real database software like Oracle or SQL Server. You can't do bulk column updates and Access is losing my data - so far, I've been pretty disappointed. Also, they changed the extensions of Access files from .mdb to .accdb - and now, VS.NET 2005 can't open the new Access 2007 files. I would have thought that Microsoft would make all their tools compatible - oh well, i'm disappointed, but you may like it.