Strawman: Is MS Access a "database"?

I would argue that it is not.

JET is a desktop DB engine.
Sybase is a database
Oracle is a database
DB2 is a database.

VB 6 is a front-end development tool.
PowerBuilder is a front-end development tool.
MS Access is a front end devlopment tool.

---------------------------------------
What's got me going on this is that I keep hearing statements like "What!
you're running a mission-critical application out of an Access database?"
Or the latest, to the effect of, "Well, sure the app has been working a-ok for
the past five years, but would you want people reading in the Wall Street
Journal that your client is managing 65 billion dollars worth of mutual funds
with an Access database?".

Well, "No", and "No". The back end is Sybase. The FRONT end is MS Access and
there is no such thing as an MS Access database.

Am I off-base in saying to myself when I hear some self-styled IT expert talk
about "Access databases" that that guy doesn't know what he's talking about?

Or is it me?
----------------------------------------
--
PeteCresswell

re: Strawman: Is MS Access a "database"?

"(Pete Cresswell)" <x@y.z> wrote in message
news:nu9u701u388p087vh0ju1vt7itak8dpcsb@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> I would argue that it is not.
>
> JET is a desktop DB engine.
> Sybase is a database
> Oracle is a database
> DB2 is a database.
>
> VB 6 is a front-end development tool.
> PowerBuilder is a front-end development tool.
> MS Access is a front end devlopment tool.
>
> ---------------------------------------
> What's got me going on this is that I keep hearing statements like "What!
> you're running a mission-critical application out of an Access database?"
> Or the latest, to the effect of, "Well, sure the app has been working a-ok[/color]
for[color=blue]
> the past five years, but would you want people reading in the Wall Street
> Journal that your client is managing 65 billion dollars worth of mutual funds
> with an Access database?".
>
> Well, "No", and "No". The back end is Sybase. The FRONT end is MS Access[/color]
and[color=blue]
> there is no such thing as an MS Access database.
>
> Am I off-base in saying to myself when I hear some self-styled IT expert talk
> about "Access databases" that that guy doesn't know what he's talking about?
>
> Or is it me?
> ----------------------------------------[/color]

The line is blurry because a "Jet database" resides in what just about everyone
would describe as an "Access File". I say that because in general terms when
one asks "what kind of file is that?", what they mean is "what program would I
use to open it?". While you can create an MDB without Access and use one
without Access, you pretty much need Access if you want to open it and poke
around (and I don't mean programmatically).

If MS had from day one set Access up to be an "always split" model with
different file extensions for the front end and Jet file then I think this would
have fostered a different perception. Frankly I don't worry about it too much.
I do stuff in Access, Java, Delphi, etc., and when people ask me about a project
I ask them "You want that in a month or do you want me to use Access?"



--
I don't check the Email account attached
to this message. Send instead to...
RBrandt at Hunter dot com

re: Strawman: Is MS Access a "database"?

Of course it's not. Neither are any of the other products you mention.

"(Pete Cresswell)" <x@y.z> wrote in message
news:nu9u701u388p087vh0ju1vt7itak8dpcsb@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> I would argue that it is not.
>
> JET is a desktop DB engine.
> Sybase is a database
> Oracle is a database
> DB2 is a database.
>
> VB 6 is a front-end development tool.
> PowerBuilder is a front-end development tool.
> MS Access is a front end devlopment tool.
>
> ---------------------------------------
> What's got me going on this is that I keep hearing statements like "What!
> you're running a mission-critical application out of an Access database?"
> Or the latest, to the effect of, "Well, sure the app has been working[/color]
a-ok for[color=blue]
> the past five years, but would you want people reading in the Wall Street
> Journal that your client is managing 65 billion dollars worth of mutual[/color]
funds[color=blue]
> with an Access database?".
>
> Well, "No", and "No". The back end is Sybase. The FRONT end is MS[/color]
Access and[color=blue]
> there is no such thing as an MS Access database.
>
> Am I off-base in saying to myself when I hear some self-styled IT expert[/color]
talk[color=blue]
> about "Access databases" that that guy doesn't know what he's talking[/color]
about?[color=blue]
>
> Or is it me?
> ----------------------------------------
> --
> PeteCresswell[/color]

re: Strawman: Is MS Access a "database"?

Mike MacSween wrote:[color=blue]
> Of course it's not. Neither are any of the other products you mention.
>[/color]

DBMS yes, the files they create are databases :-)

Then there's the question, is an MDB file a database? No, it's a file
that contains a database among other objects.

--
But why is the Rum gone?

re: Strawman: Is MS Access a "database"?

In the Access development world, we tend to make a distinction
between ACCESS (RAD tool) and JET (database engine).

However, the ODBC driver for the Jet Database Engine is
called "Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)", so there is a
legitimacy to that naming convention as well.

(david)


PS: I sometimes try to explain to people that JET is a /Distributed/
database engine: part of the database engine is the File Subsystem
and network redirector. Calling it a 'desktop' DB engine is a nice
phrase for users, but it doesn't help developers understand the nature
of the technology they are using.



"(Pete Cresswell)" <x@y.z> wrote in message
news:nu9u701u388p087vh0ju1vt7itak8dpcsb@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> I would argue that it is not.
>
> JET is a desktop DB engine.
> Sybase is a database
> Oracle is a database
> DB2 is a database.
>
> VB 6 is a front-end development tool.
> PowerBuilder is a front-end development tool.
> MS Access is a front end devlopment tool.
>
> ---------------------------------------
> What's got me going on this is that I keep hearing statements like "What!
> you're running a mission-critical application out of an Access database?"
> Or the latest, to the effect of, "Well, sure the app has been working[/color]
a-ok for[color=blue]
> the past five years, but would you want people reading in the Wall Street
> Journal that your client is managing 65 billion dollars worth of mutual[/color]
funds[color=blue]
> with an Access database?".
>
> Well, "No", and "No". The back end is Sybase. The FRONT end is MS[/color]
Access and[color=blue]
> there is no such thing as an MS Access database.
>
> Am I off-base in saying to myself when I hear some self-styled IT expert[/color]
talk[color=blue]
> about "Access databases" that that guy doesn't know what he's talking[/color]
about?[color=blue]
>
> Or is it me?
> ----------------------------------------
> --
> PeteCresswell[/color]