Limits of Access 2003 using ADP on SQL Server Express BE?

[Matt Alanzo]

On another newsgroup an Access knowledgable party posted:

You should be able to connect an Access ADP to an existing SQLExpress
database running in SQLS 2000 compatibility mode. The only thing you
won't be able to do is access any of the design surfaces for SQLS
objects in the ADP. I checked with the Access team on this :-)

I appealed for clarification but without reply. Maybe somone on this
newsgroup can provide insight.

************
Our Access 2002 (will install A03 soon) help says:

"An Access project is called a project because it contains only
code-based or HTML-based database objects: forms, reports, data access
pages, macros, and modules. These are the database objects that you
use to create an application. Unlike a Microsoft Access database, an
Access project does not contain any data or data definition based
objects: tables, views, database diagrams, or stored procedures (which
can also contain application code). Instead, these database objects
are stored in the SQL Server database."

Do I understand correctly from your posting at the top. If we use an
Access 2003 ADP to link using DB.OLE or ADO to SQLExpress then we
can no longer use Access's GUI to create and edit "data or data
definition based objects: tables, views, database diagrams, or stored
procedures (which can also contain application code)"? That erases
much of the benefit of using Access 2003's GUI (in concert with
SQLExpress) doesn't it?

I was hoping against hope that we could add the benefits of SQLExpress
(a whole other discussion; not pertinent here) and still retain the
ease of defining and editing reports and queries using SQL statements
(involving mult-table joins with various clauses [filters]) .
Likewise, can we no longer use Access 2003 GUI to create and edit
bound forms and subforms if the tables are stored on SQLExpress?

I realize this is almost certainly NOT part of the Access Team's
mission. ;>) Still, if the Access 2003 GUI is largely compromised
when accessing SQLExpress as a BE, then what SQL database tool is
available for the casual coder. Will Visual Basic Expess include a
scaled down version of Microsoft's SQL Database Tools (VDT?) for the
non professional community?

[Wishing I could have my cake and eat it too...]

[Larry Linson]

I have not tried using an ADP with SQL Server Express, but believe what this
says is that the current version of Access does not allow you design
capabilities on SQL Server Express as it does in SQL Server or MSDE. I would
be a bit surprised (but have been before, so don't rely on my surprise) if
this meant that you could not create/edit bound forms or reports. The (free)
alternative to the Express version (last I read, Express was only available
in Beta) is Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Edition (sometimes known as the
Microsoft Data Engine, MSDE) that comes with Access 2003.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

"Matt Alanzo" <ac**********@emailias.com> wrote in message
news:kp********************************@4ax.com...

On another newsgroup an Access knowledgable party posted:

You should be able to connect an Access ADP to an existing SQLExpress
database running in SQLS 2000 compatibility mode. The only thing you
won't be able to do is access any of the design surfaces for SQLS
objects in the ADP. I checked with the Access team on this :-)

I appealed for clarification but without reply. Maybe somone on this
newsgroup can provide insight.

************
Our Access 2002 (will install A03 soon) help says:

"An Access project is called a project because it contains only
code-based or HTML-based database objects: forms, reports, data access
pages, macros, and modules. These are the database objects that you
use to create an application. Unlike a Microsoft Access database, an
Access project does not contain any data or data definition based
objects: tables, views, database diagrams, or stored procedures (which
can also contain application code). Instead, these database objects
are stored in the SQL Server database."

Do I understand correctly from your posting at the top. If we use an
Access 2003 ADP to link using DB.OLE or ADO to SQLExpress then we
can no longer use Access's GUI to create and edit "data or data
definition based objects: tables, views, database diagrams, or stored
procedures (which can also contain application code)"? That erases
much of the benefit of using Access 2003's GUI (in concert with
SQLExpress) doesn't it?

I was hoping against hope that we could add the benefits of SQLExpress
(a whole other discussion; not pertinent here) and still retain the
ease of defining and editing reports and queries using SQL statements
(involving mult-table joins with various clauses [filters]) .
Likewise, can we no longer use Access 2003 GUI to create and edit
bound forms and subforms if the tables are stored on SQLExpress?

I realize this is almost certainly NOT part of the Access Team's
mission. ;>) Still, if the Access 2003 GUI is largely compromised
when accessing SQLExpress as a BE, then what SQL database tool is
available for the casual coder. Will Visual Basic Expess include a
scaled down version of Microsoft's SQL Database Tools (VDT?) for the
non professional community?

[Wishing I could have my cake and eat it too...]