Pros and Cons of the Access Database
It looks like 1993 will be the year that database applications for IBM-compatible computers move from DOS into the Windows graphic environment.
The change brings new sophistication in both performance and appearance. But it also brings new complexity.
Microsoft has gotten the jump on its principal competitor, Borland International, by getting Access to dealers’ shelves late last year. A couple of weeks ago, Microsoft followed up with FoxPro 2.5 for Windows, an enhancement of a popular DOS database program it purchased last year.
Borland International has just announced the completely new Windows version of its well-regarded Paradox database, and it is developing a Windows version of the venerable dBASE program.
Meanwhile, lesser-known Windows database products have recently hit the market, such as PrimaBase from Scandinavian PC Systems, and Iconic Query from Intelligence Ware. The latter is actually a Windows front-end for existing database files on DOS as well as other systems.
Database development programs are among the most complex of all software applications, with users ranging from novices interested in building simple client lists to professional developers who construct entire suites of custom business accounting and personnel applications.
Beginning with Access in this column, I’ll highlight features of these new packages from the perspective of non-programmers who want to develop basic business database applications.
Microsoft’s $495 Access needs 13 megabytes of disk storage space, and the company recommends 4 megabytes or more of random access memory (RAM). If you will be storing tens of thousands of records in your databases, a computer equipped with the fast Intel 486 chip will make a big difference in data retrieval times.
Access brings publication-quality forms and reports to your databases, complete with high-quality graphic images if you have the fast hardware and large disk storage capacity such images require. For instance, a real estate agent could store scanned photos of homes for sale along with the data describing their features, or a personnel database could include pictures of employees.
Invoices, which are a specialized database report form, can include company logos and stylized typography. On a more prosaic level, Access’ use of Windows’ font capabilities means that names of foreign clients, suppliers and products can at last be spelled properly, complete with special alphabetical characters and accent marks.
Most business database designs require a series of interrelated tables, or lists, of data. One could identify customers, another could list products, and a third, intersecting data from the other two tables, could keep track of customer orders. Access helps you connect one table to another by keeping permanent track of their relationships. It will even suggest proper relationships if you are careful to give the same name to comparable fields in each table, such as “Customer ID.”
You aren’t stuck with cryptic field names, either, because Access allows names up to 64 characters long, including spaces and upper- and lower-case letters.
Two ease-of-use features are “cue cards” and “wizards.” Cue cards, part of the on-screen help system, pop up to give step-by-step instructions for various tasks, such as designing a table. Wizards, on the other hand, appear as options while performing certain tasks, such as creating a report. If you choose the wizard, it will present several options and then perform the task for you according to predetermined specifications.
Retrieving data is a critical task, and Access has an excellent query system. You build a query on a grid-style form by specifying what fields to select from, the criteria to use and how to sort the results.
The result of such a search is what appears to be a new table, but actually is just a focused view of your data. The advantage is that you can edit any information appearing in a query table and actually be making changes to the database itself. Many other programs do not allow the underlying data to be changed from a query.
The price of sophistication is complexity, and the forest of dialogue boxes and choices involved in creating tables, forms and reports is confusing and intimidating when you’re getting started.
At this writing, Microsoft has identified 22 bugs in the initial version of Access and posted information about how to deal with them in a users forum on CompuServe, the popular commercial on-line information system. A revised version of the program, fixing the bugs and adding connections to other database files, is expected to be released by June.
Reactions among early users who have sent comments about Access to CompuServe have generally been favorable. Experienced database programmers report that they can turn out more sophisticated applications in less time and with less effort than in traditional DOS-based database programs.
