|
|
Posted by Tim Roberts on 02/05/06 08:54
"Jim Carlock" <anonymous@127.0.0.1> wrote:
>"Tim Roberts" <timr@probo.com> posted:
>> I doubt you will find anything hosted on Linux. It is not trivial to
>> manipulate an Access database outside of Windows.
>
>What about putting the access file onto a Windows machine, then
>exporting the data to XML, CSV or whatnot? Once placed in the
>new format, the data can be moved back to the linux machine
>and "accessed" without Access.
Absolutely, but as I recall, that is exactly the problem you were trying to
solve in the first place!
>Or, could the file be placed upon a Unix machine, then connected to
>via a network connection (network share) from a Windows machine?
Do you mean something like Samba? That will work, but there are two
issues. First, Access is not very smart about the way it reads the
database file, and most Access programmers are even worse. Talking to an
Access database over a network share can be a painful exercise in patience.
Second, this doesn't really solve the problem. You're still running the
Access application on Windows, and the original problem specification was
to eliminate that.
<soapbox>
Access is a flexible, powerful, and easy to use program, but in my view,
one of the most serious shortcomings in all 11 versions of Access has been
the complete lack of a simple "export to SQL" command.
</soapbox>
When I take a backup of a database, I would much rather have a file that I
can read (and manipulate) than a copy of an opaque binary file. Having an
export/import option would eliminate the need for the "repair database"
option in Access.
By the way, here are a couple of web pages that describe how to move from
Access and SQL Server to MySQL:
http://dev.mysql.com/tech-resources/articles/migrating-from-microsoft.html
http://www.kitebird.com/articles/access-migrate.html
--
- Tim Roberts, timr@probo.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.
Navigation:
[Reply to this message]
|