Microsoft Office Access, previously known as
Microsoft Access, is a
relational database management systemA relational database management system is a database management system that is based on the relational model as introduced by E. F. Codd. Most popular databases currently in use are based on the relational database model....
from
MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
that combines the relational
Microsoft Jet Database EngineThe Microsoft Jet Database Engine is a database engine on which several Microsoft products have been built. A database engine is the underlying component of a database, a collection of information stored on a computer in a systematic way...
with a
graphical user interfaceIn computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
and software-development tools. It is a member of the
Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
suite of applications, included in the Professional and higher editions or sold separately. In May 12 2010, the current version of Microsoft Access 2010 was released by Microsoft in Office 2010; Microsoft Office Access 2007 was the prior version.
MS Access stores data in its own format based on the Access Jet Database Engine. It can also import or link directly to
dataThe term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
stored in other applications and databases.
Software developerA software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s and
data architectA data architect is a person responsible for ensuring that the data assets of an organization are supported by an architecture supporting the organization in achieving its strategic goals. The architecture should cover databases, data integration and the means to get to the data. Usually the data...
s can use Microsoft Access to develop
application softwareApplication software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
, and "power users" can use it to build simple applications. Like other
Office applicationsMicrosoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
, Access is supported by
Visual Basic for ApplicationsVisual Basic for Applications is an implementation of Microsoft's event-driven programming language Visual Basic 6 and its associated integrated development environment , which are built into most Microsoft Office applications...
, an object-oriented programming language that can reference a variety of objects including DAO (Data Access Objects),
ActiveXActiveX is a framework for defining reusable software components in a programming language-independent way. Software applications can then be composed from one or more of these components in order to provide their functionality....
Data Objects, and many other ActiveX components. Visual objects used in forms and reports expose their methods and properties in the VBA programming environment, and VBA code modules may declare and call Windows
operating-systemAn operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
functions.
Project Omega
Microsoft's first attempt to sell a relational database product was during the mid 1980s, when Microsoft obtained license to sell
R:BaseR:BASE was the first relational database program for the PC. Created by Wayne Erickson in 1981, the original R:Base database was written on a Heathkit CPM computer that Erickson built at home. On November 13, 1981, Erickson and his brother, Ron Erickson, incorporated the company, MicroRim, Inc....
. In the late 1980s Microsoft developed its own solution codenamed Omega. It was confirmed in 1988 that a database product for Windows and OS/2 was in development. It was going to include "EB" Embedded Basic language, which was going to be the language for writing macros in all Microsoft applications, but the unification of macro languages did not happen until the introduction of
VBAVisual Basic for Applications is an implementation of Microsoft's event-driven programming language Visual Basic 6 and its associated integrated development environment , which are built into most Microsoft Office applications...
. Omega was also expected to provide a front end to the
Microsoft SQL ServerMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
. The application was very resource demanding and there were reports that it was working slow on then-available
386The Intel 80386, also known as the i386, or just 386, was a 32-bit microprocessor introduced by Intel in 1985. The first versions had 275,000 transistors and were used as the central processing unit of many workstations and high-end personal computers of the time...
processors. It was scheduled to be released in the 1st quarter of 1990, but in 1989 the development of the product was reset and it was rescheduled to be delivered no sooner than in January 1991. Parts of the project were later used for other Microsoft projects: Cirrus (codename for Access) and Thunder (codename for
Visual BasicVisual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
, where the Embedded Basic engine was used). After Access's premiere, the Omega project was demonstrated in 1992 to several journalists and included features that were not available in Access.
Project Cirrus
After scrapping the Omega project, some of its developers were assigned to the Cirrus project (most were assigned to the team which created Visual Basic). Its goal was to create a competitor for applications like
ParadoxParadox is a relational database management system currently published by Corel Corporation. It was originally released for DOS by Ansa Software, and then by Borland after it bought the company...
or
dBasedBase II was the first widely used database management system for microcomputers. It was originally published by Ashton-Tate for CP/M, and later on ported to the Apple II and IBM PC under DOS...
that would work on Windows. After Microsoft acquired
FoxProFoxPro is a text-based procedurally-oriented programming language and DBMS, originally published by Fox Software and later by Microsoft, for MS-DOS, MS Windows, Apple Macintosh, and UNIX....
, there were rumors that the Microsoft project might get replaced with it, but the company decided to develop them in parallel. It was assumed that the project would make use of
Extensible Storage EngineExtensible Storage Engine , also known as JET Blue, is an Indexed Sequential Access Method data storage technology from Microsoft. ESE is notably a core of Microsoft Exchange Server and Active Directory. Its purpose is to allow applications to store and retrieve data via indexed and sequential...
(Jet Blue) but, in the end, only support for
Microsoft Jet Database EngineThe Microsoft Jet Database Engine is a database engine on which several Microsoft products have been built. A database engine is the underlying component of a database, a collection of information stored on a computer in a systematic way...
(Jet Red) was provided. The project used some of the code from both the Omega project and a pre-release version of Visual Basic. In July 1992, betas of Cirrus shipped to developers and the name Access became the official name of the product.
Timeline
1992: Microsoft released Access version 1.0 on 13 November 1992, and an Access 1.1 release in May 1993 to improve compatibility with other Microsoft products and to include the Access Basic programming language.
1993: Microsoft specified the minimum hardware requirements for Access v2.0 as: Microsoft Windows v3.1 with 4 MB of RAM required, 6 MB RAM recommended; 8 MB of available
hard diskA hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
space required, 14 MB hard disk space recommended. The product shipped on seven 1.44 MB diskettes. The manual shows a 1993 copyright date.
Originally, the software worked well with relatively small databases but testing showed that some circumstances caused
data corruptionData corruption refers to errors in computer data that occur during writing, reading, storage, transmission, or processing, which introduce unintended changes to the original data...
. For example, file sizes over 10 MB proved problematic (note that most hard disks held less than 500 MB at the time this was in wide use), and the
Getting Started manual warns about a number of circumstances where obsolete
device driverIn computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
s or incorrect configurations can cause
data lossData loss is an error condition in information systems in which information is destroyed by failures or neglect in storage, transmission, or processing. Information systems implement backup and disaster recovery equipment and processes to prevent data loss or restore lost data.Data loss is...
. With the phasing out of Windows 95, 98 and ME, improved network reliability, and Microsoft having released 8
service packA service pack is a collection of updates, fixes or enhancements to a software program delivered in the form of a single installable package. Many companies, such as Microsoft or Autodesk, typically release a service pack when the number of individual patches to a given program reaches a certain ...
s for the Jet
Database EngineA database engine is the underlying software component that a database management system uses to create, read, update and delete data from a database....
, the reliability of Access databases has improved and it supports both more data and a larger number of users.
With Office 95, Microsoft Access 7.0 (a.k.a "Access 95") became part of the Microsoft Office Professional Suite, joining Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint and transitioning from Access Basic to Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Since then, Microsoft has released new versions of Microsoft Access with each release of Microsoft Office. This includes Access 97 (version 8.0), Access 2000 (version 9.0), Access 2002 (version 10.0), Access 2003 (version 11.5), Access 2007 (version 12.0), and Access 2010 (version 14.0).
Versions 3.0 and 3.5 of Microsoft Jet database engine (used by Access 7.0 and the later-released Access 97 respectively) had a critical issue which made these versions of Access unusable on a computer with more than 1 GB of memory. While Microsoft fixed this problem for Jet 3.5/Access 97 post-release, it never fixed the issue with Jet 3.0/Access 95.
The native Access database format (the Jet MDB Database) has also evolved over the years. Formats include Access 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 7.0, 97, 2000, 2002, 2007, and 2010. The most significant transition was from the Access 97 to the Access 2000 format; which is not
backward compatibleIn the context of telecommunications and computing, a device or technology is said to be backward or downward compatible if it can work with input generated by an older device...
with earlier versions of Access. all newer versions of Access support the Access 2000 format. New features were added to the Access 2002 format which can be used by Access 2002, 2003, 2007, and 2010.
MS Access 2007 introduced a new database format: ACCDB. ACCDB supports complex
data typeIn computer programming, a data type is a classification identifying one of various types of data, such as floating-point, integer, or Boolean, that determines the possible values for that type; the operations that can be done on values of that type; the meaning of the data; and the way values of...
s such as multivalue and attachment fields. These new field types are essentially recordsets in fields and allow the storage of multiple values in one field. With Access 2010, a new version of the ACCDB format supports hosting on a SharePoint 2010 server for exposure to the web.
Prior to the introduction of Access,
BorlandBorland Software Corporation is a software company first headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, Cupertino, California and finally Austin, Texas. It is now a Micro Focus subsidiary. It was founded in 1983 by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, Mogens Glad and Philippe Kahn.-The 1980s:...
(with
ParadoxParadox is a relational database management system currently published by Corel Corporation. It was originally released for DOS by Ansa Software, and then by Borland after it bought the company...
and
dBasedBase II was the first widely used database management system for microcomputers. It was originally published by Ashton-Tate for CP/M, and later on ported to the Apple II and IBM PC under DOS...
) and Fox (with
FoxProVisual FoxPro is a data-centric object-oriented and procedural programming language produced by Microsoft. It is derived from FoxPro which was developed by Fox Software beginning in 1984. Fox Technologies merged with Microsoft in 1992, after which the software acquired further features and the...
) dominated the desktop database market. Microsoft Access was the first mass-market database program for Windows. With Microsoft's purchase of FoxPro in 1992 and the incorporation of Fox's Rushmore
query optimizationQuery optimization is a function of many relational database management systems in which multiple query plans for satisfying a query are examined and a good query plan is identified. This may or not be the absolute best strategy because there are many ways of doing plans. There is a trade-off...
routines into Access, Microsoft Access quickly became the dominant database for Windows - effectively eliminating the competition which failed to transition from the
MS-DOSMS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
world.
Access's initial codename was Cirrus; the forms engine was called Ruby. This was before
Visual BasicVisual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
-
Bill GatesWilliam Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
saw the prototypes and decided that the
BASICBASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
language component should be co-developed as a separate expandable application, a project called Thunder. The two projects were developed separately as the underlying forms engines were incompatible with each other; however, these were merged together again after
VBAVisual Basic for Applications is an implementation of Microsoft's event-driven programming language Visual Basic 6 and its associated integrated development environment , which are built into most Microsoft Office applications...
.
Access was also the name of a communications program from Microsoft, meant to compete with ProComm and other programs. This proved a failure and was dropped. Years later, Microsoft reused the name for its
database softwareA database management system is a software package with computer programs that control the creation, maintenance, and use of a database. It allows organizations to conveniently develop databases for various applications by database administrators and other specialists. A database is an integrated...
.
Uses
However, Microsoft Access may be used only as the 'front-end', using another product for the 'back-end' tables, such as
Microsoft SQL ServerMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
and non-Microsoft products such as
OracleThe Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
and
SybaseSybase, an SAP company, is an enterprise software and services company offering software to manage, analyze, and mobilize information, using relational databases, analytics and data warehousing solutions and mobile applications development platforms....
. Similarly, some applications will only use the Microsoft Access tables and use another product as a front-end, such as
Visual BasicVisual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
or
ASP.NETASP.NET is a Web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications and Web services. It was first released in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET Framework, and is the successor to Microsoft's Active Server Pages ...
. Microsoft Access may be only part of the solution in more complex applications, where it may be integrated with other technologies such as
Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
,
Microsoft OutlookMicrosoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
or
ActiveX Data ObjectsMicrosoft's ActiveX Data Objects is a set of Component Object Model objects for accessing data sources. A part of MDAC, it provides a middleware layer between programming languages and OLE DB...
.
Access tables support a variety of standard field types,
indicesA database index is a data structure that improves the speed of data retrieval operations on a database table at the cost of slower writes and increased storage space...
, and
referential integrityReferential integrity is a property of data which, when satisfied, requires every value of one attribute of a relation to exist as a value of another attribute in a different relation ....
. Access also includes a
queryInformation retrieval is the area of study concerned with searching for documents, for information within documents, and for metadata about documents, as well as that of searching structured storage, relational databases, and the World Wide Web...
interfaceIn computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
, forms to display and enter data, and reports for printing. The underlying
Jet databaseThe Microsoft Jet Database Engine is a database engine on which several Microsoft products have been built. A database engine is the underlying component of a database, a collection of information stored on a computer in a systematic way...
, which contains these objects, is multiuser-aware and handles
record-lockingA lock is used when multiple users need to access a database concurrently. This prevents data from being corrupted or invalidated when multiple users try to write to the database. Any single user can only modify those database records to which they have applied a lock that gives them exclusive...
and referential integrity including
cascadingIn event-driven computer programs, an event cascade occurs when an event handler causes another event to occur which also triggers an event handler. This can be a tricky source of program errors ....
updatesAn SQL UPDATE statement changes the data of one or more records in a table. Either all the rows can be updated, or a subset may be chosen using a condition.The UPDATE statement has the following form:...
and
deletesIn the database structured query language , the DELETE statement removes one or more records from a table. A subset may be defined for deletion using a condition, otherwise all records are removed.-Usage:The DELETE statement follows the syntax:...
.
Repetitive tasks can be automated through macros with
point-and-clickPoint-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
options. It is also easy to place a database on a network and have multiple users share and update data without overwriting each other's work. Data is
lockedA lock is used when multiple users need to access a database concurrently. This prevents data from being corrupted or invalidated when multiple users try to write to the database. Any single user can only modify those database records to which they have applied a lock that gives them exclusive...
at the
recordIn the context of a relational database, a row—also called a record or tuple—represents a single, implicitly structured data item in a table. In simple terms, a database table can be thought of as consisting of rows and columns or fields...
level which is significantly different from
ExcelMicrosoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
which
locksIn computer science, a lock is a synchronization mechanism for enforcing limits on access to a resource in an environment where there are many threads of execution. Locks are one way of enforcing concurrency control policies.-Types:...
the entire spreadsheet.
There are
templateThe term document template when used in the context of file format refers to a common feature of many software applications that define a unique non-executable file format intended specifically for that particular application....
databases within the program and for download from their
website. These options are available upon starting Access and allow users to enhance a database with predefined tables,
queriesQuery languages are computer languages used to make queries into databases and information systems.Broadly, query languages can be classified according to whether they are database query languages or information retrieval query languages...
, forms, reports, and macros. Templates do not include
VBAVisual Basic for Applications is an implementation of Microsoft's event-driven programming language Visual Basic 6 and its associated integrated development environment , which are built into most Microsoft Office applications...
code.
Programmers can create solutions using the
programming languageA programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)Visual Basic for Applications is an implementation of Microsoft's event-driven programming language Visual Basic 6 and its associated integrated development environment , which are built into most Microsoft Office applications...
, which is similar to
Visual Basic 6.0 (VB6)Visual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
and used throughout the
Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
programs such as
ExcelMicrosoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
,
WordMicrosoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
,
OutlookMicrosoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
and
PowerPointMicrosoft PowerPoint, usually just called PowerPoint, is a non-free commercial presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite, and runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X operating system...
. Most VB6 code, including the use of Windows API calls, can be used in VBA. Power users and developers can extend basic
end-userEconomics and commerce define an end user as the person who uses a product. The end user or consumer may differ from the person who purchases the product...
solutions to a professional solution with advanced automation,
data validationIn computer science, data validation is the process of ensuring that a program operates on clean, correct and useful data. It uses routines, often called "validation rules" or "check routines", that check for correctness, meaningfulness, and security of data that are input to the system...
,
error trappingException handling is a programming language construct or computer hardware mechanism designed to handle the occurrence of exceptions, special conditions that change the normal flow of program execution....
, and
multi-userMulti-user is a term that defines an operating system or application software that allows concurrent access by multiple users of a computer. Time-sharing systems are multi-user systems. Most batch processing systems for mainframe computers may also be considered "multi-user", to avoid leaving the...
support.
The number of simultaneous users that can be supported depends on the amount of data, the
taskIn project management a task is an activity that needs to be accomplished within a defined period of time. An assignment is a task under the responsibility of an assignee which should have a start and end date defined. One or more assignments on a task puts the task under execution. Completion of...
s being performed, level of use, and
application designSoftware design is a process of problem solving and planning for a software solution. After the purpose and specifications of software are determined, software developers will design or employ designers to develop a plan for a solution...
. Generally accepted limits are solutions with 1 GB or less of data (Access supports up to 2 GB) and performs quite well with 20 or fewer simultaneous connections (255 concurrent users are supported). This capability is often a good fit for department solutions. If using an Access database solution in a multi-user scenario, the application should be "split". This means that the tables are in one file called the back end (typically stored on a shared network folder) and the application components (forms, reports, queries, code, macros, linked tables) are in another file called the front end. The linked tables in the front end point to the back end file. Each user of the Access application would then receive his or her own copy of the front end file.
Applications that run complex queries or analysis across large datasets would naturally require greater
bandwidthIn computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it .Note that in textbooks on wireless communications, modem data transmission,...
and memory. Microsoft Access is designed to scale to support more data and users by linking to multiple Access databases or using a back-end database like
Microsoft SQL ServerMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
. With the latter design, the amount of data and users can scale to enterprise-level solutions.
Microsoft Access's role in
web developmentWeb development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the Internet or an intranet . This can include web design, web content development, client liaison, client-side/server-side scripting, web server and network security configuration, and e-commerce development...
prior to version 2010 is limited.
User interfaceThe user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
features of Access, such as forms and reports, only work in
WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. In versions 2000 through 2003 an Access object type called Data Access Pages created publishable web pages. Data Access Pages are no longer supported. The
Microsoft Jet Database EngineThe Microsoft Jet Database Engine is a database engine on which several Microsoft products have been built. A database engine is the underlying component of a database, a collection of information stored on a computer in a systematic way...
, core to Access, can be accessed through technologies such as ODBC or
OLE DBOLE DB is an API designed by Microsoft for accessing data from a variety of sources in an uniform manner. It is a set of interfaces implemented using the Component Object Model ; it is otherwise unrelated to OLE...
. The data (i.e., tables and queries) can be accessed by
web-based applicationsA web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
developed in
ASP.NETASP.NET is a Web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications and Web services. It was first released in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET Framework, and is the successor to Microsoft's Active Server Pages ...
,
PHPPHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
, or Java.
Access 2010 allows databases to be published to SharePoint 2010 web sites running Access Services. These web-based forms and reports run in any modern web browser. The resulting web forms and reports, when accessed via a web browser, don't require any add-ins or extensions (e.g. ActiveX, Silverlight).
A compiled version of an Access database (File extensions: .MDE /ACCDE or .ADE; MDE was replaced in Access 2007) can be created to prevent user from accessing the design surfaces to modify module code, forms, and reports. An MDE/ACCDE file is a Microsoft Access database file with all modules compiled and all editable source code removed. An ADE file is an Access project file with all modules compiled and all editable source code removed. Both the .MDE/ACCDE and .ADE versions of an Access database are used when end-user modifications are not allowed or when the application’s source code should be kept confidential.
Microsoft offers a
runtimeA run-time system is a software component designed to support the execution of computer programs written in some computer language...
version of Microsoft Access 2007 for
download. This allows people to create Access solutions and distribute it for use by non-Microsoft Access owners (similar to the way
DLLDynamic-link library , or DLL, is Microsoft's implementation of the shared library concept in the Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems...
s or
EXEIn computing, an executable file causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instructions," as opposed to a data file that must be parsed by a program to be meaningful. These instructions are traditionally machine code instructions for a physical CPU...
s are distributed). Unlike the regular version of Access, the runtime version allows users to use the Access application but they cannot use its design surfaces.
Microsoft also offers
developer extensions for download to help distribute Access applications, create database templates, and integrate
source codeIn computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
control with
Microsoft Visual SourceSafeMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe is a source control software package oriented towards small software development projects. Like most source control systems, SourceSafe creates a virtual library of computer files...
.
Features
Users can create tables, queries, forms and reports, and connect them together with macros. Advanced users can use
VBAVisual Basic for Applications is an implementation of Microsoft's event-driven programming language Visual Basic 6 and its associated integrated development environment , which are built into most Microsoft Office applications...
to write rich solutions with advanced data manipulation and user control.
The original concept of Access was for end users to be able to "access" data from any source. Other uses include: the import and export of data to many formats including
ExcelMicrosoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
,
OutlookMicrosoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
,
ASCIIThe American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
,
dBasedBase II was the first widely used database management system for microcomputers. It was originally published by Ashton-Tate for CP/M, and later on ported to the Apple II and IBM PC under DOS...
,
ParadoxParadox is a relational database management system currently published by Corel Corporation. It was originally released for DOS by Ansa Software, and then by Borland after it bought the company...
,
FoxProFoxPro is a text-based procedurally-oriented programming language and DBMS, originally published by Fox Software and later by Microsoft, for MS-DOS, MS Windows, Apple Macintosh, and UNIX....
,
SQL ServerMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
,
OracleThe Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
,
ODBCIn computing, ODBC is a standard C interface for accessing database management systems . The designers of ODBC aimed to make it independent of database systems and operating systems...
, etc. It also has the ability to link to data in its existing location and use it for viewing, querying, editing, and reporting. This allows the existing data to change while ensuring that Access uses the latest data. It can perform heterogeneous
joinAn SQL join clause combines records from two or more tables in a database. It creates a set that can be saved as a table or used as is. A JOIN is a means for combining fields from two tables by using values common to each. ANSI standard SQL specifies four types of JOINs: INNER, OUTER, LEFT, and RIGHT...
s between data sets stored across different platforms. Access is often used by people downloading data from
enterprise level databasesEnterprise software, also known as enterprise application software , is software used in organizations, such as in a business or government, contrary to software chosen by individuals...
for manipulation, analysis, and reporting locally.
There is also the
JetThe Microsoft Jet Database Engine is a database engine on which several Microsoft products have been built. A database engine is the underlying component of a database, a collection of information stored on a computer in a systematic way...
Database format (MDB or ACCDB in Access 2007) which can contain the application and data in one file. This makes it very convenient to distribute the entire application to another user, who can run it in disconnected environments.
One of the benefits of Access from a programmer's perspective is its relative compatibility with
SQLSQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
(structured
query languageQuery languages are computer languages used to make queries into databases and information systems.Broadly, query languages can be classified according to whether they are database query languages or information retrieval query languages...
) — queries can be viewed
graphicallyIn computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
or edited as SQL statements, and SQL statements can be used directly in Macros and VBA
ModulesModular programming is a software design technique that increases the extent to which software is composed of separate, interchangeable components called modules by breaking down program functions into modules, each of which accomplishes one function and contains everything necessary to accomplish...
to manipulate Access tables. Users can mix and use both VBA and "Macros" for programming forms and logic and offers
object-orientedObject-oriented programming is a programming paradigm using "objects" – data structures consisting of data fields and methods together with their interactions – to design applications and computer programs. Programming techniques may include features such as data abstraction,...
possibilities. VBA can also be included in queries.
Microsoft Access offers
parameterized queriesIn computer programming, a parameter is a special kind of variable, used in a subroutine to refer to one of the pieces of data provided as input to the subroutine. These pieces of data are called arguments...
. These queries and Access tables can be referenced from other programs like
VB6Visual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
and
.NETThe .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
through
DAOJet Data Access Objects is a deprecated general programming interface for database access on Microsoft Windows systems. It is unrelated to the data access object design pattern used in object-oriented software design.- History :...
or
ADOMicrosoft's ActiveX Data Objects is a set of Component Object Model objects for accessing data sources. A part of MDAC, it provides a middleware layer between programming languages and OLE DB...
. From Microsoft Access, VBA can reference parameterized stored procedures via ADO.
The
desktopIn graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface derived from the desktop metaphor that is seen on most modern personal computers. These GUIs help the user in easily accessing, configuring, and modifying many important and frequently accessed...
editions of
Microsoft SQL ServerMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
can be used with Access as an alternative to the
Jet Database EngineThe Microsoft Jet Database Engine is a database engine on which several Microsoft products have been built. A database engine is the underlying component of a database, a collection of information stored on a computer in a systematic way...
. This support started with
MSDEMicrosoft SQL Server Data Engine is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. It is a scaled-down version of Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 or 2000 which is free for non-commercial use as well as certain limited commercial use...
(Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine), a scaled down version of Microsoft SQL Server 2000, and continues with the
SQL Server ExpressMicrosoft SQL Server Express, a freely downloadable and distributable version of Microsoft's SQL Server relational database management system, comprises a database specifically targeted for embedded and smaller-scale applications.- Capabilities :...
versions of SQL Server 2005 and 2008.
Microsoft Access is a
file serverIn computing, a file server is a computer attached to a network that has the primary purpose of providing a location for shared disk access, i.e. shared storage of computer files that can be accessed by the workstations that are attached to the computer network...
-based database. Unlike client–server
relational database management systemA relational database management system is a database management system that is based on the relational model as introduced by E. F. Codd. Most popular databases currently in use are based on the relational database model....
s (RDBMS), Microsoft Access does not implement
database triggerA database trigger is procedural code that is automatically executed in response to certain events on a particular table or view in a database. The trigger is mostly used for keeping the integrity of the information on the database...
s,
stored procedureA stored procedure is a subroutine available to applications that access a relational database system. A stored procedure is actually stored in the database data dictionary.Typical uses for stored procedures include data validation or access control mechanisms...
s, or
transaction logIn the field of databases in computer science, a transaction log is a history of actions executed by a database management system to guarantee ACID properties over crashes or hardware failures...
ging. Access 2010 includes table-level triggers and stored procedures built into the ACE data engine. Thus a Client-server database system is not a requirement for using stored procedures or table triggers with Access 2010.
Tables, queries, Forms, reports and Macros can now be developed specifically for web base application in Access 2010. Integration with Microsoft SharePoint 2010 is also highly improved.
Access Services and Web database
ASP.NETASP.NET is a Web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications and Web services. It was first released in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET Framework, and is the successor to Microsoft's Active Server Pages ...
web forms can query an MS Access database, retrieve records and display them on the browser.
SharePoint Server 2010 via Access Services allows for Access 2010 databases to be published to SharePoint, thus enabling multiple users to interact with the database application from any standards-compliant Web browser. Access Web databases published to SharePoint Server can use standard objects such as tables, queries, forms, macros, and reports. Access Services stores those objects in SharePoint.
Import or Link sources
Microsoft Access can also import or link directly to data stored in other applications and databases. Microsoft Office Access 2007 and newer can import from or link to:
- Microsoft Access
- Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
- SharePoint lists
- text
- XML
- Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
- HTML
- dBase
- Paradox
- Lotus 1-2-3
Lotus 1-2-3 is a spreadsheet program from Lotus Software . It was the IBM PC's first "killer application"; its huge popularity in the mid-1980s contributed significantly to the success of the IBM PC in the corporate environment.-Beginnings:...
- ODBC-compliant data containers, including:
- Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
- Oracle
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
- MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
- PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL, often simply Postgres, is an object-relational database management system available for many platforms including Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MS Windows and Mac OS X. It is released under the PostgreSQL License, which is an MIT-style license, and is thus free and open source software...
Development
Access stores all database tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, and modules in the Access Jet database as a single file.
For query development, Access offers a "Query Designer", a graphical user interface that allows users to build queries without knowledge of the SQL programming language. In the Query Designer, users can "show" the datasources of the query (which can be tables or queries) and select the fields they want returned by clicking and dragging them into the grid. One can set up joins by clicking and dragging fields in tables to fields in other tables. Access allows users to view and manipulate the SQL code if desired. Any Access table, including linked tables from different data sources, can be used in a query.
Access also supports the creation of "pass-through queries". These snippets of SQL code can address external data sources through the use of ODBC connections on the local machine. This enables users to interact with data stored outside the Access program without using linked tables or Jet.
Users construct the pass-through queries using the SQL syntax supported by the external data source.
When developing reports that are linked to queries placing or moving items in the design view of the report, Access runs the linked query in the background on any placement or movement of an item in that Report. If the report is linked to a query that takes a long time to return records this means having to wait until the query has run before you can add/edit or move the next item in the report (this feature cannot be turned off).
Non-programmers can use the macro feature to automate simple tasks through a series of drop-down selections. Macros allow users to easily chain commands together such as running queries, importing or exporting data, opening and closing forms, previewing and printing reports, etc. Macros support basic logic (IF-conditions) and the ability to call other macros. Macros can also contain sub-macros which are similar to subroutines. In Access 2007 enhanced macros with the inclusion of error-handling and of support for
temporary variableIn computer programming, a temporary variable is a variable whose purpose is short-lived, usually to hold temporary data that will soon be discarded, or before it can be placed at a more permanent memory location. Because it is short-lived, it is usually declared with local scope...
s. Access 2007 also introduced embedded macros that are essentially properties of an object's event. This eliminated the need to store macros as individual objects. Macros however, are limited in their functionality by a lack of programming loops and of advanced coding logic. Most professional Access developers use the VBA programming language for a richer and more powerful
development environmentAn integrated development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development...
.
The programming language available in Access is, as in other products of the
Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
suite, Microsoft
Visual Basic for ApplicationsVisual Basic for Applications is an implementation of Microsoft's event-driven programming language Visual Basic 6 and its associated integrated development environment , which are built into most Microsoft Office applications...
, which is nearly identical to Visual Basic 6.0 (VB6). VBA code can be stored in modules and code behind forms and reports. Modules can also be classes.
To manipulate data in tables and queries in VBA, Microsoft provides two database access libraries of
COMComponent Object Model is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages...
components:
- Data Access Objects
Jet Data Access Objects is a deprecated general programming interface for database access on Microsoft Windows systems. It is unrelated to the data access object design pattern used in object-oriented software design.- History :...
(DAO) (32-bit only), which is included in Access and Windows and evolved to ACE in Microsoft Access 2007 for the ACCDE database format
- ActiveX Data Objects ActiveX Data Objects
Microsoft's ActiveX Data Objects is a set of Component Object Model objects for accessing data sources. A part of MDAC, it provides a middleware layer between programming languages and OLE DB...
(ADO) (both 32-bit and 64-bit versions)
Beside DAO and ADO, developers can also use OLE DB and ODBC for developing native C/C++ programs for Access. For ADPs and the direct manipulation of SQL Server data, ADO is required. DAO is most appropriate for managing data in Access/Jet databases, and the only way to manipulate the
complex fieldA complex number is a number consisting of a real part and an imaginary part. Complex numbers extend the idea of the one-dimensional number line to the two-dimensional complex plane by using the number line for the real part and adding a vertical axis to plot the imaginary part...
types in ACCDB tables.
In the database container or navigation pane of Access 2007, the system automatically categorizes each object by type. Many Access developers use the
Leszynski naming conventionThe Leszynski naming convention is a variant of Hungarian notation popularized by consultant Stan Leszynski specifically for use with Microsoft Access development...
, though this is not universal; it is a programming convention, not a DBMS-enforced rule. It is particularly helpful in VBA where references to object names may not indicate its data type (e.g. tbl for tables, qry for queries).
Developers deploy Microsoft Access most often for individual and workgroup projects (the Access 97 speed characterization was done for 32 users). Since Access 97, and with Access 2003 and 2007, Microsoft Access and hardware have evolved significantly. Databases under 1 GB in size (which can now fit entirely in RAM) and 50 simultaneous users are well within the capabilities of Microsoft Access. Of course, performance depends on the
database designDatabase design is the process of producing a detailed data model of a database. This logical data model contains all the needed logical and physical design choices and physical storage parameters needed to generate a design in a Data Definition Language, which can then be used to create a database...
and tasks. Disk-intensive work such as complex searching and querying take the most time.
As data from a Microsoft Access database can be cached in RAM, processing speed may substantially improve when there is only a single user or if the data is not changing. In the past, the effect of packet latency on the record-locking system caused Access databases to run slowly on a
Virtual Private NetworkA virtual private network is a network that uses primarily public telecommunication infrastructure, such as the Internet, to provide remote offices or traveling users access to a central organizational network....
(VPN) or a
Wide Area NetworkA wide area network is a telecommunication network that covers a broad area . Business and government entities utilize WANs to relay data among employees, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various geographical locations...
(WAN) against a Jet database. broadband connections have mitigated this issue. Performance can also be enhanced if a
continuous connection is maintained to the back-end database throughout the session rather than opening and closing it for each table access. If Access Database performance over VPN or WAN suffers, then a client using
Remote Desktop ProtocolRemote Desktop Protocol is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft, which provides a user with a graphical interface to another computer. The protocol is an extension of the ITU-T T.128 application sharing protocol. Clients exist for most versions of Microsoft Windows , Linux, Unix, Mac OS...
(such as Microsoft
Terminal ServicesRemote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2008 R2, formerly known as Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 and previous versions, is one of the components of Microsoft Windows that allows a user to access applications and data on a remote computer over a network, using the Remote Desktop...
) can provide an effective solution. Access databases linked to SQL Server or to Access Data Projects work well over VPNs and WANs.
Split Database Architecture
Microsoft Access applications can adopt a split-database architecture. The database can be divided into a front-end database that contains the application objects (queries, forms, reports, macros, and modules), and is linked to tables stored in a back-end shared database containing the data. The "back-end" database can be stored in a location shared by many users, such as a file server. The "front-end" database is distributed to each user's desktop and linked to the shared database. Using this design, each user has a copy of Microsoft Access installed on their machine along with their application database. This reduces network traffic since the application is not retrieved for each use, and allows the front-end database to contain tables with data that is private to each user for storing settings or temporary data. This split-database design also allows development of the application independent of the data. When a new version is ready, the front-end database is replaced without impacting the data database. Microsoft Access has two built-in utilities, Database Splitter and Linked Table Manager, to facilitate this architecture.
Linked tables in Access use absolute paths rather than relative paths, so the development environment either has to have the same path as the production environment or a "dynamic-linker" routine can be written in
VBAVisual Basic for Applications is an implementation of Microsoft's event-driven programming language Visual Basic 6 and its associated integrated development environment , which are built into most Microsoft Office applications...
.
This is not an economical setup across slow networks, or in large organizations separated by great distances, as it will result in excessive lag to database users. SQL backend should be considered in these circumstances.
Access to SQL Server Upsizing (SQL as a backend)
To scale Access applications to enterprise or web solutions, one possible technique involves migrating to Microsoft SQL Server or equivalent server database. A client–server design significantly reduces maintenance and increases security, availability, stability, and transaction logging.
Access includes an Upsizing Wizard that allows users to
upsizeUpsizing is the term coined by Microsoft to describe the process of upgrading Microsoft Access Database to a Microsoft SQL Server. This allows to continue using Microsoft Access as a database front-end whereas the actual back-end is served by a separate local or remote SQL Server allowing much...
their databases to
Microsoft SQL ServerMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
, an ODBC client–server database. An additional solution, the SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access (SSMA), is also available for download from Microsoft.
A variety of upsizing options are available. After migrating the data and queries to SQL Server, the MDB/ACCDB Access database can be linked to the database. This is the easiest migration and most appropriate if the user does not have rights to create objects such as stored procedures on SQL Server. Retrieving data from linked tables is optimized to just the records needed, but this scenario operates less efficiently for multi-table joins that may require copying the whole table across the network.
Access databases can also be converted to Access Data Projects (ADP) which are tied directly to one SQL Server database. ADP's support the ability to directly create and modify SQL Server objects such as tables, views, stored procedures, and SQL Server constraints. The views and stored procedures can significantly reduce the network traffic for multi-table joins. Fortunately, SQL Server supports temporary tables and links to other data sources beyond the single SQL Server database.
Finally, some Access databases are completely replaced by another solution such as ASP.NET or Java once the data is converted.
In many cases, hybrid solutions are created where developers build web interfaces using ASP.NET, while keeping administrative or reporting features that don't need to be distributed to everyone and/or don't change often in Access for information workers to maintain.
While all Access data can migrate to SQL Server, some queries cannot migrate successfully. In some situations, you may need to translate VBA functions and user defined functions into T–SQL or .NET functions / procedures. Crosstab queries can be migrated to SQL Server using the PIVOT command.
Microsoft Access has a reputation among IT professionals as not being as economical on server resources when running large query transactions, especially if users force-terminate the application on the client side. Transactions that were running might still be running on the SQL server unbeknownst to the end-user.
Protection
Microsoft Access offers several ways to secure the application while allowing users to remain productive.
The most basic is a database password. Once entered, the user has full control of all the database objects. This is a relatively weak form of protection which can be easily cracked.
A higher level of protection is the use of workgroup security requiring a
user nameA user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
and password. Users and groups can be specified along with their rights at the
object typeIn computer science, an object type is a datatype which is used in object-oriented programming to wrap a non-object type to make it look like a dynamic object....
or individual object level. This can be used to specify people with read-only or data entry rights but may be challenging to specify. A separate workgroup security file contains the settings which can be used to manage multiple databases. Workgroup security is not supported in the Access 2007 and Access 2010 ACCDB database format, although Access 2007 and Access 2010 still support it for MDB databases.
Databases can also be encrypted. The ACCDB format offers significantly advanced encryption from previous versions.
Additionally, if the database design needs to be secured to prevent changes, Access databases can be locked/protected (and the source code compiled) by converting the database to a .MDE file. All changes to the VBA project (modules, forms, or reports) need to be made to the original MDB and then reconverted to MDE. In Access 2007 and Access 2010, the ACCDB database is converted to an ACCDE file. Some tools are available for unlocking and "decompiling", although certain elements including original VBA comments and formatting are normally irretrievable.
File extensions
Microsoft Access saves information under the following file formats:
| File format | Extension |
| Protected Access Project |
.ade |
| Access Project |
.adp |
| Access Blank Project Template |
.adn |
| Access Database (2007) |
.accdb |
| Access Database Runtime (2007) |
.accdr |
| Access Database Template (2007) |
.accdt |
| Access Database (2003 and earlier) |
.mdb |
| Access Database, used for addins (2,95,97), previously used for workgroups (2). |
.mda |
| Access Blank Database Template (2003 and earlier) |
.mdn |
| Access Add-in Data (2003 and earlier) |
.mdt |
| Access Workgroup, database for user-level security. |
.mdw |
| Access (SQL Server) detached database (2000) |
.mdf |
| Protected Access Database, with compiled VBA (2003 and earlier) |
.mde |
| Protected Access Database, with compiled VBA (2007) |
.accde |
| Windows Shortcut: Access Macro |
.mam |
| Windows Shortcut: Access Query |
.maq |
| Windows Shortcut: Access Report |
.mar |
| Windows Shortcut: Access Table |
.mat |
| Windows Shortcut: Access Form |
.maf |
Versions
| Version | Version
number | Release Date | JetThe Microsoft Jet Database Engine is a database engine on which several Microsoft products have been built. A database engine is the underlying component of a database, a collection of information stored on a computer in a systematic way...
version | Supported OS An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
|
Office suite version |
| Access 1.1 |
1 |
1992 |
1.1 |
Windows 3.0Windows 3.0, a graphical environment, is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, and was released on 22 May 1990. It became the first widely successful version of Windows and a rival to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga on the GUI front...
|
|
| Access 2.0 |
2.0 |
1993 |
2.0 |
Windows 3.1x Windows 3.1x is a series of 16-bit operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers. The series began with Windows 3.1, which was first sold during March 1992 as a successor to Windows 3.0...
|
Office Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
4.3 Pro |
| Access for Windows 95 |
7.0 |
Aug. 24, 1995 |
3.0 |
Windows 95Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
|
Office 95 Professional Microsoft Office for Windows 95 was the version of Microsoft Office designed specifically for Windows 95, succeeding Office 4.3. Previously, Microsoft had released Office 4.2 for Windows NT for several architectures, which included 32-bit Word 6.0 for Windows NT and Excel 5.0 for Windows NT ,...
|
| Access 97 |
8.0 |
Jan. 16, 1997 |
3.5 |
Windows 9xWindows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel...
, NT 3.51Windows NT 3.51 is the third release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems. It was released on 30 May 1995, nine months after Windows NT 3.5. The release provided two notable feature improvements; firstly NT 3.51 was the first of a short-lived outing of Microsoft Windows on the...
/4.0Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996...
|
Office 97 Professional and Developer Microsoft Office 97 was a major milestone release of Microsoft Office, which included hundreds of new features and improvements, introduced "Command Bars", a paradigm in which menus and toolbars were made more similar in capability and visual design featured natural language systems and...
|
| Access 2000 |
9.0 |
June 7, 1999 |
4.0 SP1 |
Windows 9x, NT 4.0, 2000Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
, XP |
Office 2000 Professional, Premium and Developer Microsoft Office 2000 is a release of Microsoft Office that succeeded Microsoft Office 97 and was designed as a fully 32-bit and Y2K compliant version to match Windows 2000 features. All the Office 2000 applications have OLE 2 capacity, which allows moving data automatically between various...
|
| Access 2002 |
10 |
May 31, 2001 |
4.0 SP1 |
Windows 98Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
, MeWindows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
, 2000, XP |
Office XP Professional and DeveloperMicrosoft Office XP is a productivity suite written and distributed by Microsoft for their Windows operating system. Released on March 5, 2001, it is the successor to Office 2000 and the predecessor to Office 2003, and was known as Office 10 in the early stages of its development cycle...
|
| Access 2003 |
11 |
Nov. 27, 2003 |
4.0 SP1 |
Windows 2000, XP, XP Professional x64 Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition released on April 25, 2005 is an edition of Windows XP for x86-64 personal computers. It is designed to use the expanded 64-bit memory address space provided by the x86-64 architecture....
, Vista |
Office 2003 Professional and Professional EnterpriseMicrosoft Office 2003 is a productivity suite written and distributed by Microsoft for their Windows operating system. Released on October 21, 2003, it was the successor to Office XP and the predecessor to Office 2007.- Overview :...
|
| Access 2007 |
12 |
Jan. 27, 2007 |
12 |
Windows XPWindows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
SP2, XP Professional x64, VistaWindows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
|
Office 2007 Professional, Professional Plus, Ultimate and Enterprise Microsoft Office 2007 is a Windows version of the Microsoft Office System, Microsoft's productivity suite. Formerly known as Office 12 in the initial stages of its beta cycle, it was released to volume license customers on November 30, 2006 and made available to retail customers on January 30, 2007...
|
| Access 2010 |
14 |
July 15, 2010 |
14 |
Windows XP SP3, Vista, Windows 7 |
Office 2010 Professional, Professional Academic and Professional Plus |
There are no Access versions between 2.0 and 7.0 because the
Windows 95Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
version was launched with Word 7. All of the Office 95 products have
OLEObject Linking and Embedding is a technology developed by Microsoft that allows embedding and linking to documents and other objects. For developers, it brought OLE Control eXtension , a way to develop and use custom user interface elements...
2 capabilities, and Access 7 shows that it was compatible with Word 7.
See also
- Comparison of relational database management systems
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of relational database management systems. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up to date...
- Form (web)
A webform on a web page allows a user to enter data that is sent to a server for processing. Webforms resemble paper or database forms because internet users fill out the forms using checkboxes, radio buttons, or text fields...
- MDB Tools
The MDB tools project is an open source effort to create a set of software libraries and utilities to manipulate files in the proprietary JET 3 and 4 database formats...
External links