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Hi!
I'm Abb!
This site is about MS Access, Databases & Me
MS Access has been around for a long time. Of all the early Windows databases (Access, Paradox, Approach and a few others), it was Access that impressed me the most and the one I took to although I did play with the rest of them. It's now in it's 6th version. Of those 6, I've had 4 of them - 1.0, 2.0, 97 , 2000 and as of early March, version 2002 (or the XP version as it's sometimes called). I skipped versions 1.1 because the changes were minor and 95 because of how unstable I heard it was. However, I did buy a book on Access 95 even though I didn't own it <g>.
With Access 2, a Developer's Tool Kit (DTK) arrived on the scene. It enabled the distribution of Access programs without the client buying a full version of Access 2. It did this by distributing a "runtime" version of Access 2, enough of it to run your programs and nothing else. Needless to say I bought it. However, with Access 97, if you wanted it's DTK, you had to buy the Developer's Edition of MS Office 97 (which I bought). However, with Office's escalating cost with each new version, and the amount of people buying it on the increase, with Access 2000, I chose not to buy the developer's version but rather Office 2000 Professional version.
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For those of you starting out in Access I have a tip and it's based on a complaint (or horror story) I hear at times:
Create TWO (2) Access files, one strictly for tables and the other for EVERYTHING else and then link them. This way, you can add or modify forms, etc anywhere, anytime without overwriting (horror of horrors) the raw data in the tables.
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I've been playing with Access for a long time and have seen it grow up.
But Access isn't where I started with databases. I initially started writing database type programs the hard way - with Apple Basic (I had an Apple II at the time) and then with dBase III+ in the mid 80's. In the early and late Dos days I programmed in FoxPro 2.6, dBase III+, IV, and a bit of 5. Even last year I still wrote a few dBase Dos programs so they aren't entirely gone. FoxPro was a very powerful database and a favourite of mine. Needless to say, I have an extensive background with these databases. Amazingly they were ahead of their time. Remember the Y2K bug? Guess what, these databases can be made Y2K compatible without a total rewrite, but they do have their limitations. I shocked many people when I told them this but my honesty impressed them. The world was moving from Dos to Windows so re-writes were on the horizon, however they weren't as critical as many thought and many were happy with the quick fix to their old Dos programs. As a result of my Dos database background, dBase/FoxPro to Access conversions is a niche that sorta found me, especially during the Y2K uproar. - I got asked a lot of questions regarding dBase Dos to Dbase Windows conversions.
Dbase was very late to enter the Windows world and I really wasn't impressed. In all fairness to dBase, I feel compelled to mention the following - on March 4th, 1999, dBase was transferred from Inprise Corp (formerly known as Borland) to a new company headed by dBase guru Alan Katz. This new company called dBASE INC can be found at http://http://www.dbase2000.com//. It seems that dBase is finally in the hands of people that care about it.
Recommend Books click here....this page is still under construction
If you have any questions or small problems, send me a brief description. If I have the time and can help you with it, then I'll ask you for more details. Please, no questions regarding Clipper as I've had very little experience with it. I would ask that you do *not* initially send me files for me to look at without asking me first. If I can't or don't have the time to help, I'll gladly redirect your request/question(s) to other sources. My email address is abbnaklie@sympatico.ca
If you do email me I would greatly appreciate it if you let me know ** what version of Access or dbase or FoxPro you're using or referring to ** and that it was my ** Geocities Programming Site ** you found since I have a few other similar sites elsewhere.
In case anyone is interest, I still own/have the following programs:
DOS: dBase III+, IV 2.0, 5.0
FoxPro 2.6 with the DTK
Windows: Access 2.0 and 97 (with DTK's), 2000/2002 (no DTK)
dBase 5.0, 5.5, 5.6 and 5.7
Please come back soon and visit me.
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