• Illustration: Access Tables on Team Web Sites
• Illustration: Tracing Object Dependencies

An updated version of the Access desktop database product has been released with the Office 2003 suite. This release delivers small improvements to a product often used for complex data analysis and forms-and-reports applications, especially applications developed by users who aren't full-time, professional software developers. However, with this release Microsoft is also encouraging developers to move to the Visual Studio environment and .NET developer technology, which are not as easy to use as Access, but which will be the main focus of the company's future development efforts.

Access Supports Data Analysis, Development

Access 2003 is the latest generation of a product that originally targeted now-marginal competitors such as dBase and Paradox. Thanks in part to its inclusion in the Office suite, Access retains a sizeable community of both "power users" and software developers. "It's a big-tent product," notes Rick Dobson, who heads a consulting firm specializing in Microsoft Office, databases, and Web development.

For users, Access is popular for extracting and analyzing data from databases, particularly when the data are too large or are organized into too many tables to be analyzed conveniently in Excel.

For developers, Access began as a way to create desktop applications in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) that used Microsoft's Jet desktop database engine. However, Access 2000 and later versions also support client-server and Web applications using the SQL Server database management system. Access's relative ease of use appeals particularly to part-time developers and to professional developers focused on vertical applications.

That developer base could be an important source of strength for Microsoft’s .NET development platform in its battle against Java. Microsoft's challenge is to convince Access developers to move to Visual Studio and .NET languages such as VB.NET, a substantial change from the Access VBA environment. So although the company has made improvements to Access 2003, it is also using this release to steer Access developers beyond that product.

Data Publishing, XML Lead New Features

Like the other Office 2003 applications, Access 2003 delivers new features for integration with new server products and for processing XML.

For example, data import and export features in Access have been extended to support data publication and synchronization with Microsoft's team Web site and portal-hosting server products. (See the illustration "Access Tables on Team Web Sites".) These features will appeal particularly to users who want to distribute Access data to broader groups of colleagues.

XML data import/export features introduced in Access 2002 are more flexible in Access 2003. For example, during an import or export operation, Access 2003 can apply developer-supplied Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLTs) to the XML data.

XSLTs are scripts that convert data between XML formats used by different applications. Using transforms, developers can control how Access translates between XML and the table structure of a database. This will make XML import/export more useful in cases where either the database table structure or the XML data format (schema) don't work with Access's fixed translation rules.

Access 2003 can also export XML data from multiple, related tables; for example, it could generate a single set of XML data from a customer table and from a related order table that includes all of a customer's orders. Access 2002, in contrast, could only export data from a single table.

Finally Access 2003 delivers some small improvements for presenting XML data on the Web. For example, Access 2002 can export a formatted report to a combination of a style sheet and an XML document, which can then be displayed by Web browsers. With Access 2003, this function can also preserve "sort" and "filter" settings on the exported report.

Development Environment Improved

Access 2003 has improved tools for designing databases and applications. Most notable is an Object Dependencies tool, which will help developers evaluate the impact of changing or deleting Access objects such as tables. It can also help developers eliminate unused objects. (See the illustration "Tracing Object Dependencies".)

Access 2003 supports Smart Tags, the context-sensitive menus already used in many other Office applications. Specifically, developers can attach Smart Tags to fields of tables, queries, forms, reports, and Data Access Pages. Users of Access-based applications can then click on these tags to get menus of options relevant to the field. For example, a Smart Tag on a name field in a form might enable users to look up variations of the name in the field.

Note, however, that Access smart tags do not automatically scan or recognize the data in the field to which they are attached. This is different from Smart Tags in applications such as Excel or Word, which can recognize developer-defined patterns in a document's text (e.g., customer names) and adjust their menus appropriately.

Other improvements include the following:

• Error-checking Smart Tags in the Access development environment that spot possible errors (e.g., a report design that is wider than the configured printer paper size) and suggest corrections
• A utility to back up databases and code from within the Access environment.

Access Developer Extensions for Visual Studio

Access developers will also want to evaluate the upcoming Visual Studio Tools for Office. This add-on to Visual Studio is primarily a set of tools for creating applications based on Word 2003 and Excel 2003, in .NET languages such as C# and VB.NET. However, it will bundle a set of features called the Access Developer Extensions that will be particularly important for Access developers distributing solutions to large numbers of users. Key features include the following:

A royalty-free, redistributable Access runtime. Developers who deliver Access-based applications to large numbers of users typically incorporate the Access runtime, which includes both the software and the license needed to redistribute applications to users who don't have Access. The Access 2003 version of this runtime will ship with the Visual Studio Tools for Office. This is probably the strongest reason for Access developers to try the Tools.

Packaging tools for Access-based applications. A Packaging Wizard creates Windows Installer packages for Access-based applications. A Custom Startup Wizard also helps developers create variant versions of an Access-based application with different Access settings; for example, a "developer" version that enables a user to get at Access database design tools and a "user" version that does not. The Custom Startup Wizard also enables developers to take care of predistribution tasks such as stripping out source code and adding a digital signature.

Keyword search for Access projects. A Property Scanner tool enables developers to scan Access data and code for keywords, helping them to locate specific named objects or text strings.

Note that none of these tools require developers to use Visual Studio or .NET languages for development; they work equally well with Access solutions created in VBA (and some of the tools are written in VBA, with source code provided). However, Microsoft has discontinued Office Developer Edition, a bundle that formerly delivered the Access runtime and similar packaging and development utilities. Consequently, developers who want the Access runtime and additional tools will have to get the Visual Studio Tools for Office, even if they intend to continue working in VBA.

Users, Part-Time Developers Await New Solution

Going forward, Microsoft is likely to encourage Access developers to focus on technologies that are more strategic to the company, particularly the Visual Studio development environment, and SQL Server technologies such as the upcoming Reporting Services product for report design and distribution.

What these technologies lack, however, is the low cost and relatively short learning curve that have made Access popular with part-time and hobby developers. Furthermore, Visual Studio is unlikely to appeal to non-developers who simply need to analyze data in ways that aren't convenient in Excel. While the upcoming release of Visual Studio, code-named Whidbey and planned for release in 2004, is likely to make simple database applications easer to create, any substantial changes to Access are unlikely to happen prior to the release of Windows Longhorn, in late 2005 or beyond.

Requirements, Availability, Resources

Access 2003 requires Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 or Windows XP. It ships in Office 2003 Professional Edition and Professional Enterprise Edition, which have an estimated retail price of US$499. (Professional Enterprise Edition is only available in volume channels, but its base volume price is comparable to the retail price for Professional Edition.) Access 2003 is also available stand-alone for US$229 (US$109 for upgrades).

Rick Dobson's site for Access, SQL Server, and VB.NET developer training is www.programmingmsaccess.com.

For an overview of the Office developer strategy, see "Office 2003: XML Support Paves Way for Smart Client" on page 10 of the Sept. 2003 Update.

For information on the Visual Studio Tools for Office, see "Visual Studio to Get Tools for Word, Excel" on page 16 of the Jan. 2003 Update and msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/office/officetools.aspx.

An overview of Access 2003 and the Access Developer Extensions is at www.microsoft.com/office/preview/editions/access.asp.

Microsoft's Access Web site is www.microsoft.com/access.