Re: Re: Newbie with lots of questions

Seb wrote:

>Hi Juan Pedro,
>
>"Dr. Juan Pedro Sánchez C." <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>[...]
>
>  
>
>>My question is if MDB Tools will help me migrate my Access DB to
>>Linux. Which are the first steps to take, you consider I should take or,
>>do you know of a database program with a GUI Interface that works in
>>Linux?
>>    
>>
>
>Others might correct me here, but there is not a unified system like
>Access, providing both the database engine (to store and define the
>database), and an intuitive GUI interface in Linux.
>
Yes, some correction is in order. Several people have mentioned 
OpenOffice.org, which does exactly this on Linux or Windows or Solaris 
or Mac OSX. You need OOo 2.x though, whose Base component uses the HSQL 
database engine mentioned in another repsonse as it's integrated 
database. OOo Base provides GUI forms and query designers etc. and can 
also connect to third party database systems like MySQL or PostgreSQL 
and several others via various drivers such as OOo's native SDBC, or 
ODBC or JDBC.

>  So the user has to
>think about which engine to use (MySQL and Postgresql are the most
>popular) and which GUI.  Not all GUIs will fully exploit the capabilities
>of either engine, so that's another thing to worry about.
>  
>
I've found OOo Base together with PostgreSQL via the PostgreSQL.org 
JDBC3 driver works very well. Whichever database you choose, most/all of 
the GUI Query Designer works as does the Forms designer, or you can 
write pass-through queries to access database-specific features if you 
want. I've just completed a large job using these components building an 
application that includes over 800 form controls spread over a dozen or 
more forms. I used mdb-tools to migrate the Access data to PostgreSQL.

>In any case, prepare for a looong and tedious learning curve with MySQL or
>Postgresql; no more drawing of lines and clicking around for basic stuff
>as defining relationships.  In short, the user is expected to learn a
>database computer language, before he/she can start actually using data.
>  
>
Not true, but there are some things you won't be able to do, like design 
cross-table queries, which I think look pretty incomprehensible and 
tedious in Access 97 anyway. But these can be done within PostgreSQL or 
MySQL using functions. There will obviously be a learning curve since 
OOo Base is not an Access clone, although you will find the query 
designer quite familiar.

>That being said, one can always get Codeweavers' Crossover Office, which
>lets you run a large number of Windoze applications.  That allows you to
>continue using your Access database, until you get to grips with all of
>the above.
>  
>
Give OOo a try.

Ross



-------------------------------------------------------
Using Tomcat but need to do more? Need to support web services, security?
Get stuff done quickly with pre-integrated technology to make your job easier
Download IBM WebSphere Application Server v.1.0.1 based on Apache Geronimo
http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=120709&bid=263057&dat=121642