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Access 2003 has an ability to build and manage Microsoft SQL Server 2000 solutions. Microsoft implements this exciting new feature through Access projects, which offer Access developers a new file type: .adp files. With .adp files, Access developers can create their own SQL Server databases, populate them with tables, queries, and other database objects, and add data to the tables. These new capabilities free Access developers to create database objects for their own solutions instead of having to depend on SQL Server database administrators (DBAs). Access projects gives Access developers the same kinds of abilities for SQL Server databases that you use for Jet databases.
These advances in administering SQL Server solutions deliver substantial benefits to Access developers and others dealing with SQL Server databases. For starters, a friendly user interface (UI) and many powerful wizards dramatically drive down the cost of deploying SQL Server solutions by providing the solutions more quickly and easily. Second, Access enables intermediate and advanced developers a means to start building more powerful solutions than they could with Jet databases. Third, Access gives SQL Server DBAs a rapid application development environment for creating forms, reports, and Web pages for their database clients at the same time that it supports selected database administration features. And finally, Access gives current SQL Server programmers a powerful, flexible development alternative that avoids the complexity of n-tier architectures.
Access 2003 and Access 2002 offer tight integration with SQL Server 2000, while Access 2000 has a feature set tailored for SQL Server 7. The Access project is your key to unlocking the resources of SQL Server, but Access 2003 and Access 2002 are tuned to SQL Server 2000 and Access 2000 is tuned for SQL Server 7. You can obtain upgrades and patches to make Access 2000 compatible with SQL Server 2000.
This chapter focuses on using Access 2003 with either SQL Server 2000 or the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000). MSDE 2000 ships with any version of Microsoft Office 2003 that includes Access 2003. This engine is an upgrade to the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) that shipped with Office 2000. MSDE 2000 is compatible with SQL Server 2000, while its predecessor—MSDE—is compatible with SQL Server 7.
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See Chapter 12 in Programming Microsoft Access 2000 (Microsoft Press, 1999) for coverage of how to build SQL Server 7 solutions with Access 2000. Another of my books, Professional SQL Server Development with Access 2000 (Wrox Press, 2000), provides in-depth coverage of SQL Server development techniques—especially those that apply to SQL Server 7. |
This chapter introduces Access projects and the SQL Server objects you can create with them. You will learn about creating and opening SQL Server databases with Access projects. Specific SQL Server database objects covered include tables, database diagrams, views, stored procedures, triggers, and user-defined functions.
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