Questions and Answers about Web Interoperability
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How do you filter by form on a data access page? | ||
| Navigate to a record with the value that you want to use as a filter value. Position your cursor in the control with the value. Click the Filter control on the Navigation bar. BTW, there is a Navigation bar control to clear the filter. | |||
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Where I can find out how to make the telephone extension look up like in your sample files at your site? | ||
| The code and page layout for the sample solution along with commentary exists in either of my books on programming Access: Programming Microsoft Access 2000 or Programming Microsoft Access Version 2002. | |||
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Using ASP and Access, I can fetch the first or last 20 records. How can I fetch records 21-40 and so on through the record source for the web page? | ||
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There are at least two solutions to your problem. First, you can do it graphically through the FrontPage Database Wizard. This wizard is very intuitive. The wizard screen for Step 5 of 5 includes a text box for you to specify the number of records per page. If you need examples demonstrating the use of this wizard see pages 450-464 of Professional SQL Server Development with Access 2000. While the samples are for SQL Server, they apply equally well to Access databases since you can use a DSN to specify a connection to the database. Second, you can do this task programmatically with the PageSize and AbsolutePage properties for the ADO Recordset object. The basic approach is to make a recordset based on a record source, such as a table or view. Then, just page through the records programmatically. It only takes a few lines of code to implement this and the ADO online help includes sample code. If you want an additional code sample demonstrating this approach, see pages 500-504 of Professional SQL Server Development with Access 2000. Since the sample uses a DSN to connect with a record source, it doesn't matter whether you are working with SQL Server or Access. |
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I use an ACCESS database, that an ASP page requests information from, to log users into certain parts of the site. I have one small problem, though. If someone types in the http address and appends the name of the *.mdb file to it, they are quite able to download the database. Clearly, I do not wish this. How do I stop it? | ||
| Here are a couple of solutions to your problem. First, try putting the database file in the _private folder; this solution is for a FrontPage web site. Second, if this does not solve your problem, consider applying security to your Access database file. Then, although persons can download the file, they will not be able to open it without logging on with a userid that has the proper permissions. Also they will need to download the workgroup information file as well as the database file. | |||
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My web host provides me with an SQL 7.0 database for $10 per month. I use Access 2000 to export tables into this data base, but I would like to know how I can remove tables from the data base. My host doesn't provide admin support. I was told get Enterprise Manager, but I couldn't find it on the Microsoft site. Any help would be greatly appreciated. | ||
| Enterprise
Manager is a component of the SQL Server client tools. You need a
SQL Server client license to install it. Check the Microsoft site
and resellers for your best price.
Another way to retrieve the data is via ADO in Active Server Pages. You can get an introduction for free at this web site. See the excerpts at this site from my Programming Microsoft Access 2000 book for code samples with extensive commentary. In addition, another code sample at the site illustrates how to create a datasheet in a browser based on a SQL Server data source. If you find the coverage in these sources is insufficient for your needs, then I urge you to buy my book Professional SQL Server Development with Access 2000. It contains a couple of chapters that demonstrate ways of using Active Server Pages with FrontPage to process SQL Server data sources. There are numerous ADO samples for Active Server Pages in those chapters. |
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Is it possible for a creative webmaster to construct a data-based web site with Access and any other Microsoft products and technologies? I bought Microsoft Access 2000 because it appealed to me in terms of capabilities versus difficulty of development. | ||
| The
great thing about Access is that it lets you build solutions based on
either SQL Server or Jet. In addition, it ships with the Microsoft
Desktop Engine, which is a knock off of SQL Server. Jet is cheaper to
use over the web than SQL Server, but SQL Server is more powerful and
accommodates more users simultaneously. MSDE is a free way to get
started learning SQL Server technology, but it has built-in performance
and scalability limitations. Think of MSDE as starter wheels for SQL
Server. Microsoft gives it away with the hope that you learn how
easy it is to use and want to step up to one of their fee-based SQL
Server versions.
When doing web work with Access, you have your choice of many related technologies and products. I would definitely use Win 2K and IIS 5.0 on my web server. In any event, stay away from non-Microsoft web servers. Next, consider using FrontPage for site administration and text-based authoring. It is highly compatible with Office and its database component -- Access. You expressed an interest in a comparison of data-based web development strategies. Among the candidate technologies that come to mind are static HTML, Dynamic HTML, Data Access Pages, and Active Server Pages. HTML is the easiest development framework, but is not smart about working with data. Dynamic HTML is very flexible for formatting text and data on web pages, but it never got widely accepted standards. Consequently, dynamic HTML that works in one browser can fail in another. Data Access Pages offer a graphical design capability for creating reports and forms on the web. However, it is easiest to use behind a fire wall. There are papers about using it securely on the Internet, but I believe the complexity of the techniques for achieving its secure use over the Internet has dissuaded many from undertaking the effort. Also, Data Access Pages are limited to working with IE 5 and later. In fact, the upcoming version of Access includes data access pages that require a later version of IE than IE 5. Active Server Pages are constructed on the server before being passed to the browser. This technology is highly code intensive. It is also the most flexible and robust across browsers. I would recommend Active Server Pages if you have the time and motivation to learn the most demanding but flexible technology. If not, then consider Data Access Pages. This will expedite development if you can live with a behind the firewall solution. You may have noticed that I didn't mention XML. This is because, in my opinion, its use with Access and, to a lesser degree SQL Server, does not add much at this time. It is possible this will change over time, but that remains to be confirmed. If you have the flexibility to consider SQL Server as a solution framework, then my Professional book is definitely a good book for you. It has three chapters on web development. If you will not be using SQL Server (or will be primarily using Access and Jet), then my Programming book offers material that will grow your database skills in a way that positions you for doing web work. |
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I'd like to know if where is one simple way to publish the existing forms defined in access97/2000 on the web. | ||
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At the moment, the answer is no. It is possible that Microsoft
may move in this direction with future versions of Access.
Nevertheless, the amount of progress that Microsoft initially makes
for complicated forms may not be sufficient for your needs.
I urge you to learn more about either or both Active Server Pages and
Data Access Pages. My book Professional SQL Server Development
with Access 2000 includes separate chapters on how to develop
web-based forms with Access. I believe that you will find this
information useful for publishing forms on webs that use Jet or SQL
Server data. You can learn more about the book at www.programmingmsaccess.com/the%20book/.
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What browser settings make it easy to open data access pages with cross-domain references from an IE 5 browser on an intranet? | ||
| Two methods are particularly well suited to making it easy to open data access pages across domains with IE 5 browsers. First, you can include a web site in the set of trusted sites. From the IE 5 browser menu, choose Tools > Internet Options and select the Security tab of the Internet Options dialog. Highlight the Trusted Sites icon and choose Sites. Then, follow the instructions for adding a trusted site. If your site publishing data access pages is not using https protocol, clear the check box requiring this protocol for all sites in the zone. Second, if you want a browser to open data access pages from any site on an intranet, then choose the Local Intranet icon instead of the Trusted Sites icons on the Security tab. Next, click Custom Level. Scroll down the Security settings until the Miscellaneous group appears. The first item here refers to accessing data sources across domains. Click Enable and OK twice to close the open dialogs. | |||
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When I try to open a data access page created on another computer, I get an error message that starts: "Could not find file..." How do I fix this problem? | ||
| Open the page in Design view from the computer that initially created the page. Select the All tab. Then, change the Data Source and Jet OLEDB: System database settings so they use UNC rather than specific drive references. For example, change "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Samples\Northwind.mdb" to "\\mycomputername\mysharename\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Samples\Northwind.mdb". | |||
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The FrontPage 2000 Database Wizard running on Windows NT Server 4 with the 6.0 Service Pack fails with a message than it can not create the ...\ _vti_cnf folder in a web when I try to create a page or view a saved page. How can I fix this? | ||
| This
message actually describes two different problems that can occur at
different times. The first error message is "Server error: Can not
create folder C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\websitename\_vti_cnf". This
can occur when you are trying to create a page with the FrontPage
Database Wizard. The second error message is "Server error:
Can not create folder C:\inetpub\wwwroot\websitename\fpclass\_vti_cnf".
This can occur when you are trying to save the file for a page created
by the FrontPage Database Wizard.
The fix for both errors is to run a check of the FrontPage server extensions. You can access the command for performing the check by opening the IIS Management Console. Choose Start, Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack, Microsoft Internet Information Server, Internet Service Manager. Open the IIS and the server folder. Then, right-click Default Web Site and choose All Tasks, Check Server Extensions. In the case of the second error message, perform these actions before issuing the Check Server Extensions command. Open the FrontPage 2000 root web folder. Choose Tools, Security, Permissions. Remove Everyone from the Groups tab if it is present. Select Only registered users have browse access on the Users tab. Apply new settings and close the dialog before closing FrontPage. Then, check the server extensions as described in the preceding paragraph. Re-open the Users tab in FrontPage. Then, select and apply Everyone has browse access. Do no restore Everyone to the Groups tab if it was present previously. |
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I have an ACCESS 97 (can upgrade to 2000) application for a nonprofit animal rescue group. I need to share it, allowing a few folks to update simultaneously. Will ACCESS allow me to do this without recreating all of the forms separately for LAN and web access? Is there another way to share the application for update? | ||
| Data
access pages, introduced with Access 2000, permit you to develop
forms that work in Access database files as well as IE 5+
browsers. You can create data access pages graphically in ways
that are very similar to graphical forms. Data access pages are a
great tool for developing applications behind a firewall for IE
browsers.
If you need forms that work in non-IE browsers as well as IE browsers prior to IE 5, consider using Active Server Pages to process HTML forms. This approach works well both within and outside of a firewall. You can maintain (namely, insert, update, and delete) an Access database application with Active Server Pages. With this approach, you are likely to program separate interfaces for data access via the web and Access unless you decide to program data access exclusively through the web. |
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I am trying to figure out the best way to develop an image database. We have thousands of images and my desire is to take some of them and put them into a database which clients can get to via Active Server Pages. I can't figure out whether I should use Access 2000 or MSDE. For example, can I install MSDE from the Office disk onto a dedicated PC to host MSDE server and then use it to serve the database content through ASP. Or should I just do Access 2000 and if so how? | ||
| My book, Professional SQL Server Development with Access 2000, includes numerous samples on how to process images within an MSDE database using Access 2000. See the book for the details about the samples. You can learn more about the book, including how to purchase it, by click here. | |||
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I find the FrontPage Database Wizard friendly to use and powerful for publishing datasheets dynamically to the web with IIS 4 and IIS 5. However, it doesn't seem to work reliably with PWS. Is there a trick to making it work? | ||
| If
there is a trick, we haven't found it yet.
In spite of this weakness, FrontPage is a great tool for managing web sites based on Access contents. You can also readily publish datasheets statically and dynamically from Access database files and Access projects. In addition, you can write .asp files that that Access and SQL Server databases. Finally, you can readily use both data access pages and Office Web Components on pages in a FrontPage web. |
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How do you make a data access page read-only? | ||
| Open the page in Design view. Select the page. Open the page's Properties dialog to the Recordset Type setting on the Data tab. Change the setting to dscSnapshot (a setting of dscUpdatableSnapshot makes the page read-write). | |||
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How do I publish a highly formatted Access report to the web? | ||
| One way to achieve this goal is with a snapshot file. You can either download the snapshot file from a web site or even embed it in a web page. Additionally, you can mail snapshot reports to recipients. Those wishing to view a snapshot file must have the free snapshot viewer installed on their workstation. See the Snapshot Tutorial with a presentation and coordinated samples for more details. | |||
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Can you point me the most definitive source for learning how to publish data access pages over the Internet? | ||
| Microsoft published a white paper on this topic from its msdn online site. View the paper at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?URL=/library/techart/deploydap.htm. |
