What is access

[Legacy 287389]

Hi good people!,

Just a general question. I am VERY new to Access but don't want to waste my time learning it if it is not going to meet with what I am after, which is, complex calculations as we can do in Excel. As far as I have learned Access is basically a reporting portal, pulling info from a database (Table), and displaying it. There are some calculations that can be done, but they are basically limited to adding, subtraction, multiplication and division. Uhm, please, I just want to know if I can create, and use formulas and macros to AT LEAST the same extend as we can use them in Excel?. Conditional formatting?..is this an Access feature?. Any info will be greatly appreciated!...thanx guys!

 

[TheGlovner]

Hi good people!,

Just a general question. I am VERY new to Access but don't want to waste my time learning it if it is not going to meet with what I am after, which is, complex calculations as we can do in Excel. As far as I have learned Access is basically a reporting portal, pulling info from a database (Table), and displaying it. There are some calculations that can be done, but they are basically limited to adding, subtraction, multiplication and division. Uhm, please, I just want to know if I can create, and use formulas and macros to AT LEAST the same extend as we can use them in Excel?. Conditional formatting?..is this an Access feature?. Any info will be greatly appreciated!...thanx guys!

Let me google that for you

In all honesty though, don't think of it as Excel or Access, think of it as Excel and Access.

You can use a butter knife as a screwdriver, but would you?

 

[Legacy 287389]

I get your point. thanx for your response. Have a nice day..

 

[alansidman]

Here is a good read that should help you make your decision

Access vs. Excel ?

 

[Legacy 287389]

Thank you. Will definitely read...

 

[Joe4]

As far as I have learned Access is basically a reporting portal

No, Access is a relational database program, much like SQL or Oracle (and much different than Excel). It is really like a "scaled-down" version of SQL, but with a better GUI that makes things like Reports easier. As matter as fact, many people use Access as a front-end for SQL databases.

Access handles relational data much better than Excel (relating different data tables), because that is what it is designed to do. But as far as complex calculations go, I wouldn't say it is any better or worse than Excel for that. They both have VBA, and I tend to create UDF functions in both Excel and Access for really complex calculations. They both have that capacity.

As the previous replies suggest, which on you would use really depends on what you are working with and what you are trying to accomplish. They included some good links to help you make that decision.

Just note that if you are going to create a large database in Access, it is important to do it right, or you will create endless headaches for yourself. The learning curve for Access is much bigger than it is for Excel, and as such, it is not as intuitive as Excel. Understanding concepts of Relational Databases and Data Normalization are important to create a well-designed database. It takes some time to learn it and do it right.

Here is a good link of designing databases: https://support.office.com/en-us/ar...b4c-8be0-d4eee9fada99&ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

You don't necessarily need to know all of that for quick "one-off" things, like if you are just using Access to compare two lists of data. But if you are building a program/application using it, it pays to know that stuff.

 

[Legacy 287389]

Thank you for responding also. I have in the meantime read quite a bit more on Access and also tried one or two simple things..without any luck still!!... , but I guess I will get there eventually. A friend of mine has sent me some learning material on SQL, and I'm currently busy looking at that now. I must say, the introduction to understanding SQL is so much easier to understand compared to Access. I think I will first try out SQL and then from there maybe move on to Access..or do you think it should be the other way around?

 

[Joe4]

A friend of mine has sent me some learning material on SQL, and I'm currently busy looking at that now. I must say, the introduction to understanding SQL is so much easier to understand compared to Access. I think I will first try out SQL and then from there maybe move on to Access..or do you think it should be the other way around?

Must people find it the other way around (Access is much easier than SQL). In many ways, Access is like a simplified version of SQL with some nice GUI screens to make things easier (especially for non-technical users). If you know SQL, you can write your queries in SQL code in Access instead of use the Query Builder visual interface. Just go to the Query Builder and switch to SQL View, and you can type your SQL Query code directly there.

 

[Legacy 287389]

This is nice to know. Thanx a lot for your time, I am most certainly going to have a look in there...