Could you help out someone who's just starting.

Why not use Access 97 and VBA code all the time to create a front-end to
your database system.  What do you gain by learning and using VB.  Isn't
easier to create a front-end just using Access?  --  Please excuse my
ignorance.  Also, what is best to buy, learn, put on resume at this point,
Visual Basic 5, or Visual Basic 6?

Thanking you in advance.

Liz

Access doesn't produce an executable (.EXE) application, VB does.
With VB you have more flexibility.
Any employer would wish the latest version. So try to adjust.

  Not to reject Constantin's good points, but isn't there a Developer's
edition of Access (or now Office2000) that allows you to develop an
Access app that runs even if client's machine doesn't have Access
installed?
  But even if, VB offers more power and flexibility to work with all
kinds of db's, not just Access.  And if you're serious about VB, start
w/6 and get acquainted with ADO.  After all, it's probably not long till
we'll be facing VB 7!
--
Jim in Cleveland
If you're writing to me, in my address
change "REAL_Address.see.below" to "worldnet.att.net"

"What's so funny 'bout peace, love & understanding?"
     - Nick Lowe

1) Can't produce an executable; there's a runtime vesion of Access you can
distribute if you buy the Developer Edition, but it's essentially a stripped
down version of Access that will result in a larger, more bloated
distribution. Also, some things don't work the same under retail vs. the
runtime version (like toolbars, or code that opens objects in design-mode
behind the scenes).

3) Lack of flexibility. You're pretty much forced into a monolithic MDI app
with Access, while VB gives you far more control over the UI.

4) Lack of full ActiveX control support. I think this has improved some with
later versions, but you still can't expect every control that works in VB to
work in Access, and some that do have reduced funcionality (data-bound
controls in particular).

5) Missing key features such as control arrays, AddressOf operator, ability
to create ActiveX controls and components, plus some advanced string and
formatting functions that have been added with VB6.

6) Reliance on DAO, which is essentially obsolete technology. You can use
ADO in code, but I believe the databound forms and reports still use DAO, so
you're going to have a mixture of the two, which also means you're loading
two separate data access layers. With VB I'd strongly recommend using ADO
for all data access.

7) You have to worry about the fact that Access applications have a tendency
to get corrupt, since your app is actually a database and not an executable.

My guideline would be that a quick-and-dirty throwaway solution for internal
use by someone familiar with databases would be OK to do in Access, but for
an app that is going to be distributed to end users you should use VB (or
VC++, but that's another thread).

Get VB6, it has some new language features that make life easier, and
improved database tools.

Jeff

  Not arguing, just offering another point to consider:  Since the
original post seemed to be focused on Access, please consider the
alternatives on this.  Refer to "Issues Migrating from DAO/Jet to
ADO/Jet" at
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q225/0/48.ASP , which
states "DAO makes much more efficient use to the Microsoft Jet database
engine than ADO and many operations are faster under DAO, sometimes up
to 5 or 10 times faster, such as use of Batch updates. ...queries and
updates against tables with a large number of columns being 30 percent
to 80 percent slower than the equivalent query using DAO."  There is
further info on Performance and Connection Issues in the KB article.
--
Jim in Cleveland
If you're writing to me, in my address
change "REAL_Address.see.below" to "worldnet.att.net"

"What's so funny 'bout peace, love & understanding?"
     - Nick Lowe

On Thu, 13 Jan 2000 14:15:26 -0500, "Elizabeth Warner"

Could you help out someone who's just starting.

Why not use Access 97 and VBA code all the time to create a front-end to
your database system.  What do you gain by learning and using VB.  Isn't
easier to create a front-end just using Access?  --  Please excuse my
ignorance.  Also, what is best to buy, learn, put on resume at this point,
Visual Basic 5, or Visual Basic 6?

Access is great for developing (local or server) database applications quickly
and efficiently with a minimum of distribution issues, however it isn't nearly
as flexible as Visual Basic, nor does it have the level of extensibility support
(third-party components/add-ons).

Microsoft MVP (Visual Basic)

Yes, you can use Access to create front-ends, and a lot of applications are
created in this manner. Particularly for smaller (& I don't mean trivial)
applications  this is fine, and quick.  However, you'll simply find you can
do much more with Visual Basic. If you have a choice go and learn VB6 as
opposed to VB5 as it has more database-specific tools to use, and you can
port most of your knowledge to VB5 if you need to. (Also bear in mind that
people who do the recruiting for large organisations aren't the most
technically aware and will probably be impressed with 'up-to-date'
technology.)

If it's database programming you're interested in, it'll definitely  be
worth your while learning Access & it's associated flavour of SQL. Access'
programming language is actually a subset of VB and you'll find learning VB
after Access very comfortable and familiar.

I personally find Access a nice tool for designing creating and modifying
database files and VB a powerful tool for linking to them.

Good Luck.