You know the old saying, “If
it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck”. Well, that’s fine if
you have a flock of ducks and you’re trying to pick out one chicken among them.
Unfortunately, “an Access database” isn’t a Duck, or a Chicken. Or a Goose, Turkey,
Partridge, Sage Grouse, Pheasant, Guinea fowl, Cornish hen or Dove. It’s all of
those and much, much more.
My point? Oh, yeah. Sorry
I got a bit hungry and went for a snack. I’m back and ready to state the point.
MS Access is a Relational
Database Management System (RDBMS)*. Access is an interface
design tool. Access is a Rapid Application Development (RAD) tool. Access is
all of those and much, much more. It’s a Data Aggregation Tool; it’s an
Extract, Transfer and Load (ETL) tool; it’s a prototyping tool. It’s even got
secret sauce and a close, personal relationship (relational pun intended) with
its big brother, SQL Server and its other brother, Excel. Oops, got carried
away there. There’s no secret sauce.
MS Access has the ACE
data engine. It’s a remarkable engine, the little engine that could. You can
abuse it, confuse it, rearrange it and extend it. One thing for sure is that,
if you can dream it, you can probably build it with ACE. The ACE data engine is
almost too flexible and too easily manipulated. And that’s a big problem, from
time to time, especially for novices.
Unlike Ray Kinsella in the Field of Dreams, Eli Whitney or Henry Ford, most new Access users come to the task with no background in the field, no experience designing and building a prototype, or a vision and burning passion to realize their dreams to make the world a better place through the power of their creation. They just have a job to do, and most often, little time to do it.
Unlike Ray Kinsella in the Field of Dreams, Eli Whitney or Henry Ford, most new Access users come to the task with no background in the field, no experience designing and building a prototype, or a vision and burning passion to realize their dreams to make the world a better place through the power of their creation. They just have a job to do, and most often, little time to do it.
That means,
unfortunately, they all too often don’t have an inclination to invest the time
and effort into figuring out how to use the ACE data engine most effectively.
It’s sort of like Ray Kinsella setting out to clear his corn field with a garden
hoe and rake, or Henry Ford trying to build cars on an assembly line with no
way to move the vehicles along except teams of horses hitched to each one.
Possible? Sure. Practical? Not really.
While I do applaud the creative, inventive use of Access, I have to wonder if enough novices really grasp the significance of learning how to do it right. And by right, I mean the five Rules of Normalization. Actually, there are many, many discussions of normalization floating around on the internet. If you want to know more, just ask Bingoogle. They both know where to look.
While I do applaud the creative, inventive use of Access, I have to wonder if enough novices really grasp the significance of learning how to do it right. And by right, I mean the five Rules of Normalization. Actually, there are many, many discussions of normalization floating around on the internet. If you want to know more, just ask Bingoogle. They both know where to look.
I guess, to sum it up, I’m
trying to say that all ducks are not born equal. Some are Chickens, some Geese,
some Pheasants, and a few I’ve seen have been real Turkeys. Applying the rules
of normalization is the best way to avoid those turkeys.
[1] I’ll
get some argument on this point. Access ACE is not a full-fledged RDBMS and was
never intended to be. I know, I’m glossing over that fact on my way to a larger
point. Take it up with me in an email; I’ll be happy to hear your opinions on
the issue.
