Product Description

Access 2003 provides a powerful set of tools that are sophisticated enough for professional developers yet easy to learn for new users. Now everyone in your organization can create or use powerful database solutions that make organising accessing and shar

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1710 in Software
• Brand: Microsoft
• Model: 077-02870
• Released on: 2003-10-21
• Platforms: Windows 2000, Windows XP
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .75 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Office Access 2003 is a database manager, which makes it suitable for storing structured data such as catalogues, stock records or customer lists. Using Office Access 2003, you can also create data entry forms, queries and reports, or complete applications programmed using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). All these elements are saved to a single .MDB file, making it easy to copy and distribute Access database projects.

The popularity of Access is based on several strong features. The interface is clean and uncluttered, and you can open data tables in a familiar spreadsheet-like view. There is a visual query builder, or you can write queries in SQL, the standard database query language. Advanced features let you enforce relational integrity between tables and set validation constraints on fields. There is also an excellent report designer. The Access database engine is not suitable for very large databases, but you can scale up by switching to Microsoft's SQL Server or an ODBC database while still using the same visual tools. New in Office Access 2003 is automatic error-checking in forms, integrated support for transforming data with XSL (an XML standard), and the ability to link to lists in SharePoint Services as a convenient way to share data. A small but welcome detail is control over the font used in the SQL editor, which was fixed at a small size in earlier versions.

This is a capable product and generally a pleasure to use. The main gripe against it is that even Microsoft's wizards do not make relational database applications easy to build. FileMaker is better for non-specialists, but Office Access 2003 wins on Office integration and more comprehensive features. --Tim Anderson

Manufacturer's Description
Share information more efficiently.
Export and import data, and link to lists on Windows SharePoint Services sites where other team members can access them. Building these sites requires Microsoft Windows Server 2003 running Windows SharePoint Services.
Help eliminate errors.
The new error checking feature flags common errors in forms and reports, making testing and fixing errors faster. After errors are flagged, you are given options to correct the errors, saving time and helping you to create more accurate forms and reports.

Improved Features
Incorporate a wide range of data sources.
Access 2003 supports a variety of data formats, including Extensible Markup Language (XML), OLE, Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services.
Link business systems.
Link tables so that you can access data from multiple databases at one time in Access 2003 forms, reports, and data access pages. Link tables from other Access databases, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, ODBC data sources, Microsoft SQL Server databases, and other data sources.
Get the most from your enterprise data.
Incorporate Microsoft SQL Server-based data into your Access solutions. Use the Stored Procedure Designer to create and modify simple procedures stored in SQL Server without having to learn Transact-SQL.
Give your forms a new look.
Microsoft Office Access 2003 supports themes from Microsoft Windows XP to give your forms a consistent design.
View dependency information.
Quickly find tables, queries, forms, or reports that depend on a particular database object.
Update properties automatically.
Change a field property in a table and all the forms or reports that have controls bound to it can be updated automatically.
Analyze your information in powerful ways.
Drag controls onto your Access form to create a Microsoft PivotTable or Microsoft PivotChart view, or a spreadsheet.
Easily back up your information
In Access 2003, you can save a copy of the database you're working on to another location.
Design Web pages using powerful tools.
Publish forms and reports on the Web and bind your information to a record source to display, update, and work with data from your database.
Use compatible file formats.
Microsoft Office Access 2003 uses Microsoft Access 2000 as the default file format for new databases. Because Microsoft Access version 2002 and Microsoft Access 2000 can use and modify the same database, organizations can roll out Microsoft Office Access 2003 while maintaining capability with existing Access users and solutions.
Find the help you need.
From the Getting Started and Help task panes, you can access Assistance on Microsoft Office Online. It provides help and assistance articles that are updated regularly from requests and issues of other users. Some functionality in these task panes requires a connection to the Internet.

Customer Reviews

Access for Life!
Some years ago when I was going through Oracle training, I chose Access as part of my dissertation for developing a database for my University. I was just curious and was not really giving serious thoughts to Access at that time (it was Access 97), especially as compared to Oracle.

I was so wrong, I soon discovered. Access was one of the best software package I ever enjoyed to learn (I was doing it on my own without any help). There are practically millions of Access users around the glob that are very very helpful (thanks folks) and you can find hundreds of excellent books written on Access on a varying level from absolute beginners to advance users. Free code and free training material is available on the web as well.

I personally have used it for everything from simple Employees salary calculator to fully fledged Client-server databases (using SQL Server 2000 as a back-end) complete with web-driven data access pages, data entry forms, and data analysis tools like charts and pivot tables. Not only that but the rapid application development allows for creating/generating quick prototypes of the systems. At the least, I have used it to create Entity-Relationship models for my company clients for a head start in database development.

Invaluable for students to learn and value-for-money for small-to-medium businesses that do not wish or afford Oracle or SQL Server. Still if they do use Oracle etc, the existing databases can be upgraded or upsized.

Access 2003 itself is the best incarnation I have to say. It contains the latest functions (and libraries) and has excellent charting and data access page creation tools that solve almost all of the small-to-medium size business problems. Access 2003 also makes it a lot easier to design queries, forms and reports as compared to the previous older versions, for example by providing you with the smart tag options to design your own tags. A must have as a total office solution.

There are two problems with purchasing Access 2003 though. If you already have Access 2002 then perhaps stay with that. If you have the full MS Office 2002 Professional and you want to upgrade, then upgrading to Office 2003 Professional would be more advisable. Secondly a stand alone Access 2003 is a bit strange to have because most students/businesses would already be using at least MS word and MS Excel. So again in that case upgrade the whole office package instead of buying Access 2003 alone.

Enough Said!!!

Access is the best database for a PC
Access is the best database for a PC. If Access can't do it, then you should not be using a PC.

However, a word of warning. Beyond very simple databases, Access has a VERY steep learning curve and requires considerable skill with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to get the best out of it. The results are worth the time and effort though.

access
access is a good program for making databases but is too boring for words