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#1
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How to handle a change of design
Hi,
I have developed an Access database for my company which has used it since more than a year. Till now, nothing big has changed in the table design. Only for the forms and queries which get changed as I'm learning new methods of programming. Now, I'm curious about how people would handle a change in their database design, mostly table design. Like a GST which has been added to Australia, or simpler, new way of doing things in the company. Anyway, just for curiosity. Thanks |
#2
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How to handle a change of design
Are you talking about a seriously radical change, or just
adding a new table and the necessary relationships? Or are they changing their forms to do things very differently? I'd say it was up to you. Whatever involves less work is good in my book. If it makes sense to just tweak what you have, fabulous and probably better for everyone. If tweaking it is going to involve a lot of complicated mess, and you would rather save yourself the headache and start from scratch in your design, go for it. It completely depends on how complex your db is. Myself, for your average db, can't imagine a change in procedure being so complicated that I do more than change some forms and add fields to my tables and queries. -----Original Message----- Hi, I have developed an Access database for my company which has used it since more than a year. Till now, nothing big has changed in the table design. Only for the forms and queries which get changed as I'm learning new methods of programming. Now, I'm curious about how people would handle a change in their database design, mostly table design. Like a GST which has been added to Australia, or simpler, new way of doing things in the company. Anyway, just for curiosity. Thanks . |
#3
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How to handle a change of design
On Fri, 21 May 2004 21:26:36 +1100, "Michael Wong"
wrote: Now, I'm curious about how people would handle a change in their database design, mostly table design. Like a GST which has been added to Australia, or simpler, new way of doing things in the company. With pain, dismay, gnashing of teeth (and probably a fairly large number of billable hours). Depending on the nature of the change to the tables, you will need to make small or large changes to all of the Queries, Forms, Reports, combo boxes, etc. which depend upon that table. If the change involves (say) splitting a non-normalized table into two or more normalized tables, it may be necessary to rebuild some of these objects completely; if it's just adding a field, it may be much easier, but still can be tricky (to make sure you add the field everywhere it's needed). If the changes are substantial, I'd be inclined to copy the database (backend and frontend) to a development copy; work out the changes thoroughly; test, test, test; get your most computer savvy user to test, test, test; get your LEAST computer savvy user to test, test, test; and then redo the changes in the production system. John W. Vinson[MVP] Come for live chats every Tuesday and Thursday http://go.compuserve.com/msdevapps?loc=us&access=public |
#4
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How to handle a change of design
Thank you for your reply, I knew it will not be so easy, even for the
smallest change... What about for a radical changes? Do the data get changed and imported to the new database? Or just start from scratch, even for the data. "Michael Wong" wrote in message ... Hi, I have developed an Access database for my company which has used it since more than a year. Till now, nothing big has changed in the table design. Only for the forms and queries which get changed as I'm learning new methods of programming. Now, I'm curious about how people would handle a change in their database design, mostly table design. Like a GST which has been added to Australia, or simpler, new way of doing things in the company. Anyway, just for curiosity. Thanks |
#5
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How to handle a change of design
Hi Michael,
If you followed good design practice when you created the original database, it will be possible to transform the old data into the new structure with a series of queries. Even if the original is not well structured, it's almost always possible to transfer most if not all the data that way. On Sat, 22 May 2004 05:48:31 +1100, "Michael Wong" wrote: Thank you for your reply, I knew it will not be so easy, even for the smallest change... What about for a radical changes? Do the data get changed and imported to the new database? Or just start from scratch, even for the data. "Michael Wong" wrote in message ... Hi, I have developed an Access database for my company which has used it since more than a year. Till now, nothing big has changed in the table design. Only for the forms and queries which get changed as I'm learning new methods of programming. Now, I'm curious about how people would handle a change in their database design, mostly table design. Like a GST which has been added to Australia, or simpler, new way of doing things in the company. Anyway, just for curiosity. Thanks -- John Nurick [Microsoft Access MVP] Please respond in the newgroup and not by email. |
#6
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How to handle a change of design
Thank you John for you reply,
I guess I'll just stick to my design for the moment and see when changes are required. "John Nurick" wrote in message ... Hi Michael, If you followed good design practice when you created the original database, it will be possible to transform the old data into the new structure with a series of queries. Even if the original is not well structured, it's almost always possible to transfer most if not all the data that way. On Sat, 22 May 2004 05:48:31 +1100, "Michael Wong" wrote: Thank you for your reply, I knew it will not be so easy, even for the smallest change... What about for a radical changes? Do the data get changed and imported to the new database? Or just start from scratch, even for the data. "Michael Wong" wrote in message ... Hi, I have developed an Access database for my company which has used it since more than a year. Till now, nothing big has changed in the table design. Only for the forms and queries which get changed as I'm learning new methods of programming. Now, I'm curious about how people would handle a change in their database design, mostly table design. Like a GST which has been added to Australia, or simpler, new way of doing things in the company. Anyway, just for curiosity. Thanks -- John Nurick [Microsoft Access MVP] Please respond in the newgroup and not by email. |
#7
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How to handle a change of design
On Sat, 22 May 2004 05:48:31 +1100, "Michael Wong"
wrote: What about for a radical changes? Do the data get changed and imported to the new database? Or just start from scratch, even for the data. If it's at ALL possible - and it almost always would be - I'd salvage the data. I've even put several dozen Append, Update and Delete query names into a table and written code to run the multiple queries in sequence. John W. Vinson[MVP] Come for live chats every Tuesday and Thursday http://go.compuserve.com/msdevapps?loc=us&access=public |
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