FM as a frontend of access-files? "Linking tables"

[shkrebs]

Hi everybody.

I been searching this forum for hours now, but still I miss a solution on my problem.

I have and old FM4 production application and a finance system based on Access tables. My client want to have his customer info ONLY ONE PLACE and he don't want to pay for a conversion (FM 2 MSA). I've been testing the ODBC on the FM6 and it's - well let's say - not very flexible but it works. I'm able to get data from the MSA tables into FM - so far so good. But I'm missing a feature like in MSA, where I can "link" to a external data source, because even when I'm using the ODBC driver FM is making an IMPORT of the data. This means that my client have to make an new import every morning according to keep his database updated / synchronized with the finance system. I know that FM is not using the same structure as MSA regarding tables, forms, queries etc. and maybe this is the answer/reason - I don't know - but maybe somebody here on this forum have some experience you could share ? What is the best solution on this "import-problem" :??

Best regards

S

[Kurt Knippel]

FM is not exactly the best system for pure "front-end" work. It is just not designed as such, although some people have made it do wonderful things in the regard. You really need to treat it as a SQL front end, and not simply and extension of you other system.

Second Access is poorly designed as a multi-user or backend database system.

So you are using the combination of, while not the worst products to use, some not very good products to use for these functions.

Now, the question is how to solve your problem. I have always been of the opinion that accounting is a dead-end process, and you should not be updating any information on the accounting side, use your databases to store, retrieve and update the information, then just import the data into the accounting system as needed.

Any way to make them work together as originally requested? Yes, but I fear that it might be the most expensive solution.

[shkrebs]

Hi Kurt.

Thanks for your answer.

I'll agree with you about accounting systems, but in this case the possibilities of importing data to the system is nearly NON-EXISTING

That's why I still think it's easier to take the clientdata from the accounting system and put them into FM, but I guess I have to accept that it cannot be a dynamically connection.

Once again thanks.

S

[Anatoli]

RE: Second Access is poorly designed as a multi-user or backend database system.

You are way too nice to M$