is there a simple front for sql server? - sql-server

i am in a multi-user environment
i am using access as a front end connecting to sql server database. i am allowing users to edit only one table in sql server.
i dont want to continue using access to edit a sql-server table.
can someone recommend another tool to do this?

The Access 2007 runtime and the Access 2010 runtime is free for the download from Microsofts website. Of course you'd want to purchase Access licenses for power users who want to create their own queries usually for export to Excel.

Either Access or Excel are almost certainly the simplest solutions available that meet your requirements, when you consider both the simplicity of the user interface itself and the simplicity of implementing, deploying, and maintaining the solution for the users. Creating even a simple web page isn't nearly so simple – you'll need to setup a web server, configure user security, develop the web page, etc.

Use SSMS -- Sql Server Management Studio.
Update
Found a near duplicate #SU: Less daunting front end for SQL Server
Update 2
Try to use Microsoft ASP.NET Dynamic Data. And a tutorial on YouTube, of course.

Sounds like you need to give CRUD access to a table in a SQL Server database.
Suggest making a simple page - use ASP.NET Dynamic Data. Watch this video to get started with ASP.NET Dynamic Data.
Failing that, provision the user with Microsoft Access.
setup a new user in SQL Server, and give it permissions on that table only.
setup Access to read, update, create and delete that table. Use the credentials of the user in the bullet above. This will ensure they can't mess anything else up.
Only bring that table into the user's view.

If you pull down a copy of visual studio express you could build a single screen application that allows editing a table with just drag and drop from the server explorer. No coding needed unless you're looking to add some more advanced logic.
Alternatively you could just use Access to also build a one screen front end - with that as the start up form to your Access DB your users wouldn't even know they're in Access.
Edit:
Assuming you're in a windows domain - put all your users in to a security group and then grant this group access to the SQL Server. Only grant the group permissions on the specific objects that they need to edit.
Create a blank Access DB.
Link your SQL Server table in to the Access DB - e.g. in 2007 the option is in the External Data ribbon > more... > ODBC database.
Once you have the table linked create a form to edit the data by doing Create > more > Form Wizard.
This allows you to pick the exact columns you want them to edit, pick a layout etc.
From here the options are really only limited by how much effort you want to put in but it's a good start in contrast to direct table access.

I believe it's still in Beta but you might want to also take a look at WebMatrix.

Related

Can Joomla have forms on front end with SQL server housing tables on backend?

Yes, I am a learning Access and am not familiar with Joomla!, but I am working on creating an Access database (in Access 2013) so multiple users can have a user friendly way to look at and edit our data via forms, use the queries, etc. We are trying to transfer our Schedule worksheet from Excel to Access.
1) My co-worker is working on Joomla! version 3.6.2, and I would like to know if Joomla! has forms and the ability to do queries, etc., like Access, so we can use Joomla! on the front end and house our tables in SQL server on the back end?
2) I don't know if Joomla! is compatible with SQL server, but do you recommend us sticking with Access as our database or using Joomla! on the front end? We have other things in Joomla! and would like to see if we can view and make changes to our Schedule via forms and queries, etc. in Joomla!, making it the one place to go to for all of our needs.
Thank you for your help.
Microsoft Access is a good tool for learning what a relational database is but I suspect there are less limitations with SQL (or MySQL) in terms of the amount of records, the size of the database and with sharing the data with multiple users.
There are quite a few forms extensions that enable you to not only submit data to the database but to also retrieve it in whatever way you wish (sometimes with a little custom coding).
Joomla supports SQL but MySQL is probably the preferred database.

Using access 2010 as a frontend to SQL Server database

I am having to develop an application very rapidly. I have chosen SQL Server (2012) as the DB backend, and I will write all my stored procs, triggers etc in the backend.
However, for UI (logon, reporting etc), I am using Access 2010 for the frontend. I am new to both Access used earlier versions of Access waaay back in the day) and SQL Server (familiar with other Db's).
The goal is to have the database reside on a server and let clients connect with an instance of Access 2010 running locally on their machine.
I am looking for a quick tutorial that shows me how to use the SQL server objects from the Access frontend (I believe its called linking) - any link to useful resource would be very helpful, as I can't seem to locate anything useful (I may searching using the wrong keywords).
Assuming you built all the tables and data on SQL server, then in Access it is a simple matter to link Access to that database.
And to save development time, you can continue to use the Access simple approach of using forms bound to those tables. As long as you launch a form with some kind of criteria (say an invoice number), then that bound form will ONLY pull down the one record from SQL server into that form. (so need to write or use store procedures etc. for that form). And any triggers etc. you have built in SQL server will run without you having to do anything from the Access side.
So a plane jane form build in Access that is bound to a table of say 1 million rows in Access does not need any “special” code – just make sure you launch the form with the “where” clause that Access provides and the form will only pull + load the one record.
So 99% of the normal development process you used in Access in the past will continue to work. Using SQL server for the most part does not change much if anything in regards to building forms that edit such data.
However, for reports and some forms that query + search for data etc., or some VBA code that needs to “process” data, you are most free to call store procedures. You simply create a pass-through query in Access. The VBA code to use that T-SQL thus looks like this:
Currentdb.QueryDefs("MyRawt-sqlPassThoughquery").Execute
Or
with CurrentDb.QueryDefs("MyPass")
.SQL = "exec sp_myProc"
.Execute
end with
In the past for most access applications you likely used liked tables – those linked tables can be to a Access file (back end), or Oracle, or SQL server – how the actual application works and functions is really much the same for all cases. (so there not really a lot of “specific” things you need to know from the Access side – if you comfortable with Oracle, or SQL server, then using Access as a front end works just fine, and the typical development approaches used in Access will remain typical.
Here is an article that outlines the linking process:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Import-or-link-to-SQL-Server-data-A5A3B4EB-57B9-45A0-B732-77BC6089B84E?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US&fromAR=1
Keep in mind you will see MANY articles that talk about ADP projects - they have been deprecated since Access 2010, and I don't recommend using ADP projects with Access - so be careful, since many articles that talk about Access + SQL server are built around ADP projects which as noted should not be used anymore.
This office.microsoft.com article should give you a good overview.
With plenty of more technical information searching for "query sql server from ms access".
Don't mess about with linked tables. Use an Access ADP (Access data project), which is natively connected to SQL Server. Sadly this type of access file is being phased out but it is the optimal solution for an MS Access front end with a SQL Server back end
Pros and Cons of Access Data Project (MS Access front end with SQL Server Backend)

Displaying Reports on SharePoint

First of all, I must say that I'm new to this. I'm a 3rd year ICT & Business student and an intern in a international company. My assignment is to create a reporting service on the company's intranet (SharePoint).
The company wants to have a section on the intranet where only managers can access. To give you an idea, lets say one of the managers wants a report like this:
"Show the names of the male interns who worked between 2012 – 2013".
And lets say the interface on the intranet is going to be like the image below.
http://i.imgur.com/eBZXP8t.jpg
Once the manager fills in the required fields and presses the button;
1.SharePoint is going to create the query,
2.SharePoint is going to ask for the data which is stored in the SQL Server,
3.SQL Server is going to send the data to SharePoint,
4.SharePoint is going to create an Excel File.
In order to achieve such a reporting system, where and how do you suggest me to start? Any links, guides etc. would be much appretiated. Even a general response would help me to understand the basics.
NOTE: Our IT department will handle the connections between the SharePoint and SQL server. I don't have to worry about that. All I need is to find out how you create a query on Sharepoint which will connect to SQL server and ask for data and display it on SharePoint (or Excel in this case).
Thanks in advance.
If you're not already, you need to use SharePoint Designer.
Create a new site in SharePoint. You'll need to manage the permissions as to prevent non-management from accessing the new site.
Open the new site in SP Designer. Bring up the Data Source Library (Data View > Manage Data Sources). There you can 'Connect to a database...'. I can't help you there. For this you'll need the DB connection string and you'll have to design a query that gets a super set of interns (to your example). You can then use filters to extract the specific intern. This also will take some exploring on your part.
You may be able to customize the SQL query using form elements but I haven't seen that done before. Typically the DB connection pulls down a data table and that is consumed by the web parts on the page.
Hope this at least gets you started...

Disable Access To SQL Server Database Via SQL Server Management Studio

Apologies in advance for the long post, I am trying to be as clear as possible. Is there a way to disable a user / Windows AD group accessing a database via SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)?
I have an desktop application that uses a SQL Server 2005 database. The application runs as the user logged onto the machine (unfortunately we can't change that otherwise this would be simple). The database is permissioned with groups (but it would apply to users as well) to give access to the appropriate schemas and objects that the user requires. The users have (and need) the ability to select, insert, update and delete data to complete their process.
The application carries out a series of validation and auditing steps on the user input to ensure they are entering decent data (and for some additional business processing). A user could open SSMS and make these changes through the query editor avoiding the application completely which is what we are trying to avoid. What I am looking for is a way to stop the users updating the database through any tool other than the application provided.
I have found a couple of similar posts (including How to disable SQL Server Management Studio for a user) but these don't quite cover this issue as they work on restricting user access or using different logins.
The only solution I can think of at the moment is to have a set of tables where the user data goes initially and then another process picks this up, runs the application processes on and then puts the data into the master / source tables. Then I could restrict user access to the master tables.
This appears to be a good scenario for an application role.

Write Access Client App for SQL Server 2005 Backend

I'm writing an inventory/payroll system, and I'm storing all the records on a remote server running SQL Server 2005 on Windows Server 2008 R2. I was wondering how I could start writing forms(very basic) in MS-ACCESS 2010 to upload things to the database. I just want to test it out to make sure that once I implement the entire database, things will work smoothly and without error. I want to figure out how to just make a single form that will be connected to the database, right now the form will just be a simple single text input with a submit button, that will be uploading barcodes(strings not images).
If I need to clarify anything, please just ask.
Thanks in advance for any help
Microsoft has tons of useful "Getting Started" articles.
This one explains how to connect to SQL Server: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access-help/import-or-link-access-to-sql-server-data-HA010341762.aspx
This one covers all sorts of forms: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access-help/CH010369205.aspx
Go there, you will find a lot that can help you with whatever you are going to do.
Make sure you have the SQL Client driver installed on the workstation where you'll be using MS Access. You can download it here (look for sqlcnli).
The simplest way to get started is to build an ODBC DSN. Access can then link to your SQL Server tables using that DSN. How to Create a DSN
In Access, Go to the "External Data" option and choose ODBC. Locate your DSN and then select which tables you want Access to be linked to.
After your linked tables are showing up in the tables list, click on one of the tables, go to the Create tab (2007, not sure about 2010) and choose Form. This should automatically create a form for you using the table you had selected when you clicked the Form button. There's no need to write code or add buttons to this form. The default form can do all CRUD operations as long as permissions for all CRUD have been granted to the username you used when you created your DSN.
Some developers prefer to use ADO (code only, no linked tables or form wizards) or Pass Through Queries to access SQL Server from Access. I can't really tell you what you should be using because it depends on so many different factors including (but not limited to) size of project, amount of records, skill level, personal preferences, etc.

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