Smaller-scale database systems are reviewed by D.C. Hayes and J.E. Hunton in the Journal of Accountancy, January 1999, pp. 61-69. These are useful for small business and small departments within large businesses. Sometimes it is easier to build a small database system than to fool with a large system to handle smaller jobs. Smaller-scale database software packages include the following:Microsoft Access at
http://www.microsoft.com/products/prodref/332_ov.htm For MS Access helper links see
http://WWW.Trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5342/helpers1.htm#Access Inprise Paradox at
http://www.inprise.com/paradox/Lotus Approach at
http://www.lotus.com/Microsoft Visual FoxPro
http://www.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/Microsoft is promising a greatly improved MS Access that will probably take over the smaller-scale database market like Excel took over the spreadsheet market. One advantage of MS Access is the way it integrates with other MS Office programs such as Excel.Networked databases are exploding in popularity across the Internet. For a review, see
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/circuits/articles/18bots.html . Microsoft is promoting ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). The following is a quotation from
http://www.microsoft.com/data/ado/prodinfo.htm:The ActiveX® Data Objects (ADO) programming model represents the best of the existing Microsoft data access programming models. If you are familiar with Data Access Objects (DAO) or Remote Data Objects (RDO), you will recognize the interfaces and will be able to work with them very quickly. You will also notice considerable improvements in the model, and tasks that were awkward in previous models have either been fixed or eliminated from the ADO model. The ADO objects provide you with the fastest, easiest and most productive means for accessing all kinds of data sources. The ADO model strives to expose everything that the underlying data provider can do, while still adding value by giving you shortcuts for common operations. ADO is Microsoft's strategic, high-level interface to all kinds of data. ADO provides consistent, high-performance access to data, whether you're creating a front-end database client or middle-tier business object using an application, tool, language, or even an Internet browser. ADO is the single data interface you need to know for 1- to n-tier client/server and Web-based data-driven solution development. ADO is designed as an easy-to-use application level interface to Microsoft's newest and most powerful data access paradigm, OLE DB. OLE DB provides high-performance access to any data source, including relational and non-relational databases, email and file systems, text and graphics, custom business objects, and more. ADO is implemented with a small footprint, minimal network traffic in key Internet scenarios, and a minimal number of layers between the front-end and data source-all to provide a lightweight, high-performance interface. ADO is easy to use because it is called using a familiar metaphor - the OLE Automation interface, available from just about any tool and language on the market today. And since ADO was designed to combine the best features of, and eventually replace RDO and DAO, it uses similar conventions with simplified semantics to make it easy to learn for today's developers.
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