Accesss ADP

First, I gotta tell you, I know almost nothing about SQL Server. I'm pretty
good with Access, in my own way (not programming though) and that is the
only thing I have to administer my SQL Server with (access adp).

When making stock, price, etc, changes - back when I used Access, I would
make the changes to a copy of the database, on my desktop, give it a
different name, upload it to the server, and when it was finished uploading,
I would rename it, so that it would overwrite the original database
immediately. (It was about 80 mg back then).

But now I have sql server, and don't quite know how to do it. I have a
programmer who writes scripts to do it, but it takes 2-3 hours to make the
changes, and they don't seem to all get done.

So, I have 2 ways of wanting to do it, but I don't know if they are possible
or a good idea to do in sql server. One would be to do like I used to, make
the changes on my desktop, import the new table, and overwrite the old one,
OR, the other way would be to import the new table and make queries on the
fields that have changes, (<>) and copy the changes from one column to the
other. Just using copy and paste. And then delete the "changes" table, to
save space.

So, if either of these are possible, how do I import a table, from Access
into the adp (and ultimately into sql server)? It would have Access
datatypes. Will the adp automatically change them to sql server datatypes?

And if the other way is better, how do I make a query (I know- it's a view-
but that's about all I know!) of 2 tables? I don't think the table in
question has a primary key any longer, I think maybe the tables are joined
programmatically? And is it possible to copy and paste from one column to
the next?

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks! Jill

P.S. I wrote in this group once, asking if I could append records to a sql
server table through the adp. The answer was yes, but I am still worried
about the datatypes matching up. If anyone can address that too!

Re: Accesss ADP

On Jul 8, 8:31 pm, "JA" wrote:
> When making stock, price, etc, changes - back when I used Access, I would
> make the changes to a copy of the database, on my desktop, give it a
> different name, upload it to the server, and when it was finished uploading,
> I would rename it, so that it would overwrite the original database
> immediately. (It was about 80 mg back then).

Not sure exactly what you're trying to do - I don't use Access much.
But are you trying to update the contents of the table, or the
definition of the table?
If you're trying to update the contents, you're best off either
learning the basic UPDATE syntax of SQL, or using a Linked Table.
Those may give your DBA the shudders, though. But it's quick, easy,
and can be relatively painless. Another idea is to have him code an
SP or two that you can run that will update the records. If you have
access to a web programmer, they should be able to build a web page to
do so.

If you're actually updating the table DEFINITION more than once or
twice, you really ought to look at why this is happening. Tables
should not be changed often - things break. It should be a major
thing. You might need to look at rearchitecting your tables, build
something that doesn't ever have to be tweaked.

> And if the other way is better, how do I make a query (I know- it's a view-
> but that's about all I know!) of 2 tables? I don't think the table in
> question has a primary key any longer, I think maybe the tables are joined
> programmatically? And is it possible to copy and paste from one column to
> the next?

I know that there's a SQL button somewhere in there. What it sounds
like you want to do is join table A to table B, only showing records
where there's a match in both tables. The syntax in SQL is:
select * from A inner join B on a.key = b.key, with KEY being whatever
your key is to connect the two. It doesn't have to be a primary key -
a logical key will suffice, and even if there's no longer a primary
key, you might be able to use the key anyways.

> I hope this makes sense.

Hope this helps. You might be better off trying the Access
newsgroups, they have more experience than I at what you're trying to
do.