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Every day I think about how Microsoft Access allowed otherwise not-so-tech-savvy users to, with just a little training and practice, build a complete relational

Every day I think about how Microsoft Access allowed otherwise not-so-tech-savvy users to, with just a little training and practice, build a complete relational database for their entire business, supported by a relatively sane GUI and a way to build forms and reports with very little (if any) 'code'. I have no idea what small companies are using nowadays, but I think there has to be some untapped middle ground somewhere between Microsoft Access and a dumb spreadsheet.

mathgladiator 5y ago
I'm structuring my UI for Adama (https://www.adama-platform.com/ https://www.adama-platform.com/) around the baby of Access and Excel, and the engine is available in early access now. I love Excel and Access, and I plan a future pivot into small business space.
mackrevinack 5y ago
sounds like you are describing grist https://www.getgrist.com https://www.getgrist.com
buescher 5y ago
Microsoft Access is, of course, still around. It would be great if there were a solid way to develop a database, forms, and reports in Access and then deploy it to the web. If you've ever had to work with someone else's Access database, it is unusual to see a reasonably normalized relational database. Most people are much more comfortable with the single flat file of Sharepoint lists.
- maxerickson 5y ago
  For stuff at the scale of a small Access database, does the normalization (or lack of) end up being a big deal? I get that there are real advantages, I'm just wondering out loud whether they are universally applicable/important to small scale databases.
  - bliteben 5y ago
    Probably matters as it relates to data quality mostly
  - buescher 5y ago
    That's a good question. For an honest and complete answer, I'd have to remember the messes I've seen and it's been a couple decades now, so I don't. But simply, everything in setting up forms and reports is more convenient if you have real relations as opposed to a bunch of columns like "supplier1, supplier2, supplier3...".
  - willhslade 5y ago
    Speaking as someone with direct experience maintaining Access databases that should have been SQL Server from inception, yes it absolutely does. If you need to force feed 10+GB through Access artificial 2GB constraint and your programming language (VBA) is both single threaded and interpreted, if you aren't clever then you will run into performance problems, just as you would if you were doing something similar in Javascript or Python + SQLite.
    - maxerickson 5y ago
      I'm imagining a few hundred thousand small records when I say small, not 10 GB.
pid-1 5y ago
My anecdotal experience says Power Query.
segmondy 5y ago
There are still lot's of folks using Access. For those of us in the Linux space, we can use Libreoffice Base and script it with python. I once built for a local business that needed to join the computer age using this. Then about a year+ the owner's relative came to the business and decided that it was too old school and to get it redone as a web app. Needless to say, the owner is not too happy with it, took too long, cost too much both to develop and run and has more errors. He lamented to me about it when I was in town... The issue is the world has moved on from local/native apps.
CPLX 5y ago
I did wonders with FileMaker Pro for years and my understanding is that it’s still around as well.
wslh 5y ago
Does it exist a good Microsoft Access replacement?
- andy81 5y ago
  For read-only workflows Power Query is the killer feature of the past decade. For writes, there's Airtable, Google Forms, PowerApps etc.
- password4321 5y ago
  Appsmith was recommended last year. https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26657803#26658546 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26657803#26658546 Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends
  - joejohnston 5y ago
    How was it recommended?
    - password4321 5y ago
      By being voted to the top of the discussion?? I must be missing something obvious - I don't understand your question.
mch82 5y ago
Claris Works on Macs in the 1990s is the best database product I’ve ever used. It was amazingly user friendly. I used it to make form letters & reports. Claris Works prioritized the application layer of the database and hid a lot of the complexity at the data layer. DB Browser for SQLite is the coolest database product I’ve used recently. Similar to Mito, DB Browser generates SQL into a log as operations are performed in the GUI. Kind of a fun way to learn some basic SQL. I need to find a good GUI authoring layer for SQLite…
- kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
  > I need to find a good GUI authoring layer for SQLite MS Access with an ODBC connector.
- cutler 5y ago
  Filemaker Pro occupied that space a while ago as the MS Access for Mac.
dvdsgl 5y ago
This is what we’re building with https://www.glideapps.com https://www.glideapps.com

mathgladiator 5y ago

I'm structuring my UI for Adama (https://www.adama-platform.com/ https://www.adama-platform.com/) around the baby of Access and Excel, and the engine is available in early access now. I love Excel and Access, and I plan a future pivot into small business space.

mackrevinack 5y ago

sounds like you are describing grist https://www.getgrist.com https://www.getgrist.com

buescher 5y ago

Microsoft Access is, of course, still around. It would be great if there were a solid way to develop a database, forms, and reports in Access and then deploy it to the web. If you've ever had to work with someone else's Access database, it is unusual to see a reasonably normalized relational database. Most people are much more comfortable with the single flat file of Sharepoint lists.

maxerickson 5y ago
For stuff at the scale of a small Access database, does the normalization (or lack of) end up being a big deal? I get that there are real advantages, I'm just wondering out loud whether they are universally applicable/important to small scale databases.
- bliteben 5y ago
  Probably matters as it relates to data quality mostly
- buescher 5y ago
  That's a good question. For an honest and complete answer, I'd have to remember the messes I've seen and it's been a couple decades now, so I don't. But simply, everything in setting up forms and reports is more convenient if you have real relations as opposed to a bunch of columns like "supplier1, supplier2, supplier3...".
- willhslade 5y ago
  Speaking as someone with direct experience maintaining Access databases that should have been SQL Server from inception, yes it absolutely does. If you need to force feed 10+GB through Access artificial 2GB constraint and your programming language (VBA) is both single threaded and interpreted, if you aren't clever then you will run into performance problems, just as you would if you were doing something similar in Javascript or Python + SQLite.
  - maxerickson 5y ago
    I'm imagining a few hundred thousand small records when I say small, not 10 GB.

pid-1 5y ago

My anecdotal experience says Power Query.

segmondy 5y ago

There are still lot's of folks using Access. For those of us in the Linux space, we can use Libreoffice Base and script it with python. I once built for a local business that needed to join the computer age using this. Then about a year+ the owner's relative came to the business and decided that it was too old school and to get it redone as a web app. Needless to say, the owner is not too happy with it, took too long, cost too much both to develop and run and has more errors. He lamented to me about it when I was in town... The issue is the world has moved on from local/native apps.

CPLX 5y ago

I did wonders with FileMaker Pro for years and my understanding is that it’s still around as well.

wslh 5y ago

Does it exist a good Microsoft Access replacement?

andy81 5y ago
For read-only workflows Power Query is the killer feature of the past decade. For writes, there's Airtable, Google Forms, PowerApps etc.
password4321 5y ago
Appsmith was recommended last year. https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26657803#26658546 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26657803#26658546 Ask HN: Best low-/no-code solution for simple web-based database frontends
- joejohnston 5y ago
  How was it recommended?
  - password4321 5y ago
    By being voted to the top of the discussion?? I must be missing something obvious - I don't understand your question.

mch82 5y ago

Claris Works on Macs in the 1990s is the best database product I’ve ever used. It was amazingly user friendly. I used it to make form letters & reports. Claris Works prioritized the application layer of the database and hid a lot of the complexity at the data layer. DB Browser for SQLite is the coolest database product I’ve used recently. Similar to Mito, DB Browser generates SQL into a log as operations are performed in the GUI. Kind of a fun way to learn some basic SQL. I need to find a good GUI authoring layer for SQLite…

kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
> I need to find a good GUI authoring layer for SQLite MS Access with an ODBC connector.
cutler 5y ago
Filemaker Pro occupied that space a while ago as the MS Access for Mac.

dvdsgl 5y ago

This is what we’re building with https://www.glideapps.com https://www.glideapps.com