Publishing a Split Access 2010 Database to Sharepoint

Question

I have been assigned a task at my organization of taking a currently split Access database and publishing it to a Sharepoint server.The database is currently split with the backend(Tables, data, etc.) residing on a network share and the front-end(forms, queries, reports, etc.) being distributed to end-users.

However, due to network issues this has become inefficient and we are now exploring Sharepoint and Access services. My original thought process was to convert the backend into web-compatible tables and publish the backend alone to a Sharepoint server. Since the client-objects created for the front-end are not as easily convertable(if at all), I thought I would link the front-end objects to the Sharepoint lists I created by publishing the backend. However, I have had trouble finding any kind of documentation on how to perform this link.

Has anyone ever dealt with this before or have any infomration on how I would perform this link, or am I going about this the wrong way?

I choose this path because I figured it would be the easiest considering the current databse set up but I have also considered other paths such as combining the front-end and back-end or simply creating new web compatible objects. I just feel like it would be wasteful to simply throw out the current front-end and begin creating all new web-compatible forms, queries and reports.

Any help or feedback will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

Answer 1

The linking process is rather similar to that of linking to a back end, or even linking to MySQL which is common with Access.

If you want/need to work with relational data, then you have to "hook up" the tables correctly. Unfortunately this means you often have to re-create the FK column that relates back to the parent table and replace the column using the relational and lookup wizard, but this is not hard.

In the following video, I go step by step of hooking up tables for relational use, and in this video I also take a standard client based application and link to the posted tables. That video is here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL27E956A1537FE1C5

So the above should given you an idea of what table linking looks like

edit: Edit:

Just to add some more, the use of SharePoint for your back end tables vs. using hosted SQL server has some pros and cons. The real advantage of using SharePoint is that the connection and technology is optimized for Wi-Fi and even connections that can be intermittent or break.

I have converted some applications in which I keep the long time VBA code and investment, but then simply moved up the back end data to SharePoint. In fact, I using office $365, and the p1 plan starts at $6 per month lets you do this. A great setup and low cost way to send out 5 laptops out of the office and having them all share the same back end data.

So, you don't have to re-write your front end application, but you get anywhere and anytime sharing of the data as long as any of those laptops have an internet connection. In addition if you lose the connection, the application continues to run in disconnected mode until such time you reach that coffee shop with Wi-Fi or get back to the office and plug into the network.