Hi there,
I am sick and tired of finding new limitations in developing a Microsoft Access database every day as it has to run on my school's computer where I have absolutely no rights other than to use the computer with windows XP SP1 and Office XP SP1. I can not even change the height of the task-bar!
As I have a number of collegues that would love to run my software I would like to start a new development project, namely I want to develop a portable client that can interface an MDB-file that also lives on a USB-stick.
I tried to find information on "How do I start?" but I don't even know if there is already a development kit available to develop such software. I don't mind learning a new software language but as I am pretty familiar with Visual Basic for Applications I wouldn't be offended if it were similar to it.
Java is of no help, unfortunately, because it is not installed on our school's computers and there are absolutely no plans to install it in the future.
If there is no development kit available my idea is to set up a portable WAMP-system which includes Apache, MySQL and has the source written in PHP. However this would reveal the code to the users which in a few years time I might not be too happy about.
An internet-service is not possible as internet-connections are not always available and may be unavaible for a week or two (Beware: Education is the top most topic in Germnay right now! lol !! lol !! 
!!) (Off topic: I should change my profession!)
Do you happen to have any ideas? If so, please let me know!
Thank you very much for your help!
Kind regards from Germany,
Georg
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I've found the best way for me to use an Access database is to use an ODBC-based SQL tool. Some years ago, I settled on WinSQL (freeware) for my use, but there are others and there may even be a FOSS solution out there. The one limitation I am aware of is the need to locally install the ODBC drivers, which does require administrator rights. If the machine you use also has one of the typical SQL report writers like Crystal Reports or Forest and Trees installed, the ODBC drivers may already be installed.
Another alternative for you to consider is SQLite, which doesn't use Access-compatible databases, but which is portable freeware. Your SQL skills are portable to that environment.
And, lastly, Open Office org's Base application is fully capable of using/updating data in an Access database and is available in a portable version on this website.
You could obfuscate the PHP scripts and use Portable XAMPP like you alluded to.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Obfuscate+PHP&btnG=Search
You could make Java portable using the JavaPortablizer on this website and then use Java + SQLite.
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Hi!
Thank you both for your answers which encourage me to look into this further.
Now, please let me ask one question agai, in the hope that I can make my point more clear:
Is there a software development environement for portable software out there somewhere which comes with or has the ability to include modern controls like a hierarchical datagrid, an RTF-editor etc.? That's what I am looking for.
Thanks again and have a great Sunday!
Georg
Thanks in advance.
Kind regards,
Georg
There is no "portable software development environment". We portablize software here in various languages.
I'm not up-to-date on programming languages, but it sounds like you want a portable .NET and that doesn't exist.
Have you looked into wxWidgets? It's Open Source and free and you can use many different languages to implement your GUI. It does say on their website they have a datagrid control. An RTF editor may be included or available as a user-built add-on. you'll have to do some investigating to figure that out.
http://www.wxwidgets.org/
http://www.wxwidgets.org/about/feature2.htm
A wxRichTextEditor widget is described here: http://wiki.wxwidgets.org/Developers_Notebook-WxRichTextEditor
GTK+ is another free widget toolkit that you can use on Windows. There are a bunch more out there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widget_toolkit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_widget_toolkits
So, you have two decisions to make, a GUI widget kit to do what you want and then a programming language that can implement said widget kit. One may influence you picking the other.
Cancer Survivors -- Remember the fight, celebrate the victory!
Help control the rugrat population -- have yourself spayed or neutered!