- Published 2/4/2015
- 1st Edition
- Book 978-0-7356-6768-6
- eBook 978-0-13-396625-1
Build new Access cloud web apps and migrate desktop databases to the cloud
This is your complete, practical guide to creating Microsoft Access web apps and migrating existing databases to the cloud. Access MVP Andrew Couch guides you through the entire web app life cycle, from design through deployment and upgrades. After introducing Microsoft Office 365 and the web app development environment, he reviews key issues associated with moving data into a web app or creating cloud apps with new data. Next, he drills down into app construction, from table design to integration. You’ll learn how to extend Access with Microsoft Azure SQL, PowerPivot, Visual Studio 2013, SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), and Apps for Office, and master important new enhancements in Office 365 SP1.
Learn best practices and techniques to:
- Capitalize on key Office 365 features in your Access web apps
- Design and integrate all the features of Access web apps
- Make your desktop databases compatible with web app table structures
- Implement and test business rules by using the Macro Programming Tools
- Understand how your app design translates to objects in the cloud-based Azure SQL Database
- Use Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to connect with and manage web apps
- Improve reporting with PowerPivot, Visual Studio 2013, and SSRS
- Extend Access web apps with Apps for Office features
- Capitalize on Office 365 SP1 improvements in change deployment, intellectual property protection, and integration
Get all code samples, including complete apps, at: http://aka.ms/AccessApps/files
About This Book- For experienced Access developers who want a deep understanding of web app design and implementation
- For new web app developers who want to develop Access web apps with Office 365
Online Sample Chapters
Extend Microsoft Access Applications to the Cloud: Creating a Blank Web App and Using Templates
Extend Microsoft Access Applications to the Cloud: Creating Data Sources by Using Queries
Sample Pages
Download the sample content
Table of Contents
Introduction i
Chapter 1 Finding your way around Office 365 1
Office 365 subscriptions 2
Office products in a browser 5
Getting started with Office 365 5
Team site, personal site, and public site 7
Installing Office Professional 10
OneDrive and OneDrive For Business 2013 13
Creating a web app using a template 19
Opening a web app with Access 23
Saving a web app as a package 24
Uploading a web app package 26
Editing a web app package 30
Displaying a web app in a browser 32
Sharing a web app with external users 32
Creating sites and subsites 36
Creating site collections (Enterprise subscription) 39
Applying a theme 45
Document storage and libraries 47
Microsoft Azure SQL Database, Office 365, and Access 51
App Catalog 53
Summary 55
Chapter 2 Finding your way around Access 2013 57
A new way of building applications 57
Create a custom web app 61
Importing data from Access 62
Using the navigation pane 64
Working with tables, lookups, and relationships 65
Displaying data in a browser 68
Working with different views 71
Controls available in a view 73
Autocomplete control 74
Related items control 75
Subview control 76
Action bar 77
List control 77
Hyperlink control 78
Multiline Text Box control 79
Web Browser control 79
Overview of macro programming and data macros 80
Upgrading and deploying a web app 82
Side-loading a web app 96
Designing and commissioning with existing data 96
Summary 98
Chapter 3 Converting a desktop database to a web app 99
Tables and primary key fields 99
Relationships and lookups 102
Table and field properties 108
Boolean data 112
Value-based lookups 112
Multi-value data 113
Importing different data types 113
Long Text (memo data) 115
Calculated fields 115
Image data type 115
Attachments and OLE objects 115
Reporting 116
References 119
Quick conversion to external writer 120
Attachment and OLE data 121
Uploading multiple files 122
Extracting attachment files 123
Uploading image files 125
Summary 132
Chapter 4 Creating a blank web app and using templates 133
Creating a blank web app 133
Adding template tables 134
Creating a new table 136
Editing the design of a table 137
Creating lookups and relationships 139
Adding indexing 142
Adding validation rules 143
Adding calculated fields 145
Summary 146
Chapter 5 Displaying data in views 149
Customizing the table selector 150
Customizing the view selector 151
Creating a pop-up window interface 152
Datasheet view 156
Views and record sources 164
Duplicating views 167
List Details view 169
Summary view 173
Standalone view 177
Related items control 180
Subview control 182
View controls 186
Combo box control 187
Combo box synchronization 188
Autocomplete control 190
Web browser control 191
Adding color to controls 192
Summary 193
Chapter 6 Creating data sources by using queries 195
Creating basic queries 196
Adding criteria to queries 198
Adding calculations to queries 200
Adding parameters to queries 202
Totals and queries 208
Top value queries 209
Unique values in queries 212
Summary 214
Chapter 7 Programming a web app by using macros 215
Macro-programming capabilities 216
Macro editor and standalone user-interface macros 219
User-interface events for views and controls 222
User-interface macros 227
Named data macros and stored procedures 228
Data macros and triggers 239
Data macro tracing 247
On Start macro 249
Transactions and recursion 250
Indirect recursion 250
Direct recursion 251
Presenting a view for printing 253
Creating a cross-tabulation of data 262
Side-loading a web app 267
On Deploy Macro 274
Using an alias with a macro action 287
Summary 288
Chapter 8 Managing security and a public-facing web app 289
Creating a public website 289
Creating a public-facing web app in Office 365 291
Managing security in a public web app 292
Summary 300
Chapter 9 Looking under the hood at Microsoft Azure SQL ¿Database 301
SQL Server Management Studio 302
ODBC drivers 303
Connecting to Microsoft Azure SQL Database 303
Schemas 308
Security in SSMS 309
Linked Microsoft SharePoint lists 309
Manually creating an ODBC DSN connection 310
Linking from the desktop to use an ODBC connection 317
Creating DSN-less connections with program code 319
Extracting information on relationships 321
Displaying structural information using data access objects 323
Displaying structural information using ADOX 327
Displaying structural information with a query 330
Validation rules 330
Data macros under the hood 331
Views and table-valued functions 336
Summary 338
Chapter 10 Other techniques for reporting 339
Excel and data connections 339
Excel PowerPivot 344
Creating a report for SQL Server Reporting Services 351
Publishing a report to SSRS 360
Linking a web app to an SSRS report 363
Using Visual Studio 2013 with a web app 364
Summary 374
Chapter 11 Using apps for Office with Access 375
Apps for Access concepts 375
Consuming apps for Access 377
Developing apps for Access 381
Summary 386
Index 387