Database software

[L. Bousbaine]

Having recently bought a new pc, I've successfully loaded up Open Office and
am quite happy with it. I've now been sent a MS Access mdb database for a
project I'm volunteering on and don't have any software to open it on my new
pc at home. I have MS Access on my pc at work and can use the database
there, but would like to ba able to work on it at home too.

Can anyone suggest/recommend any inexpensive database software that will
read MS Access mdb files?

Thanks

Lesley Bousbaine
Leicester, UK

[Lesley Robertson]

"L. Bousbaine" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

Having recently bought a new pc, I've successfully loaded up Open Office
and
am quite happy with it. I've now been sent a MS Access mdb database for a
project I'm volunteering on and don't have any software to open it on my
new
pc at home. I have MS Access on my pc at work and can use the database
there, but would like to ba able to work on it at home too.

Can anyone suggest/recommend any inexpensive database software that will
read MS Access mdb files?

Lesley (nice name!), if all else fails, get Access to export it as a

comma-separated text file - any database would then be able to read it. I do
that a lot, even with text versions of html files (which need a bit of work
in a text editor first), and load them all into MS Works - not only is it
cheaper than Access, but it's more tolerant of errors....
Lesley Robertson

[L. Bousbaine]

"Lesley Robertson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

"L. Bousbaine" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
Having recently bought a new pc, I've successfully loaded up Open Office
and
am quite happy with it. I've now been sent a MS Access mdb database for
a
project I'm volunteering on and don't have any software to open it on my
new
pc at home. I have MS Access on my pc at work and can use the database
there, but would like to ba able to work on it at home too.

Can anyone suggest/recommend any inexpensive database software that will
read MS Access mdb files?

Lesley (nice name!), if all else fails, get Access to export it as a
comma-separated text file - any database would then be able to read it. I
do
that a lot, even with text versions of html files (which need a bit of
work
in a text editor first), and load them all into MS Works - not only is it
cheaper than Access, but it's more tolerant of errors....
Lesley Robertson

Thanks for that Lesley. My only problem with doing that, or with setting up
my own spreadsheet for data input (then import/copy&paste into Access) is
replicating the underlying database structure and references between tables.
Particularly in the interests of validation.

Lesley

[0_Qed]

L. Bousbaine wrote:

Having recently bought a new pc, I've successfully loaded up Open Office and
am quite happy with it. I've now been sent a MS Access mdb database for a
project I'm volunteering on and don't have any software to open it on my new
pc at home. I have MS Access on my pc at work and can use the database
there, but would like to ba able to work on it at home too.

Can anyone suggest/recommend any inexpensive database software that will
read MS Access mdb files?

Lesley ,

I was under the ?impression? that OpenOffice.Org(OOo) does "read" MS
Office
files ... and, MS Office 2000 better than MS Office 97 even.
y/n ???

Added, that it may take a short time for OOo to "adapt" to MS changes
in the various 'version' file formats.

I'd be interested in your experiences in "liberating" MS Ofice to OOo
....
MS 'ver' to OOo 'ver'.

Ed.

[Charlie]

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:19:36 -0400, 0_Qed <[email protected]>
wrote:

L. Bousbaine wrote:

Having recently bought a new pc, I've successfully loaded up Open Office and
am quite happy with it. I've now been sent a MS Access mdb database for a
project I'm volunteering on and don't have any software to open it on my new
pc at home. I have MS Access on my pc at work and can use the database
there, but would like to ba able to work on it at home too.

Can anyone suggest/recommend any inexpensive database software that will
read MS Access mdb files?

Lesley ,

I was under the ?impression? that OpenOffice.Org(OOo) does "read" MS
Office
files ... and, MS Office 2000 better than MS Office 97 even.
y/n ???

Added, that it may take a short time for OOo to "adapt" to MS changes
in the various 'version' file formats.

I'd be interested in your experiences in "liberating" MS Ofice to OOo
...
MS 'ver' to OOo 'ver'.

Ed.

If that is true, I'd really be interested in hearing more about it
from someone who's actually used the database that is included in Open
Office. I have Star Office 6, and I found the database complelely
uesless.... of course, I'm far from an expert. If there's a way to use
it, I'd like to learn more.
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

[john]

Charlie wrote:

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:19:36 -0400, 0_Qed <[email protected]
wrote:


L. Bousbaine wrote:

Having recently bought a new pc, I've successfully loaded up Open Office and
am quite happy with it. I've now been sent a MS Access mdb database for a
project I'm volunteering on and don't have any software to open it on my new
pc at home. I have MS Access on my pc at work and can use the database
there, but would like to ba able to work on it at home too.

Can anyone suggest/recommend any inexpensive database software that will
read MS Access mdb files?

Lesley ,

I was under the ?impression? that OpenOffice.Org(OOo) does "read" MS
Office
files ... and, MS Office 2000 better than MS Office 97 even.
y/n ???

Added, that it may take a short time for OOo to "adapt" to MS changes
in the various 'version' file formats.

I'd be interested in your experiences in "liberating" MS Ofice to OOo
...
MS 'ver' to OOo 'ver'.

Ed.


If that is true, I'd really be interested in hearing more about it
from someone who's actually used the database that is included in Open
Office. I have Star Office 6, and I found the database complelely
uesless.... of course, I'm far from an expert. If there's a way to use
it, I'd like to learn more.
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

There is no database software in OpenOffice. Open Office opens and
writes MS Word and Excel files and runs most macros without any problems.

The commercial version of the software, StarOffice, includes a version
of Adabas. Adabas is not MSAccess compatible but it is possible to load,
edit and save MS Access database files via an ODBC or ADO driver.

A possible alternative to MSAccess is Ability Office which will open
Access databases. Older versions are often available on cover-mounted
CDs on UK computer magazines. There is a trial download of the current
version available from http://www.ability.com although I've not checked whether
it includes the database or is limited in any way.

john

[John]

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:17:13 +0200, john <[email protected]> wrote:

Charlie wrote:
A possible alternative to MSAccess is Ability Office which will open
Access databases. Older versions are often available on cover-mounted
CDs on UK computer magazines. There is a trial download of the current
version available from http://www.ability.com although I've not checked whether
it includes the database or is limited in any way.

john

The Classic edition is $60US and is MS Access compatible:
http://www.ability.com/
http://www.ability.com/sales/products/d ... .php?ln=us

[Steve Hayes]

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:19:36 -0400, 0_Qed <[email protected]> wrote:

L. Bousbaine wrote:

Having recently bought a new pc, I've successfully loaded up Open Office and
am quite happy with it. I've now been sent a MS Access mdb database for a
project I'm volunteering on and don't have any software to open it on my new
pc at home. I have MS Access on my pc at work and can use the database
there, but would like to ba able to work on it at home too.

Can anyone suggest/recommend any inexpensive database software that will
read MS Access mdb files?

Lesley ,

I was under the ?impression? that OpenOffice.Org(OOo) does "read" MS
Office
files ... and, MS Office 2000 better than MS Office 97 even.
y/n ???

I have Open Office on my computer, but it does not seem to have a database
component, only a spreadsheet.

I gave up storing data in relational databases after I got a Windows computer
and found Paradox did not work on it. I've looked at MS Access, but find it
too difficult to use, and have never managed to get it to work, as it keeps
changing my data (I entered someone's birthdate as 1926, and MS Access
insisted on changing it to 2026. I don't like using programs that change data
andf make it unreliable.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

[Echuca]

EasyOffice Suite has a database product - EasyDatabase.. Know nothing about
it but I find EasyOffice word processors good and they open MS formats &
saves in MS formats so could be worth a look..

It is shareware, you have the choice to register or at the cost of a 'nag'
screen when you start it up, you can stay with the shareware version without
cost - and with their blessing.

They are at:- http://www.e-press.com

Hope that helps.

Regards from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
http://www.visitvictoria.com/



"Steve Hayes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:19:36 -0400, 0_Qed <[email protected]> wrote:

L. Bousbaine wrote:

Having recently bought a new pc, I've successfully loaded up Open
Office and
am quite happy with it. I've now been sent a MS Access mdb database for
a
project I'm volunteering on and don't have any software to open it on
my new
pc at home. I have MS Access on my pc at work and can use the database
there, but would like to ba able to work on it at home too.

Can anyone suggest/recommend any inexpensive database software that
will
read MS Access mdb files?

Lesley ,

I was under the ?impression? that OpenOffice.Org(OOo) does "read" MS
Office
files ... and, MS Office 2000 better than MS Office 97 even.
y/n ???

I have Open Office on my computer, but it does not seem to have a database
component, only a spreadsheet.

I gave up storing data in relational databases after I got a Windows
computer
and found Paradox did not work on it. I've looked at MS Access, but find
it
too difficult to use, and have never managed to get it to work, as it
keeps
changing my data (I entered someone's birthdate as 1926, and MS Access
insisted on changing it to 2026. I don't like using programs that change
data
andf make it unreliable.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop
uk

[Jeff Richards]

The downloadable version is freeware, not shareware. With shareware you are
required to register and pay for the product after the evaluation period, or
stop using it. With freeware you can use it for as long as you like. Note
that the download (freeware) version of Easy Office lacks many of the
features of the licensed version.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Echuca" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

snip
It is shareware, you have the choice to register or at the cost of a 'nag'
screen when you start it up, you can stay with the shareware version
without
cost - and with their blessing.

They are at:- http://www.e-press.com

[Echuca]

Quite right -sorry for my slip-up. Must say that the word processor section
is packed with features even though it might not be as powerful as the
licensed version - and it comes at my favourite price!

"Jeff Richards" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

The downloadable version is freeware, not shareware. With shareware you
are
required to register and pay for the product after the evaluation period,
or
stop using it. With freeware you can use it for as long as you like. Note
that the download (freeware) version of Easy Office lacks many of the
features of the licensed version.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Echuca" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
snip
It is shareware, you have the choice to register or at the cost of a
'nag'
screen when you start it up, you can stay with the shareware version
without
cost - and with their blessing.

They are at:- http://www.e-press.com

[0_Qed]

Steve Hayes wrote:

I have Open Office on my computer, but it does not seem to have a database
component, only a spreadsheet.
....snip...

???
"It" aughta have three components ... wp, db , ss.

Heres the URL for the db component ...
==> http://www.openoffice.org/product/dbase.html

A 'NG' too ...
==> news:mailing.comp.open-office

E

[john]

0_Qed wrote:

Steve Hayes wrote:

I have Open Office on my computer, but it does not seem to have a database
component, only a spreadsheet.

...snip...

???
"It" aughta have three components ... wp, db , ss.

Heres the URL for the db component ...
==> http://www.openoffice.org/product/dbase.html

A 'NG' too ...
==> news:mailing.comp.open-office

E

OpenOffice does not include a full db application. You can open simple
dbf database files in OpenOffice but there is no easy way for naive
users to open MSAccess mdb files or applications.

OpenOffice includes a word-processor (which can read and write MS Word
doc files), a spreadsheet application (which can read and write MS Excel
xls files), and a presentation graphics application (which can read and
write MS Powerpoint ppt files).

john

[Charlie]

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 04:43:01 GMT, [email protected] (Steve Hayes)
wrote:

<snip>

I gave up storing data in relational databases after I got a Windows computer
and found Paradox did not work on it. I've looked at MS Access, but find it
too difficult to use, and have never managed to get it to work, as it keeps
changing my data (I entered someone's birthdate as 1926, and MS Access
insisted on changing it to 2026. I don't like using programs that change data
andf make it unreliable.

I haven't used Paradox in a few years, but I'm certain that it worked
fine with Windows. What version were you using? The version I have (9)
came with Corel Office Suite 2000.

As for Access, I've literally thousands of megabytes of genealogy
information in Access databases, and I've never seen any instance of a
date changing from 1926 to 2026, or anything remotely similar to that.
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

[John]

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 04:43:01 GMT, [email protected] (Steve Hayes)
wrote:

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:19:36 -0400, 0_Qed <[email protected]> wrote:
omponent, only a spreadsheet.

I gave up storing data in relational databases after I got a Windows computer
and found Paradox did not work on it. I've looked at MS Access, but find it
too difficult to use, and have never managed to get it to work, as it keeps
changing my data (I entered someone's birthdate as 1926, and MS Access
insisted on changing it to 2026. I don't like using programs that change data
andf make it unreliable.

If you actually enter 4 digits for the year "1926", Access will keep
it as "1926". If you're using some shortcut (such as a popup or
listbox), you're at the mercy of the person who set that shortcut up.
It's easy to take the defaults - but they will come back to bite you.

John

[Steve Hayes]

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 08:18:01 -0400, 0_Qed <[email protected]> wrote:

Steve Hayes wrote:
I have Open Office on my computer, but it does not seem to have a database
component, only a spreadsheet.
...snip...

???
"It" aughta have three components ... wp, db , ss.

Heres the URL for the db component ...
==> http://www.openoffice.org/product/dbase.html

A 'NG' too ...
==> news:mailing.comp.open-office

That's interesting.

I installed it from a CD that came with a magazine -- perhaps they don't
normally distribute it in that way.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

[Steve Hayes]

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 10:11:37 -0500, Charlie <[email protected]> wrote:

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 04:43:01 GMT, [email protected] (Steve Hayes)
wrote:

snip
I gave up storing data in relational databases after I got a Windows computer
and found Paradox did not work on it. I've looked at MS Access, but find it
too difficult to use, and have never managed to get it to work, as it keeps
changing my data (I entered someone's birthdate as 1926, and MS Access
insisted on changing it to 2026. I don't like using programs that change data
andf make it unreliable.

I haven't used Paradox in a few years, but I'm certain that it worked
fine with Windows. What version were you using? The version I have (9)
came with Corel Office Suite 2000.

Last version I had was 4.5 for DOS.

I bought a Windows version, but didn't have enough disk space to install it.
When I got more disk space, I couldn't find the program disc.

But when I try to run 4.5 under Windows 98, it crashes every time.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

[john]

Steve Hayes wrote:

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 08:18:01 -0400, 0_Qed <[email protected]> wrote:


Steve Hayes wrote:

I have Open Office on my computer, but it does not seem to have a database
component, only a spreadsheet.

...snip...

???
"It" aughta have three components ... wp, db , ss.

Heres the URL for the db component ...
==> http://www.openoffice.org/product/dbase.html

A 'NG' too ...
==> news:mailing.comp.open-office


That's interesting.

I installed it from a CD that came with a magazine -- perhaps they don't
normally distribute it in that way.


Have you tried opening a .doc file with your version of OpenOffice?

There is only one application soffice.exe. That loads the appropriate
components for word processor, spreadsheet, presentation graphics, etc.

[Steve Hayes]

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 22:45:32 GMT, John <[email protected]> wrote:

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 04:43:01 GMT, [email protected] (Steve Hayes)
wrote:

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:19:36 -0400, 0_Qed <[email protected]> wrote:
omponent, only a spreadsheet.

I gave up storing data in relational databases after I got a Windows computer
and found Paradox did not work on it. I've looked at MS Access, but find it
too difficult to use, and have never managed to get it to work, as it keeps
changing my data (I entered someone's birthdate as 1926, and MS Access
insisted on changing it to 2026. I don't like using programs that change data
andf make it unreliable.

If you actually enter 4 digits for the year "1926", Access will keep
it as "1926". If you're using some shortcut (such as a popup or
listbox), you're at the mercy of the person who set that shortcut up.
It's easy to take the defaults - but they will come back to bite you.

I entered four digits every time, but once I saved it, it was stored as 2026.

I was using one of the templates that came with Access97.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

[Steve Hayes]

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 08:44:40 +0200, john <[email protected]> wrote:

Steve Hayes wrote:
On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 08:18:01 -0400, 0_Qed <[email protected]> wrote:


Steve Hayes wrote:

I have Open Office on my computer, but it does not seem to have a database
component, only a spreadsheet.

...snip...

???
"It" aughta have three components ... wp, db , ss.

Heres the URL for the db component ...
==> http://www.openoffice.org/product/dbase.html

A 'NG' too ...
==> news:mailing.comp.open-office


That's interesting.

I installed it from a CD that came with a magazine -- perhaps they don't
normally distribute it in that way.


Have you tried opening a .doc file with your version of OpenOffice?
There is only one application soffice.exe. That loads the appropriate
components for word processor, spreadsheet, presentation graphics, etc.

Yes, I have, and that works just fine.

I haven't tried opening .MDB or .DB or .DBF files with it, though. Maybe I
need to try a few of those.


--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

[L. Bousbaine]

Thanks to all for the feedback and suggestions - one or two good leads to
follow up there. Just for the record, when I try to open a mdb file with
Open Office, it just treats it as a normal word processed file.

Lesley

[john]

L. Bousbaine wrote:

Thanks to all for the feedback and suggestions - one or two good leads to
follow up there. Just for the record, when I try to open a mdb file with
Open Office, it just treats it as a normal word processed file.

Lesley


I've just received OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 02 - Issue 4 -

10/2004. It contains the following statements:

"This spring, OpenOffice.org 2.0 will leap over every other office
suite. For those users clamoring for an Access equivalent, it will have
it. It will be more interoperable. And for those developers wanting more
modularity and more responsiveness, 2.0 has that, too.......

.........OpenOffice.org 2.0 will be ready for general use in March 2005.
Early versions--pre-Alpha versions--are ready for download now. They
are not meant for daily use but are meant to give a taste of things to come.

To download the early developer version of OpenOffice.org 2.0, visit our
680 page.
<http://download.openoffice.org/680/>"

[L. Bousbaine]

Thanks John - I'm off to have a look. Certainly looks interesting!

Lesley

"john" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

L. Bousbaine wrote:
Thanks to all for the feedback and suggestions - one or two good leads
to
follow up there. Just for the record, when I try to open a mdb file with
Open Office, it just treats it as a normal word processed file.

Lesley


I've just received OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 02 - Issue 4 -
10/2004. It contains the following statements:

"This spring, OpenOffice.org 2.0 will leap over every other office
suite. For those users clamoring for an Access equivalent, it will have
it. It will be more interoperable. And for those developers wanting more
modularity and more responsiveness, 2.0 has that, too.......

........OpenOffice.org 2.0 will be ready for general use in March 2005.
Early versions--pre-Alpha versions--are ready for download now. They
are not meant for daily use but are meant to give a taste of things to
come.

To download the early developer version of OpenOffice.org 2.0, visit our
680 page.
http://download.openoffice.org/680/>"

[john]

Make sure you've got good backups of your data! It says it is pre-alpha
software so anything could happen to your data; it is highly likely
there are bugs. Heed all warnings!

john

L. Bousbaine wrote:

Thanks John - I'm off to have a look. Certainly looks interesting!

Lesley

"john" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

I've just received OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 02 - Issue 4 -
10/2004. It contains the following statements:

"This spring, OpenOffice.org 2.0 will leap over every other office
suite. For those users clamoring for an Access equivalent, it will have
it. It will be more interoperable. And for those developers wanting more
modularity and more responsiveness, 2.0 has that, too.......

........OpenOffice.org 2.0 will be ready for general use in March 2005.
Early versions--pre-Alpha versions--are ready for download now. They
are not meant for daily use but are meant to give a taste of things to

come.

To download the early developer version of OpenOffice.org 2.0, visit our
680 page.
http://download.openoffice.org/680/>"

[L. Bousbaine]

"john" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

Make sure you've got good backups of your data! It says it is pre-alpha
software so anything could happen to your data; it is highly likely
there are bugs. Heed all warnings!

john

Now that I completely agree with, having been (professionally) on the
receiving end many times, and payroll is less forgiving than genealogy!

Lesley

[Keith NZ]

Does anyone know of a utility to convert .wbd, files produced by Microsoft
Works, to a format that can be read by MS Access, or better still convert
the data to csv format ?

Thank you

Keith Wellington, NZ

[john]

Keith NZ wrote:

Does anyone know of a utility to convert .wbd, files produced by Microsoft
Works, to a format that can be read by MS Access, or better still convert
the data to csv format ?

Thank you

Keith Wellington, NZ

Not sure which version of Microsoft Works you have.

I've just checked with my copy Works v7. Under Save As there is a
dropdown menu Save as Type which allows you to save as a .dbf file or a
..csv format file.

I opened a .dbf file in Works 7, saved it as a .wbd file, re-opened that
as a .csv file, and imported the .csv file into Excel without any problems.

john

[john]

john wrote:

Keith NZ wrote:

Does anyone know of a utility to convert .wbd, files produced by
Microsoft
Works, to a format that can be read by MS Access, or better still convert
the data to csv format ?

Thank you

Keith Wellington, NZ

Not sure which version of Microsoft Works you have.

I've just checked with my copy Works v7. Under Save As there is a
dropdown menu Save as Type which allows you to save as a .dbf file or a
.csv format file.

I opened a .dbf file in Works 7, saved it as a .wbd file, re-opened that
as a .csv file, and imported the .csv file into Excel without any problems.

john

From a quick Google, it seems there aren't any shareware converters for
Works .wdb files and no other common programs will read the format. If
you haven't got a copy of MS Works, you could ask the sender of the .wdb
file to convert it to a .csv file for you. If not, you will need to find
someone with a copy of Works
(I'll do a conversion for you, if you want me to, and if it is
compatible with my version of Works).

john