Ha ha. This was my first Access developer hire on. It had started as a
paradox db. They hired a guy to convert it into Access but he left
without completing it. They then needed me to 'finish it' ie what he
started and didn't complete.

I had to accept the 1 month they gave to 'complete' the project. When
I told them I was rewriting it from scratched they asked why I wasn't
using the previous guy's design. I told them - because it will never
work.

Seven years later - they are still using that db I designed and
completed in 1 month. I've added a few reports since then but that's
about it. If I had the chance I would rewrite it differently only
because I have a different style now, but it works the way it's meant
to and provides automation of tasks the paradox db didn't handle.

This is the reason I love Access and in turn love vba/vb6. It's easy
to understand, easy to read, and doesn't ask for a lot of unneeded
complexity. I just wish they'd improve it on the code and editor level
but I'm probably just going to have to learn JavaScript and HTML5 -
which is a more realistic goal than trying to get a grip on .NET (for
me).

I recently told the local Microsoft Developer Evangelist that Microsoft's
release of "WebMatrix" and "LightSwitch" is encouraging to me because it
indicates that _someone_ in Redmond is acknowledging that not every
application is an "enterprise application".

But, anything that means the user has to learn C# and Silverlight probably
excludes a much-loved part of my Access user group constituency --
non-programmers who can (relatively) easily pick up enough Access to create
useful applications for their personal affairs or for a small business that
aren't covered by popular accounting software. On the other hand, there are
so many Open Source applications / software packages available that I
suggest they first search Sourceforge and other lists of open source,
because they may well find something that serves their purpose which
required no development.

--
Larry Linson, Microsoft Office Access MVP
Co-author: "Microsoft Access Small Business Solutions", published by Wiley
Access newsgroup support is alive and well in USENET
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