This is a quick post to lay out the limits in Access 2007 and make a little clearer how the application works and how it scales. The first table below shows the limits of the database engine itself. Access Database Limits Access database (*.mdb or *.accdb) file size 2 gigabytes, including all objects in the database (data, forms, reports, indices, macros, modules, etc.) Total number of concurrent users 255. Note that the practical limit will likely be lower than this based on database design. Table...

In last week’s post, I talked at a high-level about some engine-level changes we’ve made to Access. This week, I’ll talk about changes to the security model that sits on top of that engine, and crosses into the UI as well. Starting next week, I’ll be going into the UI changes and all the other new stuff we’ve done in the product. Fewer modal prompts on boot (by default) and disabled mode In Access 11 based on the configuration of the machine when a user opened a database, he or she encountered 3...

There are a couple big announcements happening today for the Access community. In partnership with Channel 9 we are launching a new show called The Access Show . It will feature Ryan McMinn, myself and others from the team. We will talk in-depth about what is new in Access 2010 and share feedback from the community. Additionally, at the SharePoint Developers Conference we are disclosing more details about Access Services. Access Services is a new SharePoint 2010 feature that allows users to create...

In the first Access blog post, I noted that Access 12 has a new database engine, but one derived from and very similar to the old Jet engine. There were a bunch of questions & emails about what we did, why, and what it means, and it will take me more than one post to get through everything so please be patient. In this post, I’ll cover what how the database engine fits into Access and how the new is different from Jet. In future posts, I’ll talk about the Access data security model and other...

One of the coolest new features in Access 2007 is the ability to gather data through emailed forms. These forms can be used to either update existing data or to gather new data. The forms can either be rich InfoPath forms that show up in-place in Outlook 2007 email messages, or they can be very simple HTML forms that can be completed by users of practically any email client. When the forms are returned to your machine, the data is extracted from the email message (either automatically or manually...

The Microsoft Access team is evaluating opportunities to help application developers and consultants grow their businesses and enable an even broader distribution of custom Access applications. If you have an Access application that you sell, tell us about it. Please leave a comment or send email with the following information: What is the application scenario and why people use your application(s)? Application description (or URL). How do customers/clients find your application(s) to purchase? What...

At last, the long wait is over, get yours today ! I definitely recommend this upgrade to all 2007 users. The team has done a lot of work to improve performance, security, and stability over the original release, which you can get a hold of by installing the SP. Once you've got it, please let us know what you think!

This blog provides the team with useful information from the community. Thank you for your feedback about SQL Server and faster and more efficient ! This is a vital source of input in our planning process. Next, we’d like to better understand how you use Access to solve real problems. Tell us about your latest Access project, and include the following: Short description of the business problem the project solves. How many users use the application? How long have you been using it? What is the backend...

We are looking at ways to make developers more productive in the next release. Tell me about how you create expressions. Do you keep a library of common expressions or look through previous work for examples? Are you super smart and always create them from memory/scratch? What about forms and report templates? Do you always end up starting from scratch or are there common patterns you find yourself reusing commonly? Do you have a database of common forms and reports that acts as a repository? Would...

Today’s guest writer is Kerry Westphal the PM for the macro designer and browser logic. Here is Kerry’s introduction on The Access Show on Channel 9 : We expect many advanced Access Services applications will have client and web objects—we call these hybrid applications. Hybrid applications are interesting because you can create client forms that leverage the full power of link tables, advanced queries, rich forms/reports, and VBA. See this previous post for more background on Web and client objects...