Alternatives to Access

Question

Are there any alternatives to MS Access?

Requirements:

Portable Database file
Integrated form development for data entry
No compiling necessary. Can be modified on the fly.

Two more requirements:

Available for Linux or Windows
Does not have to be free

EDIT: Emphasised Integrated form development for data entry as the top voted answers for this question, at the time of edit, both recommend a simple database system. The reason why Access is still so hard to replace for simple department level CRUD (and more) applications is the integration of database, data entry forms and reporting tool. Simply recommending a database does not answer the question as posed.

I added the duplicate tag because this question is pretty close to being a duplicate of this question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/29044/good-free-alternative-to-ms-access — Onorio Catenacci, Oct 21 '08 at 13:55
I removed it per Jeff's comment made here. http://stackoverflow.uservoice.com/pages/general/suggestions/24481 — Keng, Oct 21 '08 at 14:19
You do realise that Access requires Microsoft Office to be installed? You might want to take that into consideration. — RobS, Dec 13 '09 at 13:55
@Rob Sanders: Access does not requre MS Office be installed. It does require that *Access* be installed. I don't think there are any front-end tools that don't create an EXE that don't require some form of runtime to work. — David-W-Fenton, Dec 14 '09 at 22:43
@David W. Fenton Last time I checked Access was part of Microsoft Office. — RobS, Dec 15 '09 at 10:49
Access is part of Office, but doesn't require Office to be installed to run. — David-W-Fenton, Dec 15 '09 at 23:52

score 9 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 21 '08 at 13:20

9

The one that comes with OpenOffice might be what you're looking for, it's called "Base" I believe: http://dba.openoffice.org

I voted for zacherates because I like SQLite too, though.

answered Oct 21 '08 at 13:20

mmacaulay

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Tried Base once. Did not like it, but I should give it another try. – lamcro Oct 22 '08 at 14:09

NotMe · Answer 2 · 2009-03-25T22:26:11.480

9

Your options seem to be:

SQL Server Express. This used to be called the MSDE
SQL Server Compact Edition.
MySQL.
SQLite.
VistaDB.

==========

I'm modifying this to add the only real contender I've found: Kexi

http://kexi-project.org/

I can't say that I've used it, but it looks like it will do everything you want.

edited Mar 25 '09 at 22:26

answered Oct 21 '08 at 13:47

NotMe

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Do these have the built-in form development features? – Knobloch Oct 21 '08 at 20:06
Kexi is the only one in that list which has the built in form dev features. – NotMe Oct 28 '08 at 20:47
SQL Server Compact is not/was not the same as MSDE. MSDE is now called SQL Server Express and has in the past been SQL Server Desktop. SQL Compact is a very lightweight database for use on mobile devices that connect occasionally. – pipTheGeek Mar 25 '09 at 19:03

Aaron Maenpaa · Answer 3 · 2008-10-21T13:40:54.653

5

SQLite is always my choice for lightweight databases, though it doesn't have a form creator as it's just a database.

SQLite is great because:

It's just a library to be called by your application, not a server.
There's no configuration.
Your database is just a file.

(... and you can use in memory databases for testing, for those addicted to unit tests :)

edited Oct 21 '08 at 13:40

answered Oct 21 '08 at 13:17

Aaron Maenpaa

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And what is nice with sqlite is that it is without the configuration burden you have with database systems like mysql and so on. – stephanea Oct 21 '08 at 13:35
SQLite does respond to his requirement : "Integrated form development for data entry"? Didn't know that. – Patrick Desjardins Oct 21 '08 at 13:59
1

Why do people answer a very clear question about a file-based db engine WITH front-end development tools with a suggestion of a database engine only? – David-W-Fenton Oct 24 '08 at 03:06
3

I think the real question is: Why has this been up voted when it didn't answer the question at all. – NotMe Nov 06 '08 at 16:03
-1 as it really doesn't answer the question - and why it's so difficult to replace access. SQLLite is great, but portable databases are two a penny. – Cruachan Mar 25 '09 at 18:31
3

Ha, jeez, some idiot has just voted it up again. What does it take for people to realise **this does not answer the question put** (and it's a good question too for which I'm really interested in **actual** answers) – Cruachan Mar 25 '09 at 19:15

score 4 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:07

4

Possibly you missed this Q & A when you searched the site for an answer to this question. You may find some good options there too.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:07

Community

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answered Oct 21 '08 at 13:51

Onorio Catenacci

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Yes, I saw it. Thanks. But I'm willing to pay for the alternative. – lamcro Oct 21 '08 at 14:06

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 21 '08 at 19:24

I've done a lot of MS-Access development and from a form design standpoint or RAD (rapid application development) standpoint it's hard to beat.

However you can use MS-Access in conjunction with another Database Server that will give you flexibility down the road. My suggestion would be to use Sybase Advantage Database Server. I'm a bit biased as I support the product but we have a free Local server version for you to try out and later you can implement a full client/server setup by simply changing the connection. Advantage DevZone

In the case that you use another database engine you will likely be using ODBC for your connection type which Advantage supports along with JDBC, OLEDB, .NET, PHP, etc.

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 21 '08 at 13:37

3

FileMaker meets your requirements, although it is not something that I would recommend for collaborative development.

answered Oct 21 '08 at 13:37

acrosman

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score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 10 '10 at 07:47

2

Check out Filemaker

answered Aug 10 '10 at 07:47

Craig Mc

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This is actually a real alternative to Access, because it has both parts of the equation. – David-W-Fenton Aug 11 '10 at 00:49

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 21 '08 at 16:02

1

I've used 4th Dimension in the past. I don't know, however, if it requires compilation - but it can be compiled.

But its design features are extremely friendly in my opinion.

answered Oct 21 '08 at 16:02

warren

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Oct 21 '08 at 13:27

There used to be an awesome product for dos called Q&A this became http://www.lantica.com/ but I haven't looked at it since the dos version.

Alternatively try this wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_office_suites there are some tables of comparisons near the bottom.

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Mar 25 '09 at 18:28

0

VistaDB is the only alternative if you going to run your website at shared hosting (almost all of them won't let you run your websites under Full Trust mode) and also if you need simple x-copy deployment enabled website.

answered Mar 25 '09 at 18:28

Konstantin Tarkus

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score -2 · Answer 11 · edited Oct 21 '08 at 14:04

-2

SQLite is awesome.

edited Oct 21 '08 at 14:04

Javier

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answered Oct 21 '08 at 13:16

Galwegian

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This link goes to a placeholder page. – Philip Morton Oct 21 '08 at 13:42

Alternatives to Access

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