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Ms access for mac os

 
Greenhorn
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I have on my 'normal' pc a database that i created with ms access. (.mde file). I now have seen the light and bought a mac. My question is this - What database programs are available for the mac and specifically, can they run this file? I would be grateful for advice - I am planning to start a small home cinema installation company and therefore to not require a over compicated program - Just need tax, invoicing and diarising etc
 
blacksmith
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Filemaker Pro is probably the easiest database to work with on the Mac.

MySQL is an SQL database that is free and easy to set up; it will require some knowledge of SQL to use. PostGreSQL is another good database.

I'm afraid I don't know enough about Access to know what options there are for moving the information over - perhaps someone else can help.
 
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I know of no Mac-ready database that will read the .mdb file -- whatever you choose to use (Warren's recommendations were all good ones), you'll probably need to export your data from Access and import it into the new DB.

(The rumormill has spawned a tale that Access may make it into a future version of Office for Mac, but I would not hold my breath. Even so, I think the choices in Warren's post are better options than Access).
 
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OpenOffice now has an X11 version you can run on the mac. They also have a new ODBC driver for Access on Linux... you might give it a try -- you just might get lucky. =)

http://dba.openoffice.org/drivers/mdb/index.html
 
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Hi,

Access to FM How-Tos

This link may help if you decide to convert existing Access .mdb/.mde files to FileMaker. BTW, Filemaker will be much easier to use IMHO if you just want something that has a lot of functionality already set up for you. And it comes with precreated databases/interfaces for basic functions like AR, AP, and other common record keeping apps. There is also a FileMaker Server that can run on OS X - Server version. I'm an Oracle bigot myself but I take care of FileMaker at my job here as it's also part of the mix (I think we have just about everything here )

HTH,
Barbara
 
Greenhorn
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I have pretty much the same issue. You can export your data as Excel files or as text delimited files and import them. We made the mistake of buying Filemaker Pro 7(several copies).You have to stand on your head to make things happen in FMP that you take for granted in Access. FileMaker is my first Mac software disappointment (I've owned a Mac since the original 128 in 1984). It's really code intensive and time consuming. We're looking at MySQL and I would appreciate any insights that others might be able to share.
 
Bear Bibeault
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I'm not too impressed with FMP myself. Prefer PostgreSQL or MySQL.
 
Warren Dew
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Bill Fisher:

We're looking at MySQL and I would appreciate any insights that others might be able to share.

MySQL and PostGreSQL are SQL databases, which are kind of a different animal. Don't expect really clean, slick graphical interfaces. However, for calling the database from code, say Java code, SQL databases are really the way to go.
 
Warren Dew
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Another possibility that might be closer to Access would be Fourth Dimension, which still seems to be in existence:

http://www.4d.com/

They were pretty good (for the time) ten years ago, though I haven't tried them recently.
 
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