Microsoft Corporation
October, 1996
Microsoft® Access 97 has many new and improved features for developers. These include:
Migration is very straightforward and easy whether you're coming from Microsoft Access version 2.0 or Microsoft Access 95. When you first attempt to open your database in Microsoft Access 97, you have two choices: convert or open. Convert will do a binary conversion so that you can take advantage of all the new features in 97. Once converted, the .mdb file cannot be used by Microsoft Access 2.0 or Microsoft Access 95 users. Open will leave your database unchanged, so you'll be able to share it with users of previous versions, but you won't be able to make design changes to the database. If you're moving from Microsoft Access 2.0 and make calls to the Windows® API, these will need to be updated to 32-bit API calls.
Microsoft Access 97 is a leap forward for the database developer working with Microsoft Access 2.0. The Jet 3.5 database engine is significantly faster. Other significant improvements include:
Microsoft Access 97 advances the state-of-the-art for developers now working with Microsoft Access 95. The biggest new features are partial replication, the ability to remove source code from distributed applications, Command Bars, which are programmable toolbars and menus in one, integrated source code control, and Web publishing. You'll also notice improvement in the areas of performance and footprint, especially on 12-16 megabyte computers.
There were two major areas of work: the Jet database engine and the application itself. Jet was again tuned for performance, resulting in significant improvement in some areas. In Microsoft Access, we focused on three areas of performance improvement:
There are several areas where performance is significantly improved over 2.0:
Microsoft Access 97 provides a Save as HTML option, as well as a Publish to the Web Wizard. The Save as HTML option supports the three output formats listed in the following table.
| Output Format | Browsers Supported | Servers Supported | Features |
| Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), also known as "static" output or snapshots of the database | All | All | Datasheets (static) Reports (static) Forms (static, datasheet view only) Queries (static, datasheet view only) |
| Internet Database Connector (outputs HTX/IDC files, which are "dynamic" in that a connection to the Microsoft Access database is created and maintained so that Web pages are continuously up-to-date) | All | Microsoft Internet Information Server or Peer Web Services (Windows NT® Workstation 4.0) | Datasheets (dynamic) Reports (static) Forms (dynamic, datasheet view only) Queries (dynamic, datasheet view only; parameterized queries supported) |
| Active Server Pages (.asp files, which are "dynamic" in that a connection to the Microsoft Access database is created and maintained so that Web pages are continuously up-to-date) | Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 for Windows 95 and Windows NT | Microsoft Internet Information Server, version 2.0 or later, or Peer Web Services (Windows NT Workstation 4.0) | Reports (static) Forms (dynamic, approximation of form layout using ActiveX Layout Control; record navigation, editing, inserting, and deleting supported) Queries (dynamic, datasheet view only; parameterized queries supported) |
The Publish to the Web Wizard in Microsoft Access 97 steps you through the process of outputting the desired database objects using HTML templates, placing them on the Internet server, building a rudimentary home page, and saving your settings as a specification for later use.
The Tab control, or page-frame control, is one of the most frequently requested features from Microsoft Access 2.0 and Microsoft Access 95 developers. While a variety of solutions exist, developers told us they wanted the benefits of a built-in control. The Tab control in Microsoft Access 97 lets developers build responsive, easy-to-use forms, using an object model and command set that are consistent with the rest of the Microsoft Access forms package.
Command Bars are new in Microsoft Access 97 and Office 97. They are programmable objects that act as toolbars, menus, or a combination of toolbars and menus. They can be built and customized in code or through their own Customize dialog box; they can call code in modules without any use of macros; and they can be shared between applications in Office 97.
The .mde file is new for Microsoft Access 97. It is a copy of an .mdb file, with all plain text representations of code stripped out. It is designed to be distributed by developers to users who have no need to modify their solutions. It is smaller than the .mdb, because the source code has been removed, and it is guaranteed to remain compiled. As a side-benefit, it adds another level of security; because source code has been removed, users cannot view or tamper with a developer's code modules.
There are lots of new and improved features in Visual Basic for Applications in Microsoft Access 97. First of all, the Visual Basic for Applications 5.0 dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) will be shared across all of Office, so the disk footprint will be reduced and the environment will be consistent across all applications. Some of the changes include:
There are a number of important enhancements in Jet 3.5. Performance has again increased significantly over Jet 3.0 (the engine in Microsoft Access 95), so developers moving from Microsoft Access 2.0 will see dramatic improvements in data access speed. We also did work to make sure empty space in the database is recovered much more quickly; this keeps the database small as you develop and run your applications. Other new features include a Max Records property, which limits the number of records returned from an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) data source, partial replication, and synchronization over the Internet.
The biggest news for DAO 3.5 is ODBCDirect. ODBCDirect is an extension to DAO that provides high-speed, optimized access to server-side databases, such as Microsoft SQL Server. ODBCDirect provides the performance benefits of RDO (a component of Visual Basic Enterprise Edition) using the DAO object model. All of the Office 97 applications can use DAO with ODBCDirect.
The two new features for replication are partial replication and synchronization over the Internet. Partial replication enables developers to replicate subsets of data. Synchronization over the Internet uses generic file transfer protocol (FTP) services to copy replication changes, thus eliminating the need for a dedicated private network to support replication. DAO 3.5 and the Microsoft Replication Manager, a component of Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition, support these new features.
The Microsoft Access Developer's Toolkit is being incorporated into a new product called Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition. This product will include upgraded versions of all of the tools in the Microsoft Access Developer's Toolkit, plus additional tools and documentation, along with a copy of Microsoft Office 97, Professional Edition.
The key components are Microsoft Office Professional, the Microsoft Access run time, an enhanced Replication Manager, an enhanced Setup Wizard, an expanded set of ActiveX controls, an MSDN subset CD, Microsoft Access/Visual SourceSafe™ integration, and more. In short, everything from Microsoft Office, the Microsoft Access Developer's Toolkit, and more.
Purchase the Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition.
You purchase and install Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition and Microsoft Visual SourceSafe. Please note: Stand-alone copies of Microsoft Access 97 or Microsoft Office Pro do not contain the DLLs necessary to integrate source code control. You must purchase Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition to enable source code control.
Yes. Several other vendors are providing source code control solutions for Microsoft Access 97. In that case, you would purchase and install Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition, along with a third-party source code control product.
Microsoft Access 97 will be released at the same time as Microsoft Office 97. Large volume accounts will receive it on their December CDs; retail availability is scheduled for the end of January.
Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition will be available soon after Microsoft Office 97.
We are currently revising the Microsoft Access Upsizing Tools for the 97 release. We're planning to release them in the first quarter of 1997. We will make them available on our Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/accessdev/) for free.
Pricing has not yet been announced, but it will be very favorable for developers who already own Microsoft Access, Office, or the Microsoft Access Developer's Toolkit.
Visit the Microsoft Access Developer Forum on the Web at http://www.microsoft.com/accessdev/ and the Microsoft Office Developer Forum at http://www.microsoft.com/officedev/.