Sharing Data with Other Programs from within Access 2010

Access 2010 is a great database application on its own, but it also plays well with others. You can display and retrieve data from a number of different programs. If a program supports VBA, then you can control it from Access. Here’s a brief list of Microsoft applications you can take control of and share data with:

• Excel: Many Excel users end up getting involved with Access because they need more structure to storing their data. However, some of these people don’t, so there is still a strong tie between Access and Excel. You can use an Excel spreadsheet as a table in Access, or completely take control of an Excel application from Access VBA.

  
  



• SQL Server: SQL Server is like Access on steroids — at least from the table and query standpoint. You can move your data from Access to SQL Server to improve speed and performance when using large amounts of data. Once the data is in SQL Server, you can build your Access forms, reports, macros, and modules to use the data from the SQL Server.

  
  



• Word: Most people who use Access have also used Word. Whether you’re writing a letter or making a list of tasks to do, Word is where many of us turn. You can also use Word as a reporting tool where you can create bookmarks to place data from Access, so that you can have someone unfamiliar with Access change the static data in the report.

  
  



• SharePoint: SharePoint is Microsoft's vision for sharing and collaborating with data on the Web, and from Access 2010, you can share data with a SharePoint Server. You can even create forms and reports in Access and publish them to a SharePoint site so that users can use them from within their browsers — all without having Access 2010 installed.

  
  



• Outlook: Outlook is more than just an e-mail tool; it’s also a contact management system. Using Access 2010, you can send e-mails and collect data directly from the received e-mail messages. You can also share the contact, calendar, and task information with your Access application so that you have to enter this data in only one place.

  
  

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