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A commonly asked question relating to
Microsoft Access is whether an executable
version of an Access application can be
compiled for distribution to clients who do not
have Microsoft Access already installed on
their systems. The answer to this is "no".
However, there is the option of packaging your
application up with a royalty-free run-time
version of Access instead. This article
discusses the software purchasing options
available that will allow you to distribute
Access Runtime and briefly outlines the process
of preparing your application for distribution
with it. Microsoft® Office
Developer
To be able to distribute Access runtime with
your application you will have to purchase
additional software for the task. For Access
97, 2000 and 2002 (XP) this was known as
Microsoft Office Developer or you could
purchase Developer Tools as an add on. This has
now been replaced by Microsoft® Visual Studio
Tools for Office. The previous versions of
Office Developer and Developer Tools have been
discontinued. Some retail versions are
still on sale in the UK for Office XP Developer (Full
Version) or if you meet the requirements
for the upgrade then you can still get the
Office XP Developer
Upgrade. Alternatively you might be able to
purchase previous versions from sites that
specialise in selling old software such as:
Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for
Office
If you already have a licensed copy of
Access 2003 you can
purchase Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for
Office, which will provide you with the royalty
free right to distribute as many copies of the
Access 2003 runtime components as you wish.
An upgrade version of Microsoft
Visual Studio Tools for Office is offered
at a substantially reduced price if you meet
the requirements as specified at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/howtobuy/renewal/
If you choose to use Microsoft Visual Studio
Tools for Office and don't have Access 2003
then you must buy it as part of the Microsoft Office 2003 suit,
as the standalone version or the
upgrade. This seems like an
expensive option, but is still more cost
effective than purchasing a retail copy of
Access for each PC that you intend to run your
application on. Access 2003 Runtime
Requirements
Access 2003 will only operate on systems
running Windows® 2000 SP3 or Windows XP. If
you intend to package a 2003 runtime version
for distribution then you must check that one
of these two operating systems is installed on
each target system. If this is not possible
then alter the application's requirements list
to suit. If restriction to these operating
systems is not suitable, your only other option
is to try to purchase one of the older versions
of Office Developer or Developer
Tools. Access Runtime Considerations
Regardless of version, Access runtime is not
as robust as the retail version of Access.
Therefore you must ensure that you have
adequate error handling in your VBA code and do
not use any macros. Macros do not have any
error handling capability. When Access runtime
encounters an error whilst processing a macro
it has the tendency to quit abruptly. If you do
use macros, you can save them as VBA code. To
do this, select the macro in the database
window and click the right mouse button. Select
the "Save As" option from the pop up menu. In
the "Save As" dialog select "Module" from the
drop down list and click on
"OK". Start-up Options
Start-up options control how your
application behaves when it first loads. To
alter the start-up options select
"Tools-Startup" from the main menu. The
options available are self- explanatory
although some are only applicable when your
application is run using the retail version of
Access. It is a good idea to set these; your
client may decide to install the application on
a system with the retail version already
present. To by-pass these options, press and
hold the shift key when opening your database.
Setting the "AllowbyPassKey" property to
"false" with some VBA code will disable
this feature. For more help see the Access help
files or alternatively use my Property
Editor utility. You must create a back up
of the application before altering this
property. Application Menus, Toolbars and
Pop-Up Menus
Application Menus, Toolbars and Pop-Up Menus
can considerably improve an Access
application's user friendliness. They also
provide an efficient manner to navigate and use
your application that the user will recognise.
For more help please read my Custom Menus, Toolbars and
Pop-Up Menus article. Make MDE
File
When distributing your application it is
highly recommended that you split it into a
front-end application and a back-end database.
You should also make your front-end into an MDE
file. An MDE is the Access equivalent of a
compiled application that still requires the
retail or runtime version of Access to run.
Keep a copy of the MDB version of the
application as the MDE cannot be edited or
de-compiled to a state that would allow
editing. Distributing the MDE file will help
protect your application's source code from
theft or alteration.
To make your application into an MDE, you
should compile it first to check for any
compilation errors. To do this open up any form
in design view and select "View - Code"
form the main Access menu. Next, select
"Debug - Compile" from the VBA code
editor menu and fix any compilation errors.
Once you have verified that your application is
free from errors, close the VBA code editor
window and select "Tools - Database
Utilities - Make MDE File" from the main
Access menu.
For Access 2002 or 2003 the "Make MDE File"
option may be disabled. This happens when your
MDB is in Access 2000 format (the default
format). To create the MDE you will have to
convert the MDB to the current version
installed by selecting "Tools - Database
Utilities - Convert Database". Please read
the following rules which apply to MDE
files:
- An Access 97 MDE will only run with the
retail or runtime version of Access 97.
- An Access 2000 MDE will only run with the
retail or runtime version of Access 2000,
2002 or 2003.
- An Access 2002 MDE will only run with the
retail or runtime version of Access 2002 or
2003.
- An Access 2003 MDE will only run with the
retail or runtime version of Access 2002 or
2003.
Package and Deploy
If you are using either Office Developer,
Developer Tools or Microsoft Visual Studio
Tools for Office, you are provided with a
utility, that allows the creation of an
installer package for your application. Many
developers prefer to use sagekey (http://www.sagekey.com) to create
a more reliable installer package. Another good
source of help for creating a package is a
white paper by Logico Solutions (http://www.logico-solutions.com)
titled "Installing Microsoft Access
Applications" by Paul Overway. This can be
found under the "Add-ins/Extras" section at the
site. Testing
Testing the installation package is most
important. Failure to do this may result in
installation failure for your client. If
possible test the installer on each operating
system that you intend to support and test on a
combination of systems with and without the
retail version of Access installed. Do not
release the package until you are completely
sure all issues have been explored and
resolved. Distributing
One of the major problems with Access
runtime packages is the size of the set-up
package. These tend to be rather large,
especially if you used the utility provided by
Microsoft to create the package. This makes
distribution over the Internet awkward,
particularly for users with a dial-up
connection. Many developers offer users the
chance to have a demo CD sent to them via post
as a workaround to this
situation. Conclusion
This is a complex and difficult process,
complicated by the path that Microsoft took
when releasing new versions of Microsoft
Access. Hopefully this article has helped you
to decide which route to take and how to
approach the distribution of your application.
I have included a list of resources (below) to
further assist you in this process.
Jamie Czernik BSc.
http://www.jamiessoftware.tk
(This article is provided "AS IS" with no
warranties or guarantees.)
Please feel free send your comments and
suggestions for improving this article for
future readers.
Resources
* http://www.logico-solutions.com
(Installing Microsoft Access
Applications article)
* http://www.sagekey.com
* http://www.emsps.com/oldtools
* http://www.recycledsoftware.com
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