Forum Discussion
Linking Microsoft Forms to Microsoft Access
At the moment, I am working on a project receiving responses via Microsoft Forms. This stores these in an Excel doc accessible through the website link to the form. Is there a way to connect Access d...
Thank you for your response. To clarify, it will be a very modest application, as this is just an interim solution until a more permanent one is brought in, and will not be seeing very great case volumes.
Currently the process is set up to download the Excel file with the responses from MS Forms, and then import this into Access. My understanding is you can create a linked Excel spreadsheet with a file stored on a LAN, but as MS Forms hosts the Excel output on the website link to the Form, is there any way you can directly specify this online output it creates as the source of the data, or do you have to download it to a hard drive?
Currently the process is set up to download the Excel file with the responses from MS Forms, and then import this into Access. My understanding is you can create a linked Excel spreadsheet with a file stored on a LAN, but as MS Forms hosts the Excel output on the website link to the Form, is there any way you can directly specify this online output it creates as the source of the data, or do you have to download it to a hard drive?
"To clarify, it will be a very modest application, as this is just an interim solution until a more permanent one is brought in..."
Lots and lots of Access relational database applications started out with that same profile and lived to very ripe old ages as the "permanent" solution remained elusive. Ask any Access developer who's been around very long at all.
- Yes. Yes, they did.
It seems that, of late, Microsoft has been ignoring MS Access. I can't understand why MS would develop an application like Forms without creating the functionality that would allow for easy interface with an MS Access database app.
For the record, I am not an Access developer. I am a lawyer who lacks proficiency in any programming language but understands the concept of relational databases. Over the past twenty years, I have had numerous needs to create applications to collect and process data in a manner that integrated with daily tasks in order to avoid the creation of additional work that would ultimately get ignored when things got busy. To your point, my "amateur" applications, originally intended to be an interim solution, became the permanent solution after I left the project because no other colleagues were capable of communicating their detailed needs in a format that professional Access developers could understand.)
I have tried to learn other relational database systems, but MS Access has always been the easiest to use especially when the app demands complex functionality. In my experience, MS Access allows one to play the piano and perform complex pieces without first having to learn to read music. I hope that, in the future, MS becomes more aware of the importance of Access as a tool for small businesses, organizations, and projects who may not have the resources to hire a professional developer.How to begin.
It's true that Microsoft doesn't show Access as much love as many of us would like, but ignoring it is perhaps a bit too far.
I can understand why Microsoft would not try to make Forms (a browser-based tool) work with Access (a Windows-only tool) on a couple of levels.
First, Access is simply not well suited for the web environment. Two failed attempts at "webifying" Access in 2010 and 2013 illustrate that pretty conclusively.
Second, the kind of data I envision being integral in a Forms based application is not the complex relational data that is the sweet spot for a database, such as Access.
I whole heartedly endorse the desire for a better appreciation of the critical role for Access in many organizations, large and small.
