Forum Discussion
Tabbed Navigation and Properties Pane
DesVesper Unfortunately, SSMS is not part of the Office environment and vice versa. The teams responsible for the Office interface are independent of the teams responsible for the SQL Server/SSMS/Visual Studio interface. I'm sure there is some communication between them, of course, but they are, ultimately, two different sets of products owned and managed by two different groups of people. While it would be nice to have an expansive set of options for every Microsoft product so that one could be made more similar to another, it's not likely to happen.
That said, I echo your appreciation for the greater flexibility of the dockable and moveable panes over the single fixed position of the Access Navigation Pane.
Out of curiosity, has anyone ever tried to rearrange Outlook along this same lines?
- As a developer myself, the panes are already 1/2 way there. They can be separated from the work surface and can collapse. The only thing that would have to be changed is how they work with the interface and how they are deployed. I realize the resolution in this message is over simplified and the work necessary to make that happen would be challenging for the team. Microsoft for many years has not made much for changes with Access and was about to write it off until the public voiced it's opinion. I have been building Access applications since it's release in the early 90's, when we were using Access with VB. Access is a good application and clients large and small love it. I think with its popularity it would be worth the effort for the product.
DesVesper As both Gustav and I have noted, the Navigation Pane in Access, like its counterpart in Outlook, is part of the interface and, as such, isn't likely to be a candidate for serious modification.
Although it's tempting to think of an entirely new approach to the interface, it's not realistic given the amount of work it would actually take to do it in light of the many other, more pertinent, kinds of improvements we need. The new SQL editor, for example, or better integration with SQL Server as a back end. The kinds of improvements that would impact Access as a platform for creating and distributing relational database applications. The Nav Pane, in contrast, seems to me to be mostly of interest to developers.
This is, in part, a philosophical discussion, IMO. How one approaches the task of developing those relational database applications for distribution as opposed to how the actual applications are used by end users day-to-day. I, too, might like a handier, dockable Nav Pane, but for the sake of the consumers of any relational database application I might create, I would much rather MS invest in making Access work better, and more securely, with remote databases like SQL Server or Azure SQL. That would, again IMO, extend its reach much more than changes to Nav Pane could.
