May 02 2021 02:14 PM - edited May 03 2021 06:19 AM
As an SQL Server/Access developer, one thing that can really use a change in Access is, the way the navigation pane and properties pane are on the sides taking up workspace. If anyone out has any clout with the Access development team, please get them to change the navigation pane, properties pane, help, etc.. The way they are in SQL Server Management Studio works great. They are there when you need them but they don't interfere with your workspace. They can be changed to tabs on the side and deployed over the working window. That would be a big help. The way they are now is very archaic and long overdue for a change.
Thank you,
DesVesper
May 02 2021 03:03 PM
May 03 2021 01:41 AM
May 03 2021 06:06 AM
May 03 2021 06:17 AM
May 04 2021 06:26 AM
May 04 2021 06:34 AM
@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?
May 04 2021 11:51 PM
May 05 2021 06:06 AM
May 05 2021 06:46 AM
@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.