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bmercer
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Re: Moving Away from MS Access
How ChatGPT is different from a person: 1. ChatGPT has absolutely no knowledge or understanding of language syntax, set theory, data structures, indexes, etc. 2. ChatGPT cannot actually run a query against the DB and compare the output to expectations to confirm whether it's correct or not. 3. ChatGPT can create a query that looks perfect, but is wrong, and ChatGPT cannot tell that it is wrong. 4. ChatGPT can provide contradictory answers to the same question based solely on differences in phrasing the question. ChatGPT is an impressive accomplishment and does amazing things, but it is not alive. It does not reason. Regarding what the OP asked for, I see multiple helpful suggestions, and the OP has stated as much. PowerApps, Sharepoint, and custom web apps with SQL Server have all been suggested. If Microsoft has another general purpose database platform, I've never heard of it. The simplest way to get data out of Access and into a more reliable and performant platform is to keep the Access front-end and move the back end data to a SQL Server, and that suggestion was made.3.8KViews1like1CommentRe: Moving Away from MS Access
That's a good analogy. I sometimes use ChatGPT to create a skeleton of a script which I can then customize. It almost never gets it right the first time, but generally you can just keep saying "that doesn't work" and providing it any error messages, and it will keep apologizing and making changes until you get something usable. Seems like it usually takes three or four tries before it provides a usable example for me. Then you have to actually fix it for your real environment. Because of course, nobody is providing actual production data to ChatGPT... I hope.3.8KViews0likes3CommentsRe: Moving Away from MS Access
I would not call that a "massive" sql query, but the fact that ChatGPT can produce functional output is impressive. The problem is, it does not ALWAYS produce functional output. Sometimes it produces impossible code that can't run. And sometimes it produces code that works, but does not do what you expect. And it's up to you, the person implementing the solution, to verify it really does what you think it should. As a tool to speed up development and improve accuracy, ChatGPT is great. But blindly trusting its output in production is a bad idea, and telling people with limited understanding of the code to blindly trust whatever ChatGPT tells them is bad advice.4.8KViews0likes5CommentsRe: Moving Away from MS Access
ChatGPT has its uses as a tool for getting you started, but relying on it to produce accurate results is dangerous. It frequently returns queries which mix syntax from multiple versions or even multiple platforms. If you are not able to read the output code and verify that it looks reasonable, don't put it in production.4.9KViews3likes7CommentsRe: Moving Away from MS Access
Being told to do something by someone who does not understand the consequences can be very frustrating. The most dreaded words from leadership... "Why can't we just..." Every time I hear this I know I'm in for pain. I think everyone here is really trying to accomplish the same thing, but in different environments and with different budgets for time and money. In an environment with decent budgets, relatively simple requirements and limited tech skills, outsourcing to cloud services is a no-brainer. In an environment with tight budgets and limited time for training, making use of existing resources and skills is a no-brainer. In an environment with extensive development resources and sufficient time, DIY is a no-brainer. The problem is no environment is ever consistently one of these things. Priorities shift, revenue streams change, new leaders need to pee on all the trees to mark their spot, and so forth.6.7KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Moving Away from MS Access
I've just finished reading this thread and it's triggering some PTSD from my previous encounters with similar nonsense. 1) People trying to get their jobs done come up with tools to make it easier. 2) Leadership identifies a problem which is caused by people doing dumb things, and expects a technology solution to this problem. 3) Leadership finds something via a google search or some salesman at a conference who tells them that a magical product will solve every problem. 4) The project either A) dies on the vine because nobody actually even knows what they need or B) is implemented at enormous cost and ends with a disastrous mess that creates far more problems than the original solution because the people entrusted to implement it don't listen to the people actually doing the work. Moving "away from" a product requires moving towards another product. You can't just slowly back away from MS Access and expect some other solution to hop into your arms like a lonely kitten. It's nice to know I'm not alone out there. Sorry you had to deal with this nonsense.7.4KViews0likes0CommentsRe: How to manage recurring tasks in Planner?
That's because we are not the real customers. The real customers are Microsoft's shareholders, and every business decision is based entirely on how it affects stock prices. If they can bump the share price a bit by disappointing customers, they will do so. The only time customer concerns become a priority is when they get enough attention to affect stock prices. THEN it will be prioritized, not one second sooner.10KViews0likes2CommentsRe: How to manage recurring tasks in Planner?
rameshsingh It can be done with Power Automate, but it's clunky to set up, and has a crippling limitation for long-term tasks. The task must occur more often than once every 90 days or so or else it will automatically be stopped. This makes it useless for things like annual renewal reminders, for example. This can be worked around by using more complex date evaluation logic, but that defeats the entire purpose, because it must be done for each task. And of course, Microsoft could decide to discontinue the product at any time, so there's that.11KViews0likes0Comments
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