Microsoft Access Programmer San Antonio, Texas

Microsoft Access Compression And Indexing

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The material below originally appeared in Alison Balter's book Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2007 Development and is reprinted here with the author's permission. There may be references to "Figures" or "Chapters" that are not reprintable and are not used on this page.

Indexed: Speeding Up Searches

You use indexes to improve performance when the user searches a field. Although it's generally best to include too many indexes rather than too few, indexes do have downsides (see the next Tip). A general rule is to provide indexes for all fields regularly used in searching and sorting, and as criteria for queries.

Set the Indexed property of the CompanyName, ContactName, and State fields to Yes. Duplicates are OK. Click the Indexes button in the Show/Hide group on the Design tab of the ribbon. Your screen should look like the one in Figure 2.15.

To create non-primary-key, multifield indexes, you must use the Indexes window. You create an index with one name and more than one field. See Figure 2.15, which shows an index called StateByCredit that's based on the combination of the CreditLimit and State fields. Notice that only the first field in the index has an index name. The second field, State, appears on the line below the first field but doesn't have an index name.

FIGURE 2.15 The Indexes window shows you all the indexes defined for a table.

Indexes speed up searching, sorting, and grouping data. The downside is that they take up hard disk space and slow down the process of editing, adding, and deleting data. Although the benefits of indexing outweigh the detriments in most cases, you should not index every field in each table. Create indexes only for fields, or combinations of fields, on which the user will search or sort. Do not create indexes for fields that contain highly repetitive data, such as a field that can contain only two different values. Finally, never index Yes/No fields. They are only 1 bit in storage size; furthermore, they apply to the previous rule in that they can take on only one of two values. For these reasons, indexes offer no benefits with Yes/No fields.

TIP: Indexes are equally important on a database server. When you are upsizing an Access database to a non-Microsoft server, no indexes are created. You must re-create all indexes on the back-end database server. If your database server is running Microsoft SQL Server, you can use the Access Upsizing Wizard for Access 2007 to upsize your Access database. This tool creates indexes for server tables in the place where the indexes exist in your Access tables.

Unicode Compression: Compressing Your Data

Another important property is Unicode Compression. The Unicode Compression property applies to Text and Memo fields only. You use this property to designate whether you want the data in the field to be compressed using Unicode compression. Prior to Access 2000, data was stored in the double-byte character set (DBCS) format, which was designed to store character data for certain languages such as Chinese. With Access 2000 and higher, all character data is stored in the Unicode 2-byte representation format. Although this format requires more space for each character (2 bytes, rather than 1 byte), the Unicode Compression property allows the data to be compressed, if possible. If the character set being used allows compression and the Unicode Compression property is set to Yes, the data in the column is stored in a compressed format.

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Author Attribution

The preceding material originally appeared in Alison Balter's book Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2007 Development and is reprinted here with the author's permission.

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Expert Microsoft Access Programmer In San Antonio, TX

When your San Antonio business needs help with Microsoft Access, you need a true expert. You want someone who understands the platform inside and out. That's exactly what we do. At MS Access Solutions, we've been building, fixing, and optimizing Access databases for more than 25 years. This isn't side work. It's core to what we do every day.

We work with companies in all kinds of industries: healthcare, government, the military, education, agriculture, insurance, staffing, and others. Our projects range from complex SQL Server back-end integrations to smaller fixes that just need to get done without hassle. If your Access database is slow, broken, or barely holding together, we'll take a look and make it work right. If you've outgrown Excel or need to migrate critical business data into something more stable and scalable, we build from scratch too.

Some businesses call because their forms are damaged and won't open. Others have macros that stopped working or reports that won't pull the right data anymore. Or maybe someone tried to DIY some VBA code and now nothing works. We clean up those situations and get your system back to running the way it should.

If you're using Access with a SQL Server backend and the performance is rough, or the relationships aren't wired up correctly, we fix that too. We write efficient queries. We fix broken logic. And we don't leave behind bloated, overly complicated setups.

Bottom line: We make Access work the way it's supposed to; stable, fast, and aligned with how your business operates.

We're based in the U.S. and serve clients throughout the U.S. including San Antonio. Whether you need a one-time repair or ongoing development support, we're available to help. Call MS Access Solutions at (323) 285-0939. Ask your questions. Tell us what's broken. We'll let you know what it'll take to fix it (or replace it) and what kind of options you have moving forward.

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Find out more about our programming servicees on the Microsoft Access Programmer Seattle, Washington web page.

Why Microsoft Access With SQL Server Hybrid Solutions Are Ideal For Business Applications

At MS Access Solutions, we've implemented hundreds of hybrid database systems that combine Microsoft Access front-ends with SQL Server back-ends. This approach continues to deliver exceptional value in 2025 despite newer technologies entering the market. Our clients consistently achieve better results with these hybrid solutions than with either platform alone or with more expensive alternatives.

The Power of Combining Access and SQL Server

We build hybrid solutions because they leverage the unique strengths of both platforms. Microsoft Access provides unmatched rapid development capabilities for user interfaces, forms, and reports. SQL Server delivers enterprise-grade data storage with superior security, reliability, and performance. When we combine them, your business gets the best of both worlds without compromising on either side.

Our development team typically creates a complete Access application in about half the time required for equivalent solutions using other development platforms. This translates directly to lower costs for your company while still delivering a robust solution that connects to a SQL Server backend capable of handling millions of records.

Business Scenarios Where Hybrid Solutions Excel

We've found these hybrid solutions particularly valuable in specific business contexts:

• Growing mid-sized businesses: When your company has outgrown simple Access databases but can't justify the expense of custom enterprise solutions.
• Multi-location operations: When your business needs consistent data access across multiple sites with centralized data management.
• Regulatory compliance environments: When your industry requires strict data security and audit trails that SQL Server provides while maintaining user-friendly interfaces.
• Legacy system modernization: When your existing Access applications need enhanced performance and security without rebuilding from scratch.

As an example, we helped a manufacturing client with operations in three states transition from their aging standalone Access database to a hybrid solution. Their order processing time decreased by 64% while data security improved dramatically. The familiar interface meant their staff required minimal retraining.

Implementation Best Practices

Our approach to hybrid development follows specific best practices refined over years of implementation:

• Split architecture design: We separate the interface (Access front-end) from data storage (SQL Server) using a well-defined connection layer that optimizes performance.
• Connection pooling: We implement proper connection management to prevent performance bottlenecks when multiple users access the system simultaneously.
• Stored procedure utilization: We move complex data operations to SQL Server stored procedures rather than running them through Access queries, reducing network traffic and improving response times.
• Proper indexing strategy: We design SQL Server indexes that align with Access query patterns to maximize performance for your specific business processes.

Overcoming Common Hybrid Development Challenges

I've personally seen many businesses struggle with poorly implemented hybrid solutions. The most common issues involve improper data type mapping between platforms and inefficient query design. Our programmers specialize in avoiding these pitfalls through careful planning and testing.

When clients come to us with existing hybrid solutions that perform poorly, we typically find the same issues: excessive network traffic from inefficient queries, missing indexes on frequently accessed fields, and connection management problems. Our optimization process addresses these specific issues rather than suggesting expensive rewrites.

Real-World Performance Benefits

The performance advantages of properly implemented hybrid solutions are substantial:

• Scalability improvements: Systems that previously slowed to a crawl with 10 concurrent users now comfortably handle 50+ users with responsive performance.
• Data volume handling: Databases that struggled with 100,000 records now efficiently manage millions while maintaining quick response times.
• Backup and recovery: Your critical business data gains enterprise-level protection through SQL Server's robust backup capabilities without sacrificing the familiar Access interface.

When we migrate clients from pure Access solutions to hybrid architectures, they typically see query performance improvements of 30-70% for complex operations. More importantly, these performance gains increase rather than decrease as your data volume grows over time.

At MS Access Solutions, we continue to recommend hybrid Access/SQL Server solutions for businesses that need practical, cost-effective database applications. The combination provides an ideal balance between development speed, user acceptance, and enterprise capability. Your business gets a solution that works today and scales for tomorrow without breaking your budget or forcing your staff to learn entirely new systems.