Bogert, Kenneth
 

A Program to Automatically Convert and Link an Access Database to MySQL

Abstract
Kenneth Bogert
April 2004
Advisor: Charles Massey

Background

Microsoft Access is a commonly used database application in many small businesses. Access suffers from many performance problems, however, as the amount of data in a database grows. As a result, many businesses are finding that they are trapped; they cannot afford to install Microsoft SQL Server and there is no easy way to migrate to a free database application, such as MySQL. Some free programs exist to perform this transfer, however, I have found that they do not transfer table schema correctly and do not update the queries, forms, and reports that exist in the Access database.
 

Description

My project will solve this problem. Oriented towards small businesses, my project guides a user through the process of downloading and installing MySQL database server and MyODBC connector. Then, it describes the steps needed to run a Visual Basic for Applications script I have created to: export the tables out of Access and into MySQL; create links to the new data source; and update any queries, forms, and reports in the database to reflect the changes made to the data source.
 

Conclusion

This system allows an end user to keep their existing Microsoft Access user interface and report generator system while increasing performance and gaining multi-user capabilities from using a MySQL back end. I learned a great deal about the underlying technology of Access while creating this project, as well as a better understanding of the large differences between database programs.