Analyzing Access Data over the Web

Both Access 2000 and Access 2002 provide support for hosting Access data over the Web. Data access pages are Web pages that connect to and display data from an Access database. Users can then interact with and analyze the data over an intranet or the Internet. Because data access pages are Web pages, users need only a browser to work with them. Of course, if your users want to use the data analysis features of Access to work with data access pages, they must have Access installed on their computers.

Creating a data access page is very similar to creating a regular data entry form. In fact, the Page Wizard looks and behaves like the Form Wizard and Report Wizard. To create a data access page using the wizard, click Page on the Insert menu. Click Page Wizard, and then click OK. Select the table or query to use as the basis for the data access page, specify the fields you want to use, and specify any grouping levels, sort order, title, and theme.

Although the data access page looks similar to an Access data entry form, the data access page is actually stored outside the Access database or project. You save the data access page on either an intranet Web server or a Web server on the Internet where you have the appropriate access rights. A link to the data access page is stored in the Access database or project so that when you double-click the icon in the Database window’s Pages tab, Access knows where to find the data access page.

For more information about using data access pages, consult the books about Access listed earlier in the chapter.