Moving from Access to XML-Based Web Front-Ends

One of the primary objectives of Access is to render data in an organized, easily readable format. Datasheets, subdatasheets, and lookup fields are quite effective for displaying and editing the raw relational data stored in Jet and SQL Server tables. Access queries, forms, reports, PivotTables, and PivotCharts transform your raw data into usable information. The downside of using Access 2003 front-end applications to display information and edit data is that data consumers must run Access 2003 on their machines. With the exception of front-ends that use VBA code to implement disconnected Recordsets, each user must maintain at least one permanent connection to the back-end database while running the front-end application. Permanent connections limit the number of simultaneous users to 255 in the case of Jet; SQL Server (and MSDE) connections aren’t limited, but each connection consumes server resources.