[AccessD] Sign up for an Office 365 Developer Site

Darryl Collins darryl at whittleconsulting.com.au
Mon Jan 13 16:32:34 CST 2014


Hi Shamil,

Heh, as an old school database dude I was nervous about using sharepoint lists at first; 'Lists??  Ya kidding me!', and they do have their limitations.  But for her business and needs it has been painless and we have had no issues.   We do not use an 3rd party front end or interface - it is all browser based via views we have set up.  Views are just like SQL Server Views (or MS Access Queries) which present a subset of the whole data based on whatever criteria you choose).

For example, we have views for
Current Clients
Waiting List
By Therapist
Etc..

That are all driven from the 'Client' List.

The users have a choice of UI as well (Form, Speadsheet, List) which is a nice touch as they can choose the UI that works best for them or the device they are using.

Luckily for me her database needs are fairly simple and the lists can be clever and you can do many of the same design as you would in Excel or Access.  For example, restrict specific fields using dropdown combo-boxes based on other hidden lists in sharepoint, or only allowing certain users to have access to specific parts of the data etc.

So the data can be normalised and hold integrity if you set it up correctly.  I can imagine it could also be a big mess, but you get that will Access and Excel as well.  Sharepoint is much more like a database than a spreadsheet and I find it easy to setup the limits and rules for the data fields - clearly an understanding of data normalisation is going to help a lot here.

The form UIs are pretty much ready-made and you only need to do minor adjustments, if at all.  This 'minimal maintenance' is great (especially as I am the 'tech support' for her business in an unpaid capacity).  If a change is needed I can log in via any web browser, make the change, and it is applied immediately.  Much better than having to log onto a Remote Server somewhere and hack away.

I am lucky as I already a solid understanding of how to work with data in a structured way, and I had used sharepoint in the past in a previous role so it wasn't totally foreign to me either.  

Previously for their data they used many different lists (Mainly spreadsheet or MS Access based - but some were on paper!).   You know, the usual sort of thing.  A list for the 'waiting list' and list for this and list for that, so there was a lot of duplication and errors (this is all very typical of many organisations, large and small, and I am sure all of you have seen this sort of thing before).

Loading the data into Sharepoint was a breeze once I got it set it.  Initially put it all into Excel, Normalised it, made dummy tables in Access and then uploaded into individual Sharepoint lists.  Once is sharepoint it was just a matter of hooking the lists together logically (where applicable).

The advantage for her for using sharepoint is it is really simple to use and understand, at least compared to writing a database from scratch - Monica even gets in there now and creates her own views on the data.   A big selling point is they can access it via any web browser on any device, and although it does work best with IE - it does work on anything.  The business has x percent of the client visits offsite (mainly schools and home visits) and sharepoint / onenote etc allow the therapists to update the data onsite which is then immediately available to the rest of the team.

" In this case is there a limitation on the size of the data stored in one SharePoint list item?" - I believe it is 50 MB, we have never hit it, although it looks like there are some tweaks to increase that if you want
<< http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bgeoffro/archive/2008/03/19/list-attachments-over-50mb-need-more-than-an-increase-in-maximum-upload-size.aspx>>


It might not work for everyone, but it has worked really well for her.

Cheers
Darryl







-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Salakhetdinov Shamil
Sent: Monday, 13 January 2014 11:03 AM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Sign up for an Office 365 Developer Site

 Thank you Darryl. 

So, when you have to handle (structured) data then you use SharePoint Lists?
Do you use MS Access with SharePoint Lists?
Have you ever met SharePoint Lists limitations -  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff647105.aspx  - recommended max qty of items in a list to be 2000 (two thousands)?
Or SharePoint Lists usually keep unstructured data - whole data tables stored as CSV/text delimited files, XML, JSON...?
In this case is there a limitation on the size of the data stored in one SharePoint list item?

Please feel free to reply when you'll have time.

Thank you.

-- Shamil

Sunday, January 12, 2014 11:28 PM UTC from Darryl Collins <darryl at whittleconsulting.com.au>:
>Firstly, Office 365 comes in many flavours.
>
>The version we use has MS Office 2010 installed locally on everyone's PC, you can open up files using Office 365 on the web if you want, although there is far less functionality on the web version.  The main use of Office 365 is as a central document repository, Sharepoint (list based) Database and MS Exchange.
>
>It is not some much Office 365 itself, but more how you can seamlessly integrate everything together.  For example, Outlook with Onenote and then with Sharepoint, and then be able for any team member to access that information from any device, PC or Mobile.
>
>She runs a clinic for kids with special needs - has a lot of clients with kids with ADHD, Autism, social skill issues, that sort on thing. 
>
>In the past they all used take down notes on paper and file them in a big steel cabinet. 
>
>Now they put all their notes in Onenote, along with any other relevant docs, emails, notes from the school / parents etc on sharepoint and attach those docs to the client's record in the Sharepoint Client 'Database'.  Sharepoint can be set up as a simple database as well as document management.    These documents can be updated live and shared as well.
>
>You can also get sharepoint to set up processes - for example, you might need to follow up a client 2 months after a certain test - sharepoint will send an email to the consulting therapist, plus CC Monica to ensure it gets done.
>
>The upside is all this stuff is automatically backed up and if another therapist needs to see that client, they can instantly access all of the relevant records, even if they are offsite.  All of the data is updated live and can be edited on the fly.
>
>They use MS Exchange extensively, for email, tasks and calendars.   You can also set up 'resources' and 'rooms' in MS Exchange so a therapist can book a room and some piece of working kit and everyone else can see in the calendar that those resources are busy for that time space. 
>
>All of the therapist have different mobile devices (although they are mainly Apple or Samsung) and getting MS Exchange setup was painless and fast.  The girls all love it.
>
>In the past it was all a big mess - using a series of local databases, spreadsheets and paperlists with multiple copies on USB sticks etc.  Urrrrgh.
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From:  accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Salakhetdinov Shamil
>Sent: Monday, 13 January 2014 10:07 AM
>To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
>Subject: Re: [AccessD] Sign up for an Office 365 Developer Site
>
> Hi Darryl --
>
>Thank you for sharing your experience with SharePoint/Office 365.
>
>May I ask you to list briefly a few business use cases where your/your customers or your wife's businesses find Office 365 a "killer app"? FYI: I have ZERO experience with SharePoint/Office 365. 
>
>Thank you.
>
>-- Shamil
-- 
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