Access Cookbook

Accelerate Client/Server Applications

Problem

You are using Access as a frontend to linked tables stored in a client/server database. You’re not satisfied with the response time of your client/server application. What can you do to make it run faster?

Solution

You can apply a variety of optimization techniques when developing client/server applications. If you are attaching remote tables in databases such as SQL Server or Oracle, you are accessing data through open database connectivity (ODBC) drivers. Typically, client/server applications using ODBC require more horsepower on the part of workstations and the network. By knowing how data is retrieved from the server, you can make your application run faster.

Another option is to create an Access Data Project (ADP). This is possible only if your data is stored in SQL Server. Instead of using ODBC, ADPs use a newer technology, OLE-DB, to connect to the data. However, although OLE-DB is newer, it isn’t necessarily faster than linking to tables using ODBC. Chapter 14 includes several solutions related to the use of Access project applications.

There is no sample database for this solution. Here are some suggestions to consider when optimizing your linked-table client/server application:

1. Your forms should retrieve as few records as possible when loading (fetching data is a significant bottleneck in client/server applications). Design your form to retrieve few or no records by using the technique demonstrated in Section 8.7.2