Access™ 2007 VBA Programmer's Reference

3.12. ADE and Creating Runtime Files

This may be the gift of the decade. The ADE, or Access 2007 Developer Extensions and the Access 2007 Runtime are free downloads. This is a huge bonus for developers because these tools were previously bundled in Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Office System, which has cost as much as $800. The Access 2007 Runtime will allow developers to deploy Access 2007 solutions on computers that do not have full installations of Access 2007. The Access 2007 Developer Extensions will include the Package Solution, Save as Template, and Source Code Control. Two features included in previous versions will not be provided with the 2007 ADE: the Property Scanner and the Customer Startup Wizard.

The Runtime and ADE can be invaluable tools for efficiently creating, deploying, and distributing solutions. Having them freely available will open the door to new opportunities for a multitude of developers and companies. Chapter 21 provides explanations and steps for using the ADE tools, so the following is only to pique your interest.

3.12.1. Runtimes

The ADE continues to include the Access redistributable runtime engine. Anyone with the license for the ADE is authorized to package and deploy Access runtime solutions. That means that the end user is not required to own or have Access on his computer. A distributable runtime solution includes and installs a runtime Access client and all supporting files, including the Access database engine, ACE. An additional benefit ...