Excel vs Access
- Thread starter tmyers
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But in the Watercooler, it is OK to vent as long as it is not targeting a member. If you want to target a frustrating situation, the WC is replete with examples of same. Other than advertising issues and PERSONAL vendettas, the WC is wide open. Jon, our owner, believes in free speech within the limits of decorum.
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I just bought a small chain saw in November. I'm getting pretty good with it. Are you telling me I can't do Heart Surgery with it? DARN.
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Either 14" or 16", relatively low HP.
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You never know what kind of whimsy an off-the-wall comment will trigger.
TJ01
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I'm coming in pretty late but was just reading this thread with interest and great amusement. I don't know much about chain saw surgery but have spent quite a few years (>30) developing spreadsheet models and Access databases and also training people to do both. I am now concentrating on training and have one young lad who wants to "learn coding". So I started off showing him spreadsheets, formulas and macros (in Google sheets but they are close enough to Excel).
Again, I'm late to the party but if anyone is still trying to sell Access over Excel, here are a couple of things that I would try, and I know this may not be enough to get around the politics but here goes:
First example:
1. In Excel, build a simple spreadsheet with a Shopping List that has 4 columns: Item Name | Unit price | Quantity | Line total (=Unit Price * Quantity).
2. In Access, build a simple table (ShoppingList) with the first 3 columns as fields: ItemName (Short Text) | UnitPrice (Currency) | Quantity (Number/Single). And build a query that includes those 3 columns plus a calculated field: LineTotal: UnitPrice * Quantity
3. In Excel, show how easy it is to enter text in a numeric column.
4. In Access, show how difficult (impossible) to enter text in a numeric field, hence demoing built-in data integrity in Access.
Next example:
5. In Excel, add another table (Price List) with item IDs, item names and unit prices. Then go back to your Shopping List, insert an Item ID column and change the Item Name and Unit Price to be VLookups to the Price List and explain how VLookup works. This is a very complex concept to teach someone who hasn't seen it before.
Now the killer blow:
6. Back in Access, add the PriceList table, with ItemID (Number/Long Int), ItemName (Short Text) | UnitPrice (Currency). And change the ShoppingList table to have just the ItemID and Quantity fields. Then create a query with a join between ShoppingList and PriceList on ItemID. Add the ItemName and UnitPrice fields from the PriceList table and again add the calculated LineTotal field.
You should have the 2 sets of spreadsheets and databases created before you do your demo to save time and avoid confusion but create the last query in front of them so they can see how easy it is to create the join and to get Access to do the lookup, which is so much harder to do in Excel.
In my training I recently showed and explained the VLookup vs Query Join example. It took > 2 hours to get them to really understand the VLookup and about 5 minutes to get the Join.
Again, I'm late to the party but if anyone is still trying to sell Access over Excel, here are a couple of things that I would try, and I know this may not be enough to get around the politics but here goes:
First example:
1. In Excel, build a simple spreadsheet with a Shopping List that has 4 columns: Item Name | Unit price | Quantity | Line total (=Unit Price * Quantity).
2. In Access, build a simple table (ShoppingList) with the first 3 columns as fields: ItemName (Short Text) | UnitPrice (Currency) | Quantity (Number/Single). And build a query that includes those 3 columns plus a calculated field: LineTotal: UnitPrice * Quantity
3. In Excel, show how easy it is to enter text in a numeric column.
4. In Access, show how difficult (impossible) to enter text in a numeric field, hence demoing built-in data integrity in Access.
Next example:
5. In Excel, add another table (Price List) with item IDs, item names and unit prices. Then go back to your Shopping List, insert an Item ID column and change the Item Name and Unit Price to be VLookups to the Price List and explain how VLookup works. This is a very complex concept to teach someone who hasn't seen it before.
Now the killer blow:
6. Back in Access, add the PriceList table, with ItemID (Number/Long Int), ItemName (Short Text) | UnitPrice (Currency). And change the ShoppingList table to have just the ItemID and Quantity fields. Then create a query with a join between ShoppingList and PriceList on ItemID. Add the ItemName and UnitPrice fields from the PriceList table and again add the calculated LineTotal field.
You should have the 2 sets of spreadsheets and databases created before you do your demo to save time and avoid confusion but create the last query in front of them so they can see how easy it is to create the join and to get Access to do the lookup, which is so much harder to do in Excel.
In my training I recently showed and explained the VLookup vs Query Join example. It took > 2 hours to get them to really understand the VLookup and about 5 minutes to get the Join.
well said! That's why a lot of people are more comfortable with excel. And actually, Access is not that popular tool in office.
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