Access Database Replacement

Question

Does anyone know of a drop-in replacement for an access database, ideally open source. A group I work with occasionally is looking for a replacement database where they'll need to change as little actual SQL as possible. Their app is VB6/COM.

Answer 1

SQL Server Express is the best option. It's free to use. It uses standard SQL, you'll need to change any of the queries that use MS Access functions.

Answer 2

You can look at OpenOffice Base.

I tried it out awhile back when it first came out and it seemed awfully slow and it didn't seem feature complete either.

But it is free and open source :o)

Answer 3

OpenOffice.org offers a free open source access database application called Base. Either that or I would also suggest SQL Server Express.

Answer 4

I think SQLite is always worth a mention for these type of scenarios.

Answer 5

Once again, the question is so poorly worded that there's no way to answer.

Is the word "Access" being used here to describe a situation where an MDB is used for data tables and that's all that needs to be replaced?

OR

Does the use of the word "Access" mean that there is a full-fledged Access application used as a front end to a database?

If it's the former, then it's not really an Access database, but a Jet database, and the answers offered so far are satisfactory.

If it's the latter, then none of the answers address the issue of front-end application-building tools. If that's the question, then you're out of luck, as there isn't anything even remotely comparable to Access in the open source world (and in my opinion, likely never will be).

But it would have been helpful to have asked a clearer question, by using terminology correctly:

• ACCESS is an application with which you can build a database application front end.
• JET is the database engine that is the default datastore for Access.

When you've got only data tables in your "Access" database, then it's just a Jet database (since you have not UI objects in your MDB), and you should refer to it as a Jet database. Using the word "Access" for a data-only MDB (even if you used Access to create it) will simply confuse things.

Answer 6

I most often see this to mean "a database that I can install by file-copying, and no software (services, drivers, etc.) needs to be installed".

What does an Access database lack that they want to replace it? The options will be bounded by the answer to this question.