I want to develop a customized sales order and inventory soft for a 5 user environment. I know VB but I am more comfortable with MS-Access. But user login, policy based restriction, good looking UI is a bit difficult with Access (imo, I might be wrong... maybe). Can anyone suggest good rad tools that can help me in building software very fast. Kind of drag and drop interface and basic coding is done by itself.
A reasonably priced or free alternative will have priority.
Look at the Visual Studio Express products: http://www.microsoft.com/express/
Free of cost and with no licensing restrictions whatsoever in terms of what you use them for: FAQ Item 7
Have you looked at the UI of Access 2007? It's certainly up-to-date with MS's current UI designs. And the A2007 runtime is free. Couple that with SQL Server Express and you'd have a free, distributable application platform that allows you to resolve all the issues you raise, so far as I can tell. The one thing I'm not certain about is exacly what you mean by "policy based restriction" -- I assume you're speaking of Windows Group Policies, but I'm not certain why that would cause issues with an Access app.
thanks for reply. i have developed application in access 2003 and are fairly complex and i am happy with its working with approx 5000 to 30000 records. i want user based application logging with restriction to add, modify and delete and want ui to be best with complete keyboard driven.
i am a lonely developer so it will take lot of time for me to use vb.net. i use access for fast drag and drop ui desing and then code using vba. i want feature such as auto screen center, auto resolution switcher, very good looking ui and power of vb.
if someone can suggest whether to stick with access or switch to vb with good rad tools. or some good ebook that can improve knowledge for fast application develoment