Question about Access, SQL and MySQL

[imported_nunya]

I know almost nothing about either SQL or MySQL and very little about Access (taking a class on it right now). I was wondering if an Access database can be converted to either SQL or MySQL and whether or not SQL and MySQL are compatible with each other.

 

[Crusty]

SQL is the language you use to query a database. There really is no "SQL" database, but you can use SQL to get information from many different DBMS.

 

[Zugzwang152]

SQL is a query language, it's used by many products as a standarized method of accessing daya in a database.

mySQL is an implementation that supports the SQL language.

Access is another implementation that supports the SQL language as well as the GUI for manipulation.

You should be able to export an Access database as a CSV at the very least, and then parse it into mySQL. There may be higher level options available, but I'm not sure.

 

[BFG10K]

ODBC should be able to link to just about any SQL based database.

 

[kamper]

By 'SQL' I would assume he's actually refering to 'SQL Server'. To answer that question, yes you probably can convert access to either of the others. Other than that, though, they're not really compatible. Simple queries should work across all but anything non-trivial will quickly get you into database specific versions of sql (the language).

 

[WildHorse]

SQL is the language, and a set of standards define several levels of it.

Various database products implement different levels of SQL.

MySQL is an open source (free for non-commercial use), very rapidly developing, database management system. There's a whole constellation of software companies that publish gui's and other things you can use with MySQL, in addition to the ones which MySQL itself offers. Some people ( the folks who don't know about TOAD for MySQL ) even use Access as a front end gui for MySQL.

Access is sort of like a "pain (t)-by-the-numbers thing with training wheels on it. And it marries you to Microsoft and it's not free like MySQL.

EG: Access would be used by a person working alone or in a small office workgroup, say 5 people or so. MySQL can do that too, but can also support huge databases and lots of users, say maybe an entire corporation with thousands of users. Something like Oracle would be even bigger-gun stuff.

There are lots of competing RDBMS systems. I don't recommend messing around with Access. MySQL is a good way to go.

 

[Zugzwang152]

Originally posted by: scott
SQL is the language, and a set of standards define several levels of it.

Various database products implement different levels of SQL.

MySQL is an open source (free for non-commercial use), very rapidly developing, database management system. There's a whole constellation of software companies that publish gui's and other things you can use with MySQL, in addition to the ones which MySQL itself offers. Some people ( the folks who don't know about TOAD for MySQL ) even use Access as a front end gui for MySQL.

Access is sort of like a "pain (t)-by-the-numbers thing with training wheels on it. And it marries you to Microsoft and it's not free like MySQL.

EG: Access would be used by a person working alone or in a small office workgroup, say 5 people or so. MySQL can do that too, but can also support huge databases and lots of users, say maybe an entire corporation with thousands of users. Something like Oracle would be even bigger-gun stuff.

There are lots of competing RDBMS systems. I don't recommend messing around with Access. MySQL is a good way to go.

wow i didn't know you have to pay for it for commercial use

 

[kamper]

Aren't the conditions of the gpl such that it is only forbidden to actually develop mysql itself and then redistribute? Given that apps which use mysql don't have to be gpl themselves, I thought that you only had to pay for support of mysql for use, or for the proprietary license if you want to hack the db itself without releasing source code.