MySQL and ODBC - The MS Access GUI (
Page 3 of 6 )
Synchronizing the
MySQL database to an Access GUI may seem like a rather difficult feat; On the
contrary, however, it is actually a fairly simple procedure, carried out in just
a few steps. The first steps is simply to fire up MS Access. Upon doing so, the
user will be greeted with a screen very similar to the one shown in Figure
1-3.
Figure 1-3: Initial MS Access Window

Choose the radio button at the top of the window,
labeled Blank Access Database, and press OK. A new window will appear, prompting
for a location in which to save the new database. Name the new database
widgets.mdb, and navigate to the location in where the database should be saved.
Press "Create" to save the database.
The widgets database will be saved,
and a new window will subsequently appear. This window will be very similar to
the one shown in Figure 1-4.
Figure 1-4: New database window

At this point, the MySQL database can be connected
to via ODBC, and its structure and contents updated to the widgets.mdb Access
database. Since this particular step is often the cause of confusion for those
users attempting their first connection between MS Access and MySQL (or any
other database), a separate section is devoted to it.