SQL Server conversion

I’ve been having great success with converting some of my split (front-end/back-end) MS Access 2007 databases to an SQL Server back-end.

The upgrade wizard was only so helpful, I had to turn off all the extra options to get the many years of data into the SQL Server. It has become clear to me that over time the data has had various levels of ‘goodness’ and the integrity rules have been quite open to interpretation, or sometimes just automatically turned off when the situation demands it (compact database function).

What the conversion process has allowed me to do is revisit all the data constraints for all the tables and make sure they correspond to the new system’s requirements. I have had to replace quite a few null values, but the overall effect has been to really focus in on how the system has been used in the past. In spite of the way it was designed to be used.

I am also looking forward to having a much less invasive auditing mechanism through the use of triggers. The old method relied heavily on calling the right sub-routines at the interface level which is not the most ideal solution, but certainly provided a level of functionalty that worked.