ms access mdb on linux

Anon

hi!

i was wondering if there is a way to connect to a ms access database residing on a linux box (no windows box involved) using php 4.0
I checked out odbc drivers but could not find any solution without a windows box. but maybe i missed something.
thx
tom

Anon

I want to do the same thing. Did you find a solution by chance?

thank you,
Andrea

Anon

no solution yet!!!

tom

Anon

I'm guessing you'd have to deconstruct the Access mdb file format first to know how to get at the table structures & data. Perhaps no one has done that yet? Like you, I've only seen references to hitting the Access db via ODBC.

Anon

I've documented the mdb file format along with some tools for converting to other databases. Check out http://mdbtools.sourceforge.net

The eventual plan is to have an ODBC driver.

Cheers,

Brian

Anon

Cool idea, I'll check it out

stevemanser

Rather than trying to read an Access MDB from a PHP page on Linux, you could try this suggestion instead.

Why use Access MDBs?

The reason most people want to use Access MDBs (instead of MySQL) is because it is a good, small, portable ISAM (indexed) database - which is fast. It is also is easy to download via FTP - make changes - and then upload back to the server. I love to work in Access using MDB files because it is easy to manipulate data, rather than using phpMyAdmin - which is a bore.

How can leverage Access in my PHP/Linux?

So I tend to create the database in MySQL, then install the MySQL ODBC data connector on my PC (MyODBC), and then use Access - YES, MS Access - to "Link Tables" and manipulate all the data. All you need is the MyODBC product - (http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/odbc/3.51.html)

This allows you to: backup the database, copy tables, edit the records, design queries etc etc, but your PHP pages still connect to the MySQL database for their data.

Steve