# Question for the technical ones \[converting access app into browser based standalone app\]
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-technical-ones-converting-access-app-into-browser-based-standalone-app/732373
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 24, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-technical-ones-converting-access-app-into-browser-based-standalone-app/732373 "2015-09-24T03:42:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-technical-ones-converting-access-app-into-browser-based-standalone-app/732373/1 "2015-09-24T03:42:13Z")
I have inherited a legacy Access app. I want to modernize the app and turn it into a standalone, browser based desktop application that hits the local Access database in the background. No Web work at all for this one. I know my way around Access very well and I know enough Java, etc. to be dangerous.
I would love a gui driven tool that will enable me to design windows, read/write to the database, write code in the background, etc., kinda like we do in Access, except it produces html/javascript code for browsers.
Any suggestions? Has anyone done something like this before, and if so, what tools did you use? Thanks in advance!
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-technical-ones-converting-access-app-into-browser-based-standalone-app/732373/2 "2015-09-24T06:38:25Z")
As Dr. Smith would say, “Oh! The pain!”
Some starter questions…
Are you running Sharepoint or Office365 on an internal system, or are you trying to make this available to the public?
If to the public, will you support access on Android and Apple devices?
If you’re only concerned with an internal network, but not running Sharepoint, is the server environment LAMP or WIMP?
Have you considered moving the data to MySQL? You could still use Access as a frontend, but there are tools that allow browser-based access to MySQL tables. Some are even free, such as
VFront. (just an example - no idea if it’s any good)
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-technical-ones-converting-access-app-into-browser-based-standalone-app/732373/3 "2015-09-24T06:42:13Z")
There’s [Zoho Creator](https://www.zoho.com), which announces itself as ‘like Microsoft Access on the web’ - it looks like it might be a bit spendy though, and may not have a self-hosting option.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2015, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-technical-ones-converting-access-app-into-browser-based-standalone-app/732373/4 "2015-09-24T09:17:50Z")
**Moderator Note**
Thread title edited to more clearly indicate the topic.
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### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-the-technical-ones-converting-access-app-into-browser-based-standalone-app/732373/5 "2015-09-25T23:15:32Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#):
>
> As Dr. Smith would say, “Oh! The pain!”
>
> Some starter questions…
> Are you running Sharepoint or Office365 on an internal system, or are you trying to make this available to the public?
> If to the public, will you support access on Android and Apple devices?
> If you’re only concerned with an internal network, but not running Sharepoint, is the server environment LAMP or WIMP?
>
> Have you considered moving the data to MySQL? You could still use Access as a frontend, but there are tools that allow browser-based access to MySQL tables. Some are even free, such as
> VFront. (just an example - no idea if it’s any good)
This will be available to the public, but it is not an Sharepoint/Enterprise solution. It’s not intended to be used by more than 2-3 people at a time.
The game plan is to do an immediate upgrade, then later on down the road, possibly port it into MySQL or something similar.