Software to produce and Application
 

I need to write a very simple application for a family member, and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for what program to use.

A little background:

Application to run on a Windows 10 PC as a standalone application (not really wanting to run something else first)
Needs to store information in a database
Needs to print a single page report when required.

What do you use or recommend (want free or cheap if possible, as not likely to write too many applications lol)

MS Access sound like an ideal platform.


Alternatively, how about Excel macros?

A bit of a chicken and egg question - If you don't know where to start then you've got a whole lot of learning to do first. By which time you'd have enough idea to make a better question and ask at the right forum for software development. If all you want is a simple report based on some data, then Excel might be all you need. A more complex solution might require a proper database - and there's many different ones to choose from. And any programming language to write the application in - some will be better suited than others...



Do you know how to design a database? How much data are you considering working with? how many tables (at a guess) etc.. etc.. Where will the data come from, how will it get into the database? What prior experience (relevant to software engineering) do you have?... and more.


Throwing any solution suggestion out without more information than 'produce a report from some data' is really quite meaningless I'm afraid. You can develop in many programming languages/ data driven environments for many solutions. Choosing the optimal solution is the tricky bit, that requires a lot more information & research.



If you think that what you are attempting is simple requiring very little data manipulation then try a spreadsheet. - Although that wouldn't strictly meet your 'standalone application' requirement.

I do know where to start with the production of this application, but it was more of a 'what do people use themselves to write an application' sort of question.

As with most software development, I am not going to give information away that the client doesn't want in the public domain so to speak (even though that client is family).

But to give a little more...... the data will be entered by the client as needed, and reports printed based on the entered data. Oh, and it needs to be accessible by more that one PC at a time, so Excel isn't suitable.

Well, you can let us know how you get on and what tools and languages you settle on using then. I thought the OP was an honest request for some helpful suggestions... And your last sentence may be incorrect btw.

:getmecoat:

Excel may allow multiple people to access the data, but every time I have, one opens in read/write, and the rest in read only which is a pain.

I was after suggestions as to what software others used. I am in the process of writing the required application in WinDev. Can use multiple versions of SQL amongst other things, and allows rapid application building.

Good product, just bleeding expensive.

Twice the price of Visual Studio....:duh::duh: Of course both of these have free versions for non-commercial use...

The free version of Windev time limits the applications made (they stop working after a few weeks).

I have the Visual Studio community edition for playing with websites, but like Windev for producing applications as can also make them 'mobile' in a couple of clicks.

Over the years I must have spent more on software than I have on cars :eek: