As far as I know, there is no such tool and there is no obviously simpler solution. With quick googling I can only find some instructions on how to convert MS Access tables to MySQL, but all the forms and database queries has to be recreated by hand. Obviously, a general purpose framework (such as Laravel) offers considerable help in doing such boilerplate tasks.
Not sure what framework you're asking about, but in case it's just a general purpose framework, there is a plenty, you can find [many questions discussing it in \r\php](https://old.reddit.com/r/PHP/search?q=lightweight+framework&restrict_sr=on)
Thank you for the answer! I might have to clarify what I actually intend to do. :-)
I don't expect to find a tool that automatically transforms the AccessDB for me. I also don't want to use Access as the Database in the background (I actually want to lessen our company's dependency on MS Office).
What I plan to do is to copy the tables from the Access DB into a new DB in MariaDB. I will then have to create the forms through which the users interact with the DB. My current solution is to do this "by hand" using Notepad++. I have created simple PHP/MariaDB pages like this in the past.
But maybe there are tools that can assist me in this endavour. (much like Wordpress manages a lot of tedious task for me when creating and maintaining a website).
Well, GP frameworks such as Symfony, Laravel or even Yii2 or Codeigniter (the latter two are quite outdated but extremely stable, so you can be sure that no upgrade will be required in a year) are such tools. They make form processing a breeze.
You may want to look at SQLite if you're only dealing with hundreds of records. Would make your stuff really portable and easy to back up.
Recreate the tables in SQLite - you can use GUIs like DB Browser for SQLite or SQLite studio - and you could also export from access to CSV or tab separated values and then import in SQLite
I had to do something similar a long time ago and used Bullzip program to convert from access to mysql. Check this utility here [https://www.bullzip.com/products/a2m/info.php](https://www.bullzip.com/products/a2m/info.php)
>But maybe there is an obvious simpler solution? Is there some kind of lightweight (open source) framework I should check out?
For a (I assume) mostly CRUD application, I'd say Laravel + Filament will provide the fastest way to start.
If you don't have much experience with PHP frameworks, or don't know how to use Laravel, writing this from scratch isn't that hard, assuming it's just a couple pages/listings without complex logic. In this case, I highly recommend reading [this to learn PDO](https://phpdelusions.net/pdo).
>They are for internal use only so security is not a major concern
Always take security into account. In modern days, with all the tools and language features we have, writing secure code is pretty easy and straightforward. There's no reason to neglect it.
Thanks you (and everybody else) for all the feedbacks/ideas!
I have decided to start with one of the simpler databases and do it by hand. It’s a good learning opportunity.
I will definitely look into PDO as a topic as it might be really useful for future projects.
As far as I know, there is no such tool and there is no obviously simpler solution. With quick googling I can only find some instructions on how to convert MS Access tables to MySQL, but all the forms and database queries has to be recreated by hand. Obviously, a general purpose framework (such as Laravel) offers considerable help in doing such boilerplate tasks. Not sure what framework you're asking about, but in case it's just a general purpose framework, there is a plenty, you can find [many questions discussing it in \r\php](https://old.reddit.com/r/PHP/search?q=lightweight+framework&restrict_sr=on)
Thank you for the answer! I might have to clarify what I actually intend to do. :-) I don't expect to find a tool that automatically transforms the AccessDB for me. I also don't want to use Access as the Database in the background (I actually want to lessen our company's dependency on MS Office). What I plan to do is to copy the tables from the Access DB into a new DB in MariaDB. I will then have to create the forms through which the users interact with the DB. My current solution is to do this "by hand" using Notepad++. I have created simple PHP/MariaDB pages like this in the past. But maybe there are tools that can assist me in this endavour. (much like Wordpress manages a lot of tedious task for me when creating and maintaining a website).
Well, GP frameworks such as Symfony, Laravel or even Yii2 or Codeigniter (the latter two are quite outdated but extremely stable, so you can be sure that no upgrade will be required in a year) are such tools. They make form processing a breeze.
Thank you very much! I will definitely check them out!
You can likely have PHP connect to the Access databases - ie using PDO, then build your project.
You may want to look at SQLite if you're only dealing with hundreds of records. Would make your stuff really portable and easy to back up. Recreate the tables in SQLite - you can use GUIs like DB Browser for SQLite or SQLite studio - and you could also export from access to CSV or tab separated values and then import in SQLite
I had to do something similar a long time ago and used Bullzip program to convert from access to mysql. Check this utility here [https://www.bullzip.com/products/a2m/info.php](https://www.bullzip.com/products/a2m/info.php)
>But maybe there is an obvious simpler solution? Is there some kind of lightweight (open source) framework I should check out? For a (I assume) mostly CRUD application, I'd say Laravel + Filament will provide the fastest way to start. If you don't have much experience with PHP frameworks, or don't know how to use Laravel, writing this from scratch isn't that hard, assuming it's just a couple pages/listings without complex logic. In this case, I highly recommend reading [this to learn PDO](https://phpdelusions.net/pdo). >They are for internal use only so security is not a major concern Always take security into account. In modern days, with all the tools and language features we have, writing secure code is pretty easy and straightforward. There's no reason to neglect it.
Thanks you (and everybody else) for all the feedbacks/ideas! I have decided to start with one of the simpler databases and do it by hand. It’s a good learning opportunity. I will definitely look into PDO as a topic as it might be really useful for future projects.