Web Database Templates in Sharepoint 2010

There are many site templates included in SharePoint 2010. In this article we explore the web database templates included in SharePoint 2010. The 5 web database templates are:

1. Assets Web Database
2. Charitable Contributions Web Database
3. Contacts Web Database
4. Issues Web Database
5. Projects Web Database

What is a Web Database Template?

A Web Database Template provides Site Templates for browser-based interaction to a Microsoft Access application. Thus web database templates provide centralized access for the database file, flexibility in working with Access applications without having Microsoft Access installed in the client computer etc.

SharePoint 2010 has some pre-built Web Database Templates ready for use. These templates provide solutions to the respective area as their name indicates.

Under the hood SharePoint has Access Service Application running to support the web database templates. You can configure the service applications & services through Central Administration.

Advantages of Web Database

The following are the advantages of using Web Database:

• Supports uploading of Access Application into SharePoint
• Access Application can be accessed through a Browser
• Centralized database storage for Access Application
• Flexibility in downloading the application file and working offline

Note: There are thousands of users having created their own Microsoft Access solution involving Tables, Forms and Reports. The Access Service application allows them to Publish these solutions to the SharePoint site.

Pre-Requisites for Web Database

Since the web databases use Access Service Application and Access Services, the following are the pre-requisites:

1. Access Service Application has to be created and started in Central Administration
   
   
    
2. Access Database Service has to be started in Central Administration
   
   
   

Is Microsoft Access needed in Client Machine?

Microsoft Access is not needed to work with Web Database site templates. But having Microsoft Access enables more flexibility in working as it allows opening a server database file in the client side.

Using Microsoft Access with Web Database

You can use the Open in Access action to edit the web database file.



Assets Web Database

The Assets Web Database provides a site template for managing Assets in an organization. It provides Assets management through creating Current Assets, Retired Assets and Reports. The Owner of the Asset can be managed through the User's interface.

We can create a new Assets Web Database template using Site Actions > New Site > Assets Web Database Template.



The following is the initial site instance screen:



Charitable Contributions Web Database

The Charitable Contributions Web Database provides a site template for managing Charity Contributions activities. The site provides pages to manage Donors, Campaigns, Users, Upcoming events and Reports.

We can create a new Charitable Contributions Web Database template using Site Actions > New Site > Charitable Contributions Web Database Template.



The following is the initial site instance screen:



Contacts Web Database

The Contacts Web Database provides a site template for managing Contacts information. The template provides Contact Entry Forms to capture Name, Email, Address, Phone details and Reports.

We can create a new Contacts Web Database template using Site Actions > New Site > Contacts Web Database Template.



The following is the initial site instance screen:



Issues Web Database

The Issues Web Database provides a site template for managing Issues and Problems. The template provides Issue Creation forms, Prioritizations and other screens to track the progress of fixing issues.

We can create a new Issues Web Database template using Site Actions > New Site > Issues Web Database Template.



The following is the initial site instance screen:



Projects Web Database

The Projects Web Database provides a site template for managing Projects. The template provides screens to manage Projects, Tasks, Customer, Assign Tasks and generate reports.

We can create new Projects Web Database template using Site Actions > New Site > Projects Web Database Template.



The following is the initial site instance screen:



Site Settings & Site Permissions

As the web database template instances are still sites, we can use the Site Settings and Site Permissions options on them.

To access the Site Settings, choose the Options menu item from the title area.



To access the Site Permissions, choose the Options menu item from the title area.



References

http://tinyurl.com/sp2010-accser

Summary

In this article we had an overview of the 5 web database templates in SharePoint 2010. You can use the associated video to get more detailed information on them. Although not widely used, the knowledge of these templates should be helpful in creating rapid solutions or reusing existing solutions around Microsoft Access.