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Q Access all areas

I’ve recently retired and now I’m learning about Linux and have installed Linux Mint on a spare laptop. I used to write MS Access database projects for the office where I used to work. I’d like to create some projects for myself and friends, and there was a feature that I used back then. Access allows you to store the data and tables on a server and distribute a front-end app of forms, queries and reports that users could use on their PC to access the database, basically a client-server app. I was wondering if you know of any Linux database apps that work in a similar manner. I didn’t see anything like that in LibreOffice Base and that’s the extent of my knowledge of database applications in Linux. Can you point me to a software source that has that feature or is there an extension in LibreOffice Base that can be added on that mimics that feature?

Lupe Flores

A Most database systems used on Linux are client-server arrangements and LibreOffice can be used as a client in this way. However, LibreOffice is only able to connect to an existing external database, it cannot create one. The most popular database engine on Linux is MySQL. This is the server but it also includes command-line programs for creating, querying and maintaining databases. However, you may want a graphical tool to create databases and a couple spring to mind. MySQL Workbench is part of the MySQL project and should be in your distro’s software repositories. Alternatively, the web-based phpMyAdmin ( www.phpmyadmin.net ) lets you work with MySQL databases in a web browser. You’ll need a web server installed, too (usually Apache) , but your distro’s package manager should take care of that if you install phpMyAdmin through it.

Whichever way you create the database, you can then access it through LibreOffice. When you create a new database project in LibreOffice, pick the option to Connect To An Existing Database. Select the database type from the drop-down, say MySQL, and press Next. Then you are asked to choose a connector – this is the software that provides the connection between LibreOffice and the database server. The three options are ODBC, which has a reputation for being problematic, JDBC, which uses Java and is the default, or Connect Directly. The last option uses the built-in connector code in LibreOffice and is a good choice.