Where else might Access be useful but in MOSS 2007! Tired of your old views? bored with datasheets? Management requesting graphed reporting information from a list you wish you'd stored in SQL? "Access View" to the rescue! New in 2007 (along with Gant views - another favourite) you can produce any Access report - and better, link it directly to the list of views available from the SharePoint list.
1 - Create your view
Simply select "Access View" and it will launch Access 2007, with your list information already marked as a linked table. For this example I selected the "Pivot Table" option - surely the best demonstration of why you'd want an Access view. A quick bit of playing and I was done.
2 - Publish the result to SharePoint.
As simple as selecting the "Publish to SharePoint" option. Save the file in a document library (best make a hidden one for the purpose of access views). Make sure that when the dialog appears you say yes to adding this view to the drop down list of views available in the list.3 - Select your view
Woohoo! Look - there is my new view. Sadly it loads Access 2007, rather than say, displaying the pivot chart directly in a web page, but I guess it is still a big step.
4 - Enjoy the results
And here is my completed pivot chart - 10mins from start to finish, no development, no reporting services, and Management can play to their hearts content.
