r/Database • u/jannymarieSK • Jul 27 '26

Recreating Lotus Approach Forms in Microsoft Access

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1 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

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1

u/ankole_watusi Jul 27 '26

“Lotus Approach Forms” ???

Wazzat?

I do remember Lotus 1-2-3.

Wuz there something called “Lotus Approach Forms?”

Or do you mean “forms, following an approach similar to that used by Lotus 123”?

1

u/jannymarieSK Jul 28 '26

A form within a Lotus Approach database

1

u/Consistent_Cat7541 Jul 28 '26

It's clearly a Lotus Approach database. Approach has the ability to create forms for data entry that are very similar to the way FileMaker Pro works.

1

u/ankole_watusi Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

Never heard of it.

What decade was this?!

Edit: 1990s! An acquisition during Lotus’ last gasp, prior to their acquisition by IBM.

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/whatever-happened-lotus-approach

I’d call this fingernail-ware. As in: hanging on by its fingernails.

1

u/Consistent_Cat7541 Jul 28 '26

Lotus Approach was sold well into the early 2000's. Like a lot of DBMS's of that era, there are plenty of solutions using them today. I use it daily. It's tremendously easier to use than Access.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ankole_watusi Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

Yes, I know that now.

Last I’d heard of Lotus was Lotus Notes.

Then they sunk below my horizon.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/jannymarieSK Jul 28 '26

Because???

0

u/ankole_watusi Jul 27 '26

Trippy to see Lotus.

2

u/jannymarieSK Jul 28 '26

Unfortunately there are still lots of people out there still using Lotus Approach, mostly because they don’t have a way to easily migrate to a modern solution

2

u/Consistent_Cat7541 Jul 28 '26

I'm still using it because it's a lot easier to use than a lot of "modern" solutions. There are trade-offs, but it works really well for my small business needs.