So... the Topic pretty much sums it up. I have to convert a bunch (maybe 20 or so) MS Access forms into Web pages using PHP and SQL Express 2005.

I have the SQL Express server set up, the database from Access ported over, the webserver up and running (with PHP), and now it is time to code the pages.

I'm wondering if there is an easy way to somehow convert the access form into a webpage without having to spend hours on each one. I made one page already, I just need to code the PHP behind it.

I'm cool with just digging in and coding, but I don't want to do all that work only to find I could have done it like 10 times faster and easier.

Anybody have any recommendations?

fudge. Our company does not use ASP.

That particular app is $99. I usually avoid those "free" sites because nothing [useful] on them is ever free.

I never expected that it was free. It might have been worth the time saved, however.

Yeah, I just figured I would throw it out there... Personally, I'm skeptical about trusting any software to reliably convert... Theoretically there could be small logic errors everywhere and you'd have to take just as much time or perhaps more figuring out where the bugs are... If Microsoft offered a feature/product/extension to export it to DHTML/PHP/MSSQL then I would go for that, but there aren't too many other companies I would trust with that kind of conversion...

You might try OpenOffice, but I doubt it...

I assume you have gone through the steps on php.net to install php in IIS?

One way could be to make VB script in Access to loop through all the controls in the form, output valid HTML with all the needed attributes (names, ID, etc).
Of course, that will give you a crappy page with no layout what so ever, but now you can load it into dreamweaver/frontpage and rearrange to a similar layout as the form was from the beginning.

Just my two cents

[edit]
Actually, Acess 2002 (SP1) at least can export a form to HTML ... Of course, it adds a shitload of unnecessary crap in the tags. Maybe you can get rid of that with the template it asks for and I just skipped

Hmm, that might have been the case for me as well. I didn't really think about it since I had no data associated with the test form so it just made one of each HTML element.

looks more carefully at the output

Ok, so it actually doesn't make a HTML form, just tries to dump the database content

Perhaps the VB script option isn't that bad

Have you tried exporting to Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP)? IF it works it would only require re-writing the server-side code for PHP... My simple example didn't really seem to work, but since I don't have IIS/ASP installed I can't actually see the result...

if you're using sql server and have IIS (assume so given you'll be using XP Professional/Server) then you're half way there to using .net anyway

All the tools are at your disposal with visual studio/web developer to get the forms up and running in no time. Even if you can't import and convert the forms, .net/studio/web developer will allow you to point and click your way around your form to data bind everything which will be far faster and simpler than the php route.