Modding tools: Access vs. Excel

[Ed Kolis]

I know it might seem kind of strange to use MS Office applications to mod SE4, but they are really good at storing & manipulating data... The question is, should I use Access or Excel?

I'll list a few advantages of each:

Access:
-Stores data in named fields rather than arbitrary rows/columns
-Type checking and referential integrity ensure that all fields contain valid data
-Forms can be designed to input data more easily (without having to scroll all over the place)
-Many-to-many correspondence ideal for use with Abilities

Excel:
-Easier for calculating series of similar items (just Fill Down a formula)
-Can record macros that generate VBA code which can then be modified to do whatever you want
-I'm more familiar with VBA for Excel than for Access

Any thoughts? It would be cool to have a master database that you can edit with all the power of a database utility, but I just don't know enough about VBA to make the connections to import and export the data to the .txt files, which is the important part!