Access 101: A Quick Start Guide to Microsoft Access

Mike Wolfe -

Does the world really need another Microsoft Access tutorial?  Frankly, no.

There are many great resources already, among them:

So if the world doesn't need another Access tutorial, why am I writing this series?

Because I need a Microsoft Access tutorial for my interns and future employees.

How This Series is Different

To transmogrify the first line of the Rifleman's Creed of the U.S. Marine Corps:

These are my Access best practices.  There are many like them, but these are mine.

This will be a very opinionated series.  To reduce confusion for my beginners, there won't be much, "Well, you could do it this way OR you could do it that way." It will simply be, "This is THE way" (even if other common approaches may exist in the wider world).  

Caveat lector.

Hey, I Don't Read this Blog for Beginner Topics!

When I started this blog, I did it in large part because I felt there was a void in advanced Access and VBA topics on-line, especially since the heyday of Access and VB6 in the late 90's and early 00's.  Worry not! I fully intend for nolongerset.com to remain the premiere site for advanced Access and VBA content.

Here are a few points to reassure you advanced readers out there:

  1. While the content of each of these articles will be aimed at beginners, I will also be including a Further Reading section with links to more advanced topics related to each article.
  2. I won't suddenly start writing nothing but beginner-level articles; I would get bored with that myself.  Instead, expect to see these articles sprinkled in among the usual advanced topics.
  3. As with my existing beginner articles, I will be covering topics that come up regularly on Access forums.  Rather than typing up similar answers repeatedly, you'll be able to just drop a link to one of these articles.
  4. You'll no doubt disagree with some of my "best" practices and can let me know about it in the comments section or on social media.

Curriculum

These topics are arranged by category and broken down by skill level.  If you are brand new to Access, I recommend reading the articles in skill level order.  In other words, read all the form/report/control/VBA articles in the Intro skill level, then all the articles in the Basic skill level, etc.

This is a living list.  New topics may be added at any time.  Check back often as links to articles will be added as they are written.

Tables

Intro

Beginner

  • "Splitting" an Access Database
  • Linking to SQL Server Tables
  • DSN-less Connections

Queries

Intro

Beginner

  • INNER JOIN
  • LEFT JOIN

Intermediate

  • Pass-Through Query
  • (NOT) IN Clause
  • (NOT) EXISTS Clause

Advanced

  • Non-Equality Joins

Forms

Intro

Beginner

  • Unbound "Get Data" Forms

Intermediate

  • Report Preview Form
  • Form Events

Advanced

  • Master Lookup Form
  • Tabbed Detail Form

Reports

Intro

  • What is an Access Report?
  • Report Sections
  • Grouping and Sorting

Beginner

  • Report Margins

Intermediate

  • Report Events

Controls

Intro

  • What is an Access Control?
  • Label Control
  • TextBox Control
  • ComboBox Control
  • ListBox Control
  • Command Button Control
  • CheckBox Control
  • Option Group Control
  • Option Button Control
  • Tab Control
  • Toggle Button Control
  • Subform/Subreport Control

Macros

Intro

  • What is an Access Macro?
  • Never Use Macros

Beginner

  • The AutoExec Macro

Intermediate

  • The AutoKeys Macro

Code (VBA)

Intro

  • What is Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)?
  • Functions and Subs
  • Variables
  • Constants

Beginner

  • Option Explicit
  • If ... Then
  • For Loops
  • Do Loops
  • Select ... Case
  • With ... End With

Intermediate

  • Error Handling
  • Event Handlers

Advanced

  • Class Modules
  • WithEvents
  • API Calls

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