Mike Wolfe - No Longer Set (Page 15)

Access 101: Local vs. Linked Tables

In Access, tables can be local (stored in the front-end file) or linked (stored in a separate database). Let's explore when and why to use each type.

Business

Productized Services: Finding the Sweet Spot Between Products and Services

If you don't relish the thought of running sales meetings and writing proposals, productized services may be a good fit for you.

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: October 15, 2023

Highlights include a new TextHint property for text boxes, an easier way to apply license keys, and updates to the official twinBASIC wiki documentation.

Week in Review

Week in Review: October 14, 2023

Highlights include a video on the future of Access with cameos from the Microsoft Access engineering team, a Decision Tree database, and Shared VBA Libraries.

Basic

How Many Forms and Reports Should Go in the Back-End Database File?

Spoiler alert! The correct answer is zero.

Access 101

Access 101: Front-End vs. Back-End

"Front-end" and "back-end" are the terms we use to distinguish between the user interface and the data storage, respectively.

Access 101

Access 101: What is a Query in Access?

Queries are how we get useful information from data stored in tables. They also let us make bulk changes to our data. ... Be careful with queries!

Access 101

Access 101: What is a Table in Access?

If you know Excel worksheets, Access tables will look very familiar. Be careful, though! There is a "key" difference between the two.

Commentary

Working on Someone Else's Code Base: Why Applications are Easier to Write Than Maintain

Writing greenfield code is easier (and more fun!) than maintaining an existing application. But that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: October 8, 2023

Highlights include debug-time evaluation of expressions on mouse hover and an x64-compatible version of sokinkeso's tB IDE addin, Usercontrol Builder.

Week in Review

Week in Review: October 7, 2023

Highlights include a free file manager class from Alessandro Grimaldi, an update on the forthcoming Rubberduck 3.0 VBA addin, and well-tested Access file limits.

Access 101

Access 101: Bound vs. Unbound Forms

A short primer on the difference between bound and unbound forms in Microsoft Access, along with example use cases for each.

Access 101

Access 101: A Quick Start Guide to Microsoft Access

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

VBA

Create Standalone Functions to Return User Input Values in Microsoft Access

A combination of the GetInfoForm() function, custom VBA types, and "Extract Method" refactoring helps reduce our Access application's complexity.

Code Library

GetInfoForm(): Get User Input Without Needing a Global Form

The GetInfoForm() function simplifies the task of returning user input from an unbound form without stashing values in a hidden global form.

Form Design

Pass Values Between Forms in Access Without Using a Hidden Global Form

Using a hidden "global" form is a common way to return user-entered data to your program, but there is a better way.

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: October 1, 2023

Highlights include the release of the first community-built twinBASIC IDE Add-in and an update to fafalone's cTaskDialog project to add 64-bit VBA support.

Week in Review

Week in Review: September 30, 2023

Highlights include an in-person UK User Group Conference Nov 22-23, Advanced Database Design with Armen Stein, and a list of undocumented SysCmd values.

Code Library

Convenience Function for Passing Values Between Forms via a Hidden Global Form

I don't always use a global form to stash user-provided values, but when I do, I use this GetInfo() function.

Prompt School

Build Better Prompts with AI

Who better to help you improve your AI prompts than AI itself? This meta prompt will help you get better results from your most used prompts.

Commentary

The Complicator's Gloves: A Cautionary Tale for Software Developers

This classic tale reminds us as software developers to resist the urge to go down the rabbit hole of an over-engineered solution.

Code Library

High-Performance VBA String Concatenation with clsStringBuilder

clsStringBuilder takes a collection-based approach to speed up string concatenation.

Version Control

Make Your Access App More Resilient with Version Control

Reassembling the pieces of a fragile system is a fool's (horse's?) errand. Turning back the clock is a more reliable fix.

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: September 24, 2023

Highlights include a twinBASIC services status bar, a tB implementation of the Geometrize software, and a user activity monitoring class from fafalone.

Week in Review

Week in Review: September 23, 2023

Highlights include the death of COM/VBA in New Outlook (?!?!), a web-based image editor for Access, and a deep dive into string-building performance in VBA.