Mike Wolfe - No Longer Set (Page 24)

Managing Software Complexity: The Rule of Seven

Don't try to increase the number of balls you can keep in the air; instead, reduce the number of balls needed to follow your software's logic.

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: March 12, 2023

Highlights include IDE bookmarks, improvements to the debugging experience, and a sampling of how twinBASIC is being used today.

Week in Review

Week in Review: March 11, 2023

Highlights include a deep dive into form events, optimizing queries in SQL Server, dealing with split forms, and how to embed QR codes in a Word mail merge.

Subs vs. Functions

Every Function in VBA Returns a Value

Whether you assign one explicitly or not, every function in VBA has a return value.

Code Library

CaptionCheck(): Verify All Forms and Reports Have a Caption

This simple pre-deployment check will help save you the embarrassment of forgetting to set your form or report captions.

Best Of

My Top 10 Joel Spolsky Posts

If you are running a small (or large) software development company, Joel Spolsky should be at the top of your reading list.

Tools

Simple Logging Framework for VBScript Files

If you use VB Script files to automate recurring tasks, adding support for severity-based logging offers cheap insurance against future problems.

Reports

Never Forget to Set Your Report Caption Again

With this trick, it's nearly impossible to forget to set your report's Caption property in Microsoft Access.

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: March 5, 2023

Highlights include the addition of MonthView and DatePicker controls, new methods, properties, and events, and a note about the twinBASIC splash screen.

Week in Review

Week in Review: March 4, 2023

Highlights include a trick to update parent form calculations without using subform events, translation tools in Access, and early/late binding declarations.

Tools

Password Generator

There are plenty of online password generator sites, but this one is my favorite.

VBA

MS Access Windows API Viewer

Here are three good options for looking up proper Declare statements when calling Windows API functions from VBA.

SQL Server

Updating Linked SQL Server Views in Access When Changing the Underlying Table Data Types

If you change the data type of a table field in SQL Server, follow these steps to be sure all related views are updated in Microsoft Access.

Announcement

Richard Rost: Newest Access MVP

The Access video king is back on the MVP rolls. Richard Rost earned the MVP award for the third time and his first since 2015.

Announcement

Access DevCon Vienna 2023: April 27-28

The annual Access DevCon Vienna conference will be held April 27-28, 2023. Check out this year's lineup and get registered today.

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: February 26, 2023

Highlights include a big announcement for twinBASIC in the world of Access and the release of ZoneStripper, another of fafalone's VB6 twinBASIC ports.

Week in Review

Week in Review: February 25, 2023

Highlights include a modern date-time picker proof of concept, using SQL Server views from Access, and writing code other people can read.

Subs vs. Functions

Returning Multiple Values from a Function in VBA Using a UDT

You can return multiple values from a VBA procedure by using a simple User Defined Type (UDT). Though, some situations require a "complex" UDT.

Subs vs. Functions

Using ByRef to Return Multiple Values from a Sub (or Function)

You can "return" multiple values from a VBA procedure by passing your arguments by reference.

Code Library

Creating Form Skeletons with VBA

The DesignNewForm() routine is a good starting point for creating your own procedure to generate new form skeletons with a consistent UI design.

Reports

Detect if an Access Report is in Preview Mode, Report Mode, or Being Sent to the Printer

How do you know if a user is viewing a report on screen or if they sent it to the printer? With this simple technique from Access MVP, Karl Donaubauer.

Form Design

5 Ways to Build Consistent Form User Interfaces in Microsoft Access

Make your Access application feel more professional with a consistent user interface design. Form templates make it easy.

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: February 19, 2023

Highlights include an option to customize fonts in the IDE, newly implemented OLE Drag/Drop methods and events, and a new vbNullPtr constant.

Week in Review

Week in Review: February 18, 2023

Highlights include a video on the current state of Microsoft Access, closing open Access objects (reports, etc.), and using temp tables to boost performance.

Advanced

VBA Performance Tip: How to Cache Results of Slow Processes

Store expensive function call results with memoization. Learn to implement this technique with our step-by-step instructions and sample code.