Mike Wolfe - No Longer Set (Page 44)

Professional Development

How to Write a Daily Article

Publishing an article every day is not for the faint of heart. But the benefits compound if you can stick with it.

Under 100

What is a Call Stack?

The concept of a call stack explained in under 100 words. #Under100

Business

Level Billing: A More Predictable Way to Bill Hourly

If you bill by the hour, you probably have clients with whiplash as their invoices yo-yo from month to month. Provide them predictability with level billing.

Announcement

Microsoft Access MVP

Say hello to the newest Microsoft MVP Awardee for Office Apps & Services (MS Access).

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: October 31, 2021

Highlights include initial support for a Clipboard object, a new custom control sample (Wayne's TextBox), and support for Return as an alias for Exit Sub.

Defensive Programming

Frictionless Validity Checks

Let's apply the concept of frictionless development to the defensive programming technique of data validity checks.

Combo Boxes

How to Add a Catch-all Value to a Combo Box in Access

Two ways to let your users choose "All of the above" when using your combo boxes.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: Emoji Lookup in Windows

Looking for the fastest way to look up and insert emojis in Windows? This shortcut makes it quick and easy.

Tools

Keybase: A Simple and Secure Way to Communicate

Whenever I need to share sensitive information with my team--such as passwords or private keys--I use Keybase for peace of mind.

Technical Debt

Storing Local Table Data in a Front-End Access Application

If you're thinking about storing local data in your front-end Access application, make sure it follows these 4 ground rules.

Announcement

Are You an Access Developer in Northeast Pennsylvania?

Calling all (current or aspiring) Access developers in Northeast PA: we have an immediate job opening at Grandjean & Braverman, Inc.

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: October 24, 2021

Highlights include the addition of 4 new custom control events, ElementTabStop/Index properties, and a Spanish presentation on twinBASIC.

Intermediate

4 VBA PowerShell Functions

Microsoft Access MVP Daniel Pineault provides four easy-to-use routines for integrating PowerShell with VBA.

Business

The Hour-Tracking Journey

From Palm Pilots to Google Sheets to Clockify, I take a trip down hour-tracking memory lane.

Bug Alert

Compact on Close Danger

Compact on Close. It seems innocent enough. But lurking under this seeming convenience is the spectre of corruption just lying in wait.

Forms

AutoFitDatasheet: A Function to Prettify Your Access Datasheets

This routine resizes the columns of the active datasheet window (plus the window itself) based on its contents to make the best use of the available space.

Commentary

Eliminating Friction

The key to becoming a better developer is to make it so The Right Way is also The Easy Way.

Defensive Programming

Data Validity Checks

Increase the quality of your existing data by running it through a series of validity checks and showing your users the results.

twinBASIC Weekly Update

twinBASIC Update: October 17, 2021

Highlights include the alpha release of CustomControls, a twinBASIC wiki, and a revived discussion around "Quirks Mode" in twinBASIC.

Tools

3 Tools to Take and Manage Screenshots

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here are three tools that I use to make the process of taking screenshots as smooth as possible.

Basic

The QBE Window: Training Wheels for Access Developers

If you're new to relational databases, the QBE window is the solution to--and cause of--many of your query problems.

Conventions

Naming Conventions Matter: Making Wrong Code Look Wrong

Joel Spolsky and Antonin Scalia join forces to help illustrate the importance of sensible code naming conventions.

Basic

Beware the BETWEEN

Using the BETWEEN clause with date-time fields may lead to unexpected results. There's a safer alternative.

Business

Configuring a Send-Only Email Address in Outlook 2019

How to add an account in Outlook 2019 where the user name is NOT the same as the email address.

Business

Manage Email Addresses for Multiple Domains with One Gmail Account Using Opalstack

Some practical advice on how to configure email addresses for multiple domains so that you can still send and receive from a single Gmail account.