Mike Wolfe

Advanced

Deceptively Complex Booleans

Why is VBA such an optimistic language? Because there's only one way to say "No," but 65,535 ways to say "Yes."

Code Library

Get a Handle on Window State

Using the IsZoomed and IsIconic API calls to return the window state (minimized, maximized, or restored) of a form, report, or Access itself.

Tools

21st Century Visual Basic

Microsoft stopped supporting VB6 in 2008. Here are some modern options for migrating those old apps or developing new ones in 2020 and beyond.

Risk Management

Proving the Concept with Access

Committing to a major custom software development project is fraught with risk. Reduce that risk by prototyping in Access first.

Holiday

Merry Christmas

"...the shepherds said to one another, 'Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'"

Basic

Unicode-Friendly MsgBox

There's a great big world outside of the ANSI bubble. Make every MsgBox in your program Unicode-safe in no time at all with this drop-in replacement.

Code Library

Unicode-Safe Filtered Filename Lookups

Need a Unicode-safe way to retrieve a list of filenames from a folder? And its subfolders? And filtered by filename? It's all here!

Intermediate

Short-Circuiting VBA?

Beware of clever workarounds for missing language features. Sometimes the simple approach is best.

Code Library

Clearing a List Box in Access

Sometimes you need to wipe the slate clean and start fresh. Here's a simple function to do just that for an Access list box.

Risk Management

MS Access Risk Management

Applying US Army risk management techniques to assess Microsoft Access application risk.

Advanced

Checklist: The Best Access Applications

Good. Better. BEST. Is your Access application as good as it can be?

Intermediate

Checklist: Better Access Applications

Good. BETTER. Best. Is your Access application good enough to sell?

Basic

Checklist: Is Your Access App GOOD?

GOOD. Better. Best. Does your Access application clear the lowest bar for quality?

Risk Management

Good. Better. Best.

Take the test to see where your (or someone else's) Access application stands.

Intermediate

The Subtle Dictionary Key Bug

Always explicitly call the .Value property when using fields or controls as Dictionary keys. Else the bugs come crawling!

Advanced

"Complex" DTOs in VBA

Can you use the OpenArgs parameter to pass multiple values to forms and reports with compile-time checking? You can if you use DTOs.

Intermediate

Data Transfer Objects in VBA

You can't create a collection of custom types in VBA. What can we do instead?

Intermediate

VBA Code Generation Trick

Using Notepad++ to transform existing code into a VBA string that generates itself.

Commentary

Copying and Pasting Code with Purpose

The first commandment of software development is, "Thou shalt not copy and paste code." Sometimes that's wrong.

Code Library

Writing Code with Code in VBA

Can you write code with code in VBA? Yes. Should you write code wit--OH, BE QUIET YOU!!! Where's your sense of adventure? ;-)

Intermediate

Bang! Dot. Default

Three ways to reference form and report controls. Which way is best?

Hidden Features

Careful What You Watch For

Can the simple act of creating a Watch change the behavior of your code while debugging? Why yes, yes it can.

Advanced

VBA Dictionaries: AKA, Hash Tables

This is not an article about Amsterdam flea markets. Hash tables are the data structures upon which Dictionaries are built.

Advanced

VBA Collections: AKA, Linked Lists

Everything I still remember about the Data Structures course I took 20 years ago as it applies to Collections in VBA.

Basic

VBA and Unicode

VBA and Unicode go together like Bailey's and Lime. But pretending the problem doesn't exist won't make it go away. Even for us Americans.