Intermediate - No Longer Set

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.

Intermediate

Open the Windows Color Dialog from VBA

If you need to get Access color values from your users, this is the easiest way to do it.

Intermediate

5 Types of Settings for Microsoft Access Applications

How you store settings in Microsoft Access depends on their scope. Understanding the scope of your settings is critical to ensure you store them the right way.

VBA

Block-Level Scope in VBA...Does Not Exist

VB.NET and VBA may look the same, but there are some important differences. This is a little-known feature of VB.NET that I really wish was available in VBA.

Intermediate

Karl's Catalog: A Checklist of Access Best Practices

Karl Donaubauer's checklist of Microsoft Access best practices offers a wealth of information to beginners and professional developers alike.

Hidden Features

HOW TO: Run Scheduled Tasks with Microsoft Access

This underused MS Access command-line argument opens up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to scheduling recurring tasks in Access.

Form Design

5 Ways to Set a Default Font on Microsoft Access Forms

If you don't like the default fonts in MS Access, you don't have to change them one control at a time. Here are 5 techniques to simplify the task.

SQL

T-SQL ISNULL() vs. VBA IsNull() vs. Jet IS NULL vs. Access VBA Nz()

How do I check thee for NULL? Let me count the ways.

Class Modules

Great Intro to Class Programming in VBA

Former Access MVP Ben Clothier's primer on class programming in VBA should be required reading for all Access developers.

VBA

Philipp Stiefel on VBA Compilation

Is VBA an interpreted language? Or a compiled language? Or something in between. Philipp Stiefel shines light on the topic for us.

VBA

Avoiding Overflow Errors When Defining Calculated Constants

Overflow errors are usually straightforward. But what about when you get an overflow assigning a value of 1 to a Long integer?

Hidden Features

Declaring and Initializing Variables in the Same Line in VBA

You can't declare and initialize a variable in a single code *statement* in VBA, but you can do it in a single *line* of code with this handy trick.

Class Modules

Caching Object Instances in VBA Classes

Simplify the object initialization code in your class modules without sacrificing performance using this easy technique.

Form Design

Add a Custom Right-Click Menu to an Access Control

It's easier than you might think to add a right-click menu to a control on your Access form.

Intermediate

The IIf() Function vs. The IIf() Statement

They may look identical, but there is a very important difference in how they get evaluated.

Intermediate

How to Remove the Time Portion From a Date Variable in VBA

In this article, I run a series of experiments to explore how different time-stripping approaches work in VBA.

SQL Server

3 Gotchas of the SQL BETWEEN Statement

The SQL BETWEEN statement produces very readable condition expressions. But developers of all skill levels can still get into trouble with it.

COM

High Level Overview of COM

This whirlwind tour of the Component Object Model technology will jump start your journey of automating Excel from VBA in Access.

Defensive Programming

Frictionless Validity Checks

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

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.

Intermediate

4 VBA PowerShell Functions

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

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.

Intermediate

CurrentDB and the "Object invalid or no longer set" error

Misuse of the CurrentDb function is a common cause of the "Object invalid or no longer set" error. Are you using it safely?

Intermediate

4 Ways to Automate Sending Emails from Microsoft Access

Manually sending a single email from an email client is easy. Automating email sending, by contrast, is deceptively hard.

Intermediate

How to Construct a Bit Mask in VBA

What's the safest way to construct a bit mask in VBA? Your preferred approach may be more dangerous than you realize.