Week in Review: April 27, 2024

Just Published

^{This section includes videos, articles, and (occasionally) open-source project updates from the past 7 days.}

Articles

• Philipp Stiefel (CodeKabinett)

  • Color Gradient as Form Background - Download - 64-bit Compatible

• a.p.r. pillai (Learn MS-Access Tips and Tricks)

  • Streamline Filter By Character Sort

• Jonathan Halder | Steven Halder (Access JumpStart 2.0)

  • TDD – 073 – This Might Get Messy!
  • TDD – 072 – Real World Example
  • TDD – 071 – What have I learned so far…?

• Colin Riddington (Isladogs on Access)

  • Office & VBE Menu Languages Different (updated)
  • Access/Windows/Office365 Version Check Add-In (updated)
  • Gradient Background Fill in Forms (updated)
  • You Can REALLY Do All That With Forms? (updated)

• Mike Wolfe (NoLongerSet)

  • HOW TO: Compile to .accde or .mde From the Command Line
  • CompileCurrentAccessApp(): Use VBA to Create an ACCDE or MDE of the Currently Open Access File
  • Version Control and Cloud Drives: Better Keep 'em Separated
  • Thomas Jefferson's Accidental Programming Advice
  • Bug Fix: RefreshLink

Videos‌

• Access User Group Recordings (YouTube channel)

  • Managing SQL Server Migration Projects (53:23): with Juan Soto

• Colin Riddington [Isladogs] (YouTube channel)

  • Protect Data in Tables and Queries (08:31)
  • Gradient Background Fill in Forms (10:43)

• Sean MacKenzie (YouTube channel)

  • How to Backup and Restore a Database in SQL Express (12:19): How to Backup and Restore a Database in SQL Express

• Richard Rost (YouTube channel)

  • Multiple Addresses: Part 1 (24:33): How to Store Multiple Addresses for a Customer in Microsoft Access
  • Multiple Addresses: Part 2 (16:23): How to Store Multiple Addresses for a Customer in Microsoft Access, Part 2
  • Multiple Addresses: Part 3 (16:15): How to Store Multiple Addresses for a Customer in Microsoft Access, Part 3
  • Multiple Addresses: Part 4 (18:30): How to Store Multiple Addresses for a Customer in Microsoft Access, Part 4
  • Extract OLE Image: Part 3 (16:37): How to Extract an OLE Image From a Field in Microsoft Access, Part 3

• Daniel Pineault (YouTube channel)

  • VBE - Quick Tip - Searching Through Your Code (02:43)
  • Using VBA To Lock The PC (03:50)
  • VBA - How to Kill a Process (17:45)
  • Microsoft Outlook - Blocking SPAM from your inbox (11:30)
  • AutoResize Combo box and List box Columns (23:35)

New to Me

^{This section includes content I discovered this week that has been around for awhile.}

Nothing new this week.

Upcoming Access User Group Events

^{NOTE: Only English-language user group meetings with scheduled guest speakers or topics are listed.  For a complete list of upcoming events, visit the Access User Group event calendar.}

• April 30, 2024: Jim Dettman and Doug Yudovich - Learn how to chat with other Access developers on Discord
• May 1, 2024: Adolph Dupré - Using  VBA to create a class based on a table
• May 2, 2024: Tom van Stiphout and Kim Young- Developing Solid Applications
• May 28, 2024: George Young- Using Web APIs in Access
• June 05, 2024: Colin Riddington - View & Edit Import/Export (IMEX) Data Task Specifications
• June 06, 2024: Ben Sacherich - Trouble-Shooting Access Applications  (JUST ADDED)
• July 03, 2024: Olaf Nöhring - Getting Attention with style: An Improved, Enhanced Message Box / André Minhorst - Enhancing Access Forms
• July 04, 2024: John Colby - What is a Framework and Why Would Access Developers Use One?  (JUST ADDED)
• August 01, 2024: Presenters TBD - What Do You Do When Access No Longer Meets Your Requirements  (JUST ADDED)
• August 7, 2024: Peter Poppe - Working with Treeviews
• August 27, 2024: Maria Barnes - Working with Microsoft Graph API from VBA  (JUST ADDED)
• September 04, 2024: Aleksander Wojtasz - Follow-up session on Interactive Gantt charts
• October 02, 2024: Alessandro Grimaldi - Animation with Style in Access
• November 06, 2024: Chris Arnold - Tips and Tricks for Continuous Forms
• December 04, 2024: Adrian Bell - topic to be confirmed
• January 8, 2025: Philipp Stiefel - topic to be confirmed  (DATE UPDATED)

Access Roadmap

The following changes were made to the roadmap between the last Week in Review (2024-04-20) and this one (2024-04-27):

• ADDED: "Modern Chart Improvements"
• ADDED: "Integrate Monaco framework to improve SQL editor capabilities"

The roadmap was last updated the week of April 27, 2024.  The development priorities were last updated at the German-language AEK conference on October 14, 2023.

Listed below is a snapshot of the official Access Roadmap.

"In Development", "Rolling Out", and "Launched" are Microsoft terms that I pulled straight from the public roadmap.

"Development Priorities" do not appear on the Access Roadmap.  Instead, they get updated from time to time in official Access blog posts or Access engineering team presentations.  I'll include a link to the source of the current development priorities as they get updated.

Development Priorities

The items listed below reflect Microsoft's order of priority and were published in the following article, Microsoft's Plans for Access in the Next 6 Months.

The items are listed in priority order according to Principal Engineering Manager Dale Rector.  The "Expected Benefit" of each feature is shown in italics after the description of the feature itself.

New priorities added since the previous set of priorities are shown in bold below.  Dropped priorities are struck through.

1. Continued Focus on Monthly Issue Fixes: (Monthly Issue Fix Blog) Improved product quality and reliability
2. Access becomes Large Address Aware: Removal of key customer error issue
3. Dataverse export improvements: Make it easier and faster for admins to migrate their data to Dataverse
4. Large monitor support for forms: Improved support of Access on the latest hardware
5. Modern Chart Improvements: Expanded support for the most popular chart types and options
6. SQL Editor Improvements: Significantly improved SQL query editing experience
7. Inconsistent Database Error Fix

Special thanks to Karl Donaubauer for posting the updated priorities at AccessForever.org.

In Development

• AUG 2024: Modern Chart Improvements
• SEP 2024: Integrate Monaco framework to improve SQL editor capabilities

Rolling Out

None.

Launched

• APR 2023: Modern Web Browser Control
• MAR 2023: New Modern Web Browser Form Control
• NOV 2023: Making 32-bit Access Large Address Aware (LAA)