Week in Review: December 21, 2024

Just Published

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

Articles

^{*Article descriptions generated by Claude-3.5-Sonnet.}

• Maria Barnes (Business Data Bytes Newsletter)

  • Maximizing Efficiency and Innovation through Software Integration: Explores how integrating software systems can enhance efficiency, improve data accuracy, reduce costs, and provide better customer experiences.

• Jonathan Halder (Access JumpStart 2.0)

  • Figuring out when to do TDD vs simple form design: Discusses when to use Test-Driven Development versus simple form design in Microsoft Access, concluding that TDD is best for complex VBA code while simple form design works for basic UI controls.
  • Automated testing strategy – TDD – Unit Testing: Details the author's experience implementing TDD for a multiple-address feature in an Access database using RubberDuckVBA as the testing framework.
  • 2025 – Access reintegrating source control: Announces Microsoft's plans to reintegrate source control into Access using Git, marking a significant development for the platform's future.

• Daniel Pineault (DEVelopers HUT)

  • Real-Life Example Of Using Virtual In-Memory Recordsets in VBA: Demonstrates how to create a virtual recordset to manage file listings without importing data into Access tables.
  • Determining the Currently Selected Ribbon Tab: Shows how to use UIAutomation to programmatically identify the active ribbon tab in Office applications.
  • Setting a Variable Equal to an ADODB Recordset, Not So Obvious!?: Explains why using Clone() is necessary when creating a copy of an ADODB recordset to preserve its original state.
  • The New Outlook is TERRIBLE!: Details the significant features and functionality lost in Microsoft's New Outlook compared to the classic version.
  • New Outlook Automation Workaround – Building Your Very Own REST API: Provides a solution for email automation using a custom PHP REST API as an alternative to Outlook's deprecated VBA support.
  • VSCodium is the Ultimate Open-Source Alternative to VS Code: Introduces VSCodium as a privacy-focused, telemetry-free alternative to Microsoft's Visual Studio Code.
  • Understanding Queries in Microsoft Access: A Detailed Guide: Comprehensive overview of SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE queries in Microsoft Access with practical examples.

• Colin Riddington (Isladogs on Access)

  • Modern Charts Improvements 2: Updated Features (updated 2024-12-15): Explores new features in Access Modern Charts including Pareto charts, enhanced sorting capabilities, and improved gridline customization options.

• Mike Wolfe (NoLongerSet)

  • Table Design Fundamentals with Juan Soto: Comprehensive introduction to proper table design in Microsoft Access, focusing on helping Excel users transition to database principles.
  • Throwback Thursday: December 19, 2024: Revisits various approaches to solving the challenging problem of looping by month in VBA.
  • Building COM Add-ins with Geoffrey L. Griffith: Demonstrates how to create COM add-ins for Microsoft Office applications using Visual Studio Tools for Office.
  • Making Access Add-ins with Crystal Long: Shows how to create Microsoft Access add-ins that enhance productivity through practical examples like SQL formatting and workspace management tools.
  • The Secret to Better Proposals: Know Which Question to Answer: Explores how to craft winning custom software proposals by identifying whether prospects are questioning their need for custom software or evaluating potential developers.

Videos‌

• Richard Rost (YouTube channel)

  • Quick Queries #23 (29:11): Microsoft Access Quick Queries #23: AutoHeight v CanGrow, Overlap ListBox, Language Options, More!
  • Me.NewRecord (12:00): How to Move the Focus to a Different Field if you Navigate to a New Record in Microsoft Access
  • SelStart / SelLength (14:34): How to Use SelStart and SelLength in Microsoft Access VBA to Manipulate the Cursor and Selection
  • GoToControl (17:43): How to Use the GoToControl Command in Microsoft Access VBA for Navigation Across Multiple Forms
  • SetFocus (14:09): How to Use the SetFocus Command in Microsoft Access VBA for Form Control Navigation

• Daniel Pineault (YouTube channel)

  • Image Optimizer (24:40): Optimizing Images in Microsoft Access Using Image Magick
  • Max Record Entry (13:38): Limiting the number of records that can be entered in a Microsoft Access form, query or table

• Nifty Access [Tony Hine, aka Uncle Gizmo] (YouTube channel)

  • Totals Row (38): Add Tables With Totals Row

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.}

• January 8, 2025: Philipp Stiefel - Developing COM Add-Ins for Microsoft Access
• January 09, 2025: Geoffrey L. Griffith - Creating Add-ins that run in Access and Office — Part II
• January 14, 2025: Roy Kim - Data Ingesting Pipeline from Azure IOT Hub to Azure SQL DB (JUST ADDED)
• February 05, 2025: John Mallinson - Using VBE_Extras Add-In with Access
• February 06, 2025: Adam Waller - Access Version Control
• March 05, 2025; Alexander Denz - Topic title to be confirmed
• March 06, 2025: George Hepworth - Eliminating Magic Numbers in VBA
• April 02, 2025: John Heaser - Source Control for Access & SQL Databases
• April 10-11, 2025: Access DevCon Vienna (speakers TBA)
• May 07, 2025: Colin Riddington - Large Monitor Support and Responsive Forms
• May 15, 2025 @ 9:30 am - 5:00 pm: In-person UKAUG 30th Anniversary Conference 2025, Imperial College London (Armen Stein, other speakers TBA)
• June 04, 2025: Anders Ebro - Using Class Modules

Access Roadmap

No changes were made to the roadmap between the Week in Review last week (2024-12-14) and this week (2024-12-21).

The roadmap was last updated on October 4, 2024. The development priorities were last updated at the German-language AEK conference on October 20, 2024.

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 Oct '24 – March '25.

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.

1. Continued Focus on Monthly Issue Fixes: (Monthly Issue Fix Blog) Improved product quality and reliability
2. Large monitor support for forms: Improved support of Access on the latest hardware
3. Integrated source control: Simplifying the process of building mission critical Access solutions

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

In Development

• SEP 2024: Integrate Monaco framework to improve SQL editor capabilities

Rolling Out

None.

Launched

• AUG 2024: Modern Chart Improvements
• NOV 2023: Making 32-bit Access Large Address Aware (LAA)