Use controls, not fields

Sometimes we need to use fields from a RecordSource that aren’t shown on the form. It is legal to reference them directly even if they don’t have a control. For example, we can have a form bound to a RecordSource like so: SELECT c.CompanyID, c.CompanyName FROM Companies; And only display CompanyName in a textbox but…

Pivoting a dynamic set

SQL Server does not allow for a dynamic set, which can be problematic if you need to pivot based on the data that comes from rows and you can have various values in the column. In general, you need a stored procedure and dynamic SQL in order to handle the dynamic pivots. This requires uses…

Access UPDATE query to SQL Server

How do I convert an Access UPDATE query to SQL Server? Access SQL UPDATE Cars INNER JOIN UpdateList ON Cars.Parts = UpdateList.Parts SET Cars.Price = [Updatelist].[price] SQL Server UPDATE Cars SET Cars.Price = [Updatelist].[price] FROM Cars INNER JOIN UpdateList ON Cars.Parts = UpdateList.Parts

Why does Excel have a problem when using code in Access?

When you use code to refer to Excel (and other programs as well) you need to be careful not to use any code that does not refer back to the instantiated application object. If you do so then you will find that Access instantiates another Excel (or other program) object which is not visible to…

new table

Creating a Make Table Query

Before we create the Make Table Query, you might like to create a new blank database file. This is so we have a separate database into which we can paste the new table from the query. In this exercise I have called it HistoricData.accdb. Here is the procedure to create a Make Table Query: Open…

Self-documenting code

Strong preference should be given to writing code that is self-documenting. A common approach is to write a lot of comments, but the problem with comments are twofold: It actually can harm the readability because it adds to the overall length of code to read and understand. It must be correct or it can end…

Normalize all constraints’ & indices’ names

Constraints that are created by SSMA or by user via SSMS tend to have ugly names. Worse, auto-generated names are not stable across backups. Meaning if you restore a new database based on a copy of another database, the constraint names will change. That create huge problems during migrations because scripts that references constraint will…

Access 2003

Access 2003 Technical Articles

In this section of the MSDN Library, you’ll find technical articles that demonstrate how to build and deploy complex Access 2003 runtime-based solutions, automate Access from another application; use the new XML features in Access 2003, and even how you can animate Access 2003. You can use the TOC to your left to navigate through…

#LateBind Constant

In standard code, we make use of #LateBind conditional compilation constant, which is typically defined via project’s Conditional Compilation Argument in the dialog: NOTE: The dialog can be found via Tools → <project name> Properties, which is located below the Options menu item. The menu item caption will be different as it includes the project…