It is very common for us to embed some kind of logic based on a lookup table or in some cases, a column of a table. Because we have application logic connected to it, the code are fragile and subject to changes as the requirements develops. We want to avoid this situation where we might…
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…
Using Custom Functions in Calculated Controls
Custom functions work the same way as MS Access built-in functions such as DateAdd, DatePart and DSum, but are instead created ourselves as database developers. We do this by creating a public function with the VBA programming language and save it inside a global module within the database. Today I am going to explain how custom functions can be…
Minimizing stateful code
First we need to define what a state is. A state means that the object has variable(s) that may cause it to behave differently, depending on the content of the variables. As an example, the Forms collection is stateful: Forms(“SomeForm”).Visible = False This is legal code and will compile but we can’t be assured that…
Microsoft Access 2003 Language Reference [Access 2003 VBA Language Reference]
This reference contains conceptual overviews, programming tasks, samples, and references to guide you in developing solutions based on Microsoft Access. The reference contains the following sections: What’s New: Provides a list of new members by object and in alphabetical order. Concepts: Provides important concepts for developing custom Access solutions. Reference: Provides reference materials for the Access…
Access CDate() function to SQL Server equivalent
What is the SQL Server equivalent to Access CDate() function? Access SQL CDate([Event Timestamp]) SQL Server Equivalent cast([Event Timestamp] as datetime) convert(datetime, [Event Timestamp])
ID vs Code
There are cases where a table’s primary key is referred to often in the code. In fact, it might have some special meanings in code. It is highly encouraged to avoid the use of IDENTITY or AutoNumber (or any auto-incrementing schema) for those keys because it is also usually desirable to create a VBA Enum…
Access Web Apps to be retired
It was announced that Access Services is going to be retired. Details of the announcement may be found here: Updating the Access Services in SharePoint Roadmap. Additional timeline information along with possible methods for exporting your data out of an Access web app may be found here: Access web apps no longer supported. While these articles…
How to Display a Form Automatically when your Application Opens
This is a quick tip on how to automatically display a form when the user opens your Access Application. In addition to improving User Friendliness, your database design will also appear much more professional. The step by step instructions below will display the Switchboard form in figure 1 immediately upon the application opening. This will…
Enable and Disable a Form Control using VBA
I was working on a design for an Order Management Database, and one of the tasks I dealt with involved dynamically Enabling or Disabling one of the form’s Command Buttons’ using VBA. This gave me the idea for the present Access tip. The command button was located on a Customer Details form which had an Orders…