Once you have created an Access Database Application to be used by other people, it may well be important for you to prevent users from gaining access to any of its design features. By this I mean, you may not want users to modify your tables, forms and queries etc in design view (inadvertently or…
How to Migrate Data from Access to SQL Server using SSMA (SQL Server Migration Assistant)
SSMA is used to migrate Access databases to SQL Server. This tool converts the Access database to an SQL Server or an SQL Azure database. It is not bundled with SQL Server – you will need to download and install this tool separately. Check your system requirements and view the installation procedure for SSMA. Preparing…
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…
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])
Access InStr() function to SQL Server equivalent
What is the SQL Server equivalent to Access InStr() function? TargetField: String expression being searched SearchValue: String expression being sought StartPosition: Starting position for each search (optional) Access SQL InStr(TargetField, SearchValue) InStr(StartPosition, TargetField, SearchValue) SQL Server CHARINDEX(SearchValue, TargetField) CHARINDEX(SearchValue, TargetField, StartPosition)
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…
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…
“Too Few Parameters” error fix
Symptoms Whenever you run a SQL statement you get a “Too Few Parameters, expected X.” Cause Most common cause is misspelling or missing fields in the SQL statement. Resolution Check the SQL statement. If necessary, copy and paste to an Access query and test in the query to get it to highlight which part of…
Use properties instead of constant or magic numbers
A common programming mistake is to hard-code literals that corresponds to some property. That is particularly true with certain controls like tab controls & pages. The tab control exposes a Value property that indicates the current tab and the pages contains a PageIndex property that indicates its position in the tabs of the control. Thus,…
Module level variables
It is common to create a big wall of declaration in a module such as this: Private strCompanyName As String Private dteOrderDate As Date Private lngOrderID As Long Private objEmail As Object Private objOutlook As Object While the code will compile and work fine, the discoverability and naming of the module level variables does become…




