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 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])

Truthy and Falsy Values

“Truthy” and “Falsy” Values

VBA is quite very loose in what it deems “truthy” and “falsy”. For example, this procedure can produce surprising result: If Me.MyBitField.Value = True Then ‘It is true Else ‘It is false End If At the first glance, it seems expected that if the bit field is set to 1, it would succeed. But in…

MODULE LEVEL VARIABLES

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…

Hardware Recommendations For Running Access

Hardware matters. Invest in a faster PC and your Microsoft Access databases will run faster. Be alert for sellers packaging fast processors with minimal memory and a slow hard drive to keep prices low. Look at all aspects of the purchase when database speed is a priority. A faster hard drive is worth the investment…

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,…

Prefer compile time errors over run time errors

In VBA, there are several features that allow us to do things that may not be checked at the compile time. In particular, it is possible to write several late-bound expressions which means that it can potentially contain run-time errors. One common misconception about late-binding is that it’s a matter of adding a reference and…

Access 2003

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…