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,…
Access IIf() function to SQL Server equivalent
What is the SQL Server equivalent to Access IIf() function? Access SQL IIf([ResultValue]>=1, [Result Value], Null) SQL Server CASE WHEN [Result Value]>=1 THEN [Result Value] ELSE NULL 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…
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…
Designing a lookup table with logic
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…
Module level variables
It is common to create a big wall of declaration in a module such as this:
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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 difficult and unwieldy. To help cut down on this ambiguity, it is recommended to create a private user-defined type…
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…
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…
Access DateValue() function to SQL Server equivalent
What is the SQL Server equivalent to Access DateValue() function? Access SQL DateValue([Event Timestamp]) SQL Server Equivalent cast([Event Timestamp] as date) convert(date, [Event Timestamp])
Use TryGet pattern for transient values
A number of objects may have extra properties or something where it might not exist for all instances. A good example might be finding Controlsource property on an Access.Control variable:
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For Each ctl In Me.Controls Debug.Print ctl.ControlSource 'A potential error Next |
Not all controls have a ControlSource property and thus can fail to run. A common approach is to use OERN:
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For Each ctl In Me.Controls On Error Resume Next Debug.Print ctl.ControlSource 'A potential error On Error GoTo 0 Next |
This will work…