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Consulting and Resources for Excel and Access




Access Resources

This is a page of resources that we hope you will use and enjoy.
The resources will be added to over time, so please come back to
check for new pages.

You are welcome to use the samples from this
site, as long as you cite this site as the source. If you want help
with implementing any of the concepts found here, please
contact DataWright to discuss
your requirements. 

Working with Recordsets in VBA

If you want to manipulate or loop through records in code, Access
requires you to create a recordset first. You can use a table or a
query as the source of the recordset data. Here is a collection of
samples to help you out.

Advanced queries

Once you have created queries and become comfortable with using
calculations in Access queries, you can do a lot of useful stuff.
Sometimes, however, you need some more techniques. This collection
(some simple, some not so simple) will help you extend your toolbox.

Avoiding clashes in a booking system

At some stage you will probably need to build a booking
system. Often you will need to find a way to avoid
double-bookings; this article shows one approach.

Documenting your database

Documenting your database usually gets left to the last
minute. The database documenter built into Access will create a
report for you, but you get no control over the formatting and
it’s not particularly easy to sort or search the information. By
adding some tools to do the job you can save yourself a lot of
time, and create useful and relevant documentation for yourself
and others to use. This series of articles will grow over time
to provide some of that toolset for you.

Database Normalization

If you build, or inherit, a database with the wrong
structure, you will find yourself fighting your data to get
useful reports. This section has articles that will help you to
design your tables correctly, and reorganise tables into better
structures.

Importing and exporting files using Access

Often you will find yourself importing text files or Excel
worksheets into Access. If you only do a few a week, you can
consider doing the process manually. But if you import multiple
files at a time, some automation is handy. Take a look at these
tips.

Working With Forms

  • Creating Basic Forms
  • Creating And Linking Subforms
  • Using Tabbed Forms
  • Calculations in Forms
  • Speedier Forms: How To Improve Performance
  • Controlling What The User Sees: Hiding And Showing Controls
  • Using Controls: Add-To Combo Boxes
  • Using Controls: Data Validation
  • Using Controls: List Boxes

Working With Reports

  • Using The Wizard
  • Understanding Report Sections
  • Printing Reports: Moving Controls Around At Print Time
  • Printing Reports: Conditional Formatting
  • Printing Reports: Variable Height Controls with Background Colors
  • Printing Reports: Creating Page Totals
  • Filtering Reports: Filtering Reports Using Values on Forms
  • Creating a Report Picker

Compacting And Maintenance

Controlling Other Applications