Microsoft’s annual giveaway of ebooks is on again. Thousands of free downloads, including Office related ebooks. The full list is on the Microsoft blog. We’ve copied the Microsoft Office related titles into a easily searchable list below. Most are in PDF format with a few in MOBI (Kindle), EPUB or XPS format. Modesty (almost) […]
This is a really screwy error message. You try to start an Office desktop program and are stopped with the message ‘This app can’t run on your PC’. Here’s the fix. To make it even stranger, some Office programs will work while others say they can’t run? We’ve seen the very latest version of Outlook […]
Everyone is talking about ransomware now that the WannaCrypt has spread like crazy across the world. These nasty viruses target your documents and precious files including Microsoft Office files and Windows backups. This is a little embarrassing for us because Office-Watch.com has just released a new book that’s suddenly become very topical. Everyday BACKUPS – […]
The Dubai font inspired us to look at the currency symbol for the United Arab Emirates – the Dirham. A quick guide for those of us who don’t know any Arabic! There’s no direct symbol for the Dirham – unlike the dollar, Euro or Yen/Yuan. The usual prefix is DH or Dhs , just plain […]
Introduction If you need to print a report, or do some other Access task, on a regular basis, you can do this using a VBScript, a batch file and the Windows Task Scheduler. This article shows how. Access Database The sample database, Scheduling Task (AA 252).mdb, has some tables from the old Northwind sample database, […]
Love or loath it, the ribbon in Microsoft Office is here to stay. You’re not stuck with the ribbon Microsoft gives you, make it work better for you. In this article, we’ll show you an example of how the ribbon is designed to suit absolute Office novices first and also with Microsoft’s marketing agenda in […]
Google has a color selector among the many features in their home page. What was once a simple web search now has a lot of tricks, including a way to select a color and read the various computer values. Search for ‘Color picker’ or https://www.google.com/?q=color+picker then move the two circles to choose the exact color […]
Introduction Back in 2004, I wrote an Access Archon article (Copying Records and Linked Records) that described a method for copying a record with possible linked data in another table, using an array based on form controls. This article describes a different approach, based on table fields rather than form controls, and also shows how […]
by Helen Fedemma Introduction Back in 2004, I wrote an Access Archon article (Copying Records and Linked Records) that described a method for copying a record with possible linked data in another table, using an array based on form controls. This article describes a different approach, based on table fields rather than form controls, and […]
Introduction Combo boxes are a handy way to select values for various purposes, such as filtering forms and reports. The row sources can be of three types; this article discusses how to select the appropriate type of row source query, and use them to open a filtered report. The Form The filter form in the […]
If you need to filter by a Text value, such as person’s name or a company name, you may run into this problem: An error caused by an apostrophe in a Text string This is because the apostrophe is a Text delimiter. The way I deal with this problem is to make a calculated field […]
Introduction Recently I had occasion to update an Access database that used a DateTimePicker ActiveX control for selecting times. This control had worked for many years (about 15 years in this case), but stopped working when the user updated to 64-bit Windows 10. I was able to replicate the functionality of the old ActiveX control […]
Introduction In my Working with Word ebook (the 4th edition is available now), there is code that lists (among other things) the document properties in a Word document. This is useful information, but sometimes you need to know which of the doc properties have actually been used; that is what the code in the sample […]
If you have a datasheet subform on an Access form, containing numeric data in some columns, you may want to have column totals at the bottom of the datasheet. You can do this easily in an Excel workbook or a Word table, using a formula, but Access does it differently. In Access 2007, column totals […]
Introduction A few years ago, in Access Archon #127, I showed how to make an Access form for entering timesheet data, which was then exported to Excel. That timesheet had combo boxes in the header to select a project and a week, and columns for entering data for the days of the week. This article […]
In previous Access Archon columns, I have discussed concatenation of dollar amounts (Access Archon #179), or children’s names and school subjects (Access Archon #230). In this article I discuss a more complex type of concatenation, where concatenation is done for sets of records filtered by three values. The Form The sample database, Complex Concatenation, has […]
If you have an unbound form, and need a quick and convenient way to write values from its controls to the appropriate fields, instead of listing every field by name, you can use this procedure, based on the assumption that each control that contains a value to be written to a field has a name […]
Here is a procedure that will close all open Outlook email messages without saving – very handy if you have just created hundreds of emails testing email creation with the Emailing Order Lists to Customers database: Public Function CloseAllEmailMessages() On Error GoTo ErrorHandler Dim appOutlook As Outlook.Application Dim ins As Outlook.Inspector […]
By Helen Feddema Access versions: 2007-2013 Level: Intermediate Access Archon #240: Introduction In a database (like the sample Northwind database) that records orders, you might want a quick and easy way to send order lists to customers. This article demonstrates how to send order lists to customers in both Plain Text and HTML format emails. […]
Q: Don Ruppel writes: “I am using Access 2010 to track my collection and have photos attached. I want to filter and list any records that do not have an attachment (photo) so I know which items that need to take photos of. Every time I try to filter the table or create a filter […]
Q: Jane writes that when she makes a new form by clicking the Form button in the Create tab of the Ribbon, all the controls are the same width, and she can’t resize them individually, as in older versions of Access. A: This is a “feature” of recent versions of Access. It is called Layout, […]
Access Archon Column #237 By Helen Feddema Access versions: 2007-2013 Level: Intermediate The Problem Back in Access 2003 and Windows XP, it was easy to make a shortcut to open a specific Access database – just right-drag the database from an Explorer pane to the Quick Launch area of the taskbar. But if you try […]
Q: Andy Walter writes: I have been using your Function BackupBackend () for a few years now (Many many thanks) but recently I have had to password protect the backend of my database to stop Mr Sticky Fingers. Unfortunately with the Password in place, I get the following Error. Not only does it not create […]
By Helen Feddema Access versions: 2007-2013 Level: Intermediate Introduction Word has a sophisticated Table of Contents feature that automatically creates a table of contents from designated headings in a document. Access reports don’t have such a feature, but I managed to create one using VBA code, custom database properties and some Word features. The Orders […]
Q: Arne Johnston writes that he has four phone number fields in a table, but that is not enough. How can he handle this better? A: For phone numbers, emails and other IDs, a separate linked table is best. I have one with just three fields: CompanyID (links to the main table), Description, and IDOrPhone. […]
Access Archon Column #234 By Helen Feddema Access versions: 2007-2013 Level: Intermediate Introduction Sometimes, when working on an Access subform, you will get the “Field Cannot be Updated” error (no error number), generally when typing the first character into a new record: The Help topic for this error is of little help, attributing the problem […]
The two procedures will let you easily clear up redundant Word documents, and alphabetize lists of declarations. Access versions: 2007-2013 Level: Intermediate Introduction The two procedures described in this article will let you easily clear up redundant Word documents, and alphabetize lists of declarations. When working on the 3rd edition of my Working with Word […]
Q: Susan H. writes that she has some standard code that creates a Word document and puts some Access data into it, using VBA Automation code. But sometimes the Word window is hidden behind other windows, either the Access window itself or some other window. A: This is a long-standing problem in Office Automation. Many […]
Q: Lou writes that sometimes when he clicks on a label in Design view, in order to change the caption, it displays with a dark back color, which is disconcerting. The Label control’s BackStyle property is set to Transparent, so it shouldn’t be displaying as a color. How can this be fixed?A: This can happen […]
Back in Access 2003, you could easily change the font name and size for a datasheet form by clicking the square in the upper-left corner of the datasheet (in datasheet view), and selecting the font and size from the selectors on the Formatting toolbar, or by selecting Font from the Format menu. But these features […]
If you need to create a filter string for filtering by a person’s name, or a city name, you may run into this error: This is because single quotes are used as the delimiter for Text strings, and there is a single quote in the city name. To get around this problem, make a calculated […]
Some great tips on table formatting. Joey Cherdarchuk has a nice posting on a very different table styling to the type that Microsoft prefers. Under the banner ‘Clear Off the Table’ he suggests getting rid of gridlines and colors to simplify the look of tables. In his example, Joey takes a standard Microsoft auto formatted table […]
Access Archon Column #230 – Making Concatenated Strings from Linked Tables and Multi-valued Fields Access versions: 2007-2013 Level: Intermediate Introduction Back in 2001, I wrote an Access Archon article (#89, Flattening Linked Data) which showed how to create a string of concatenated data from values in a one-to-many linked table. That technique is still useful, […]
Access Archon Column #229 – Fixing Normalization Errors Access versions: 2002-2013 Level: Intermediate Introduction Sometimes when you take over an Access database created by an amateur (or at least, someone with a minimal understanding of normalization), you will find data such as employee names stored in a Text field in the Orders table. If the […]
Finding the location of the Office object model DLL Q: Frank H. writes: “I want to use the FileDialog object to create a browser for selecting a file, but it requires a reference to the Office object library, and I can’t find that library in the list of Microsoft objects. Where is it?” A: For […]
Access: Disabling a Label control Q: I need to disable a Label control, for a consistent appearance with some other controls on a form. But this control doesn’t have an Enabled property. Is there some way I can do this? A: You can’t disable a Label control, but you can make it look disabled by […]
Exporting Filtered Data to Excel Access versions: 2007 – 2013 Level: Intermediate In Access Archon #200 (Exporting Access Data to Excel), I showed how to export data to an Excel workbook, using various techniques. In this article, I expand on that theme, showing how to export filtered data from Access to multiple worksheets within […]
By Helen FeddemaAccess versions: 2007-2013Level: Intermediate The main menu of the sample database for Access Archon #212 (A New Style Main Menu) has selectors for filtering a report by CustomerID or OrderNo. But sometimes you might want to print a filtered report right from the current record of a form. That is the topic of […]
by Helen Feddema I recently had occasion to set up a VM with 64-bit Windows 8.1 and 64-bit Office 2013, and I tested several of my add-ins in that environment, as well as Rick Fisher’s Find And Replace (the 64-bit version). I found that my Extras Plus add-in (an .mda add-in that works in Access […]
A simple way to backup your SQL databases and move them offsite. SQL Server from Microsoft has a built-in backup utility however it doesn’t compress the backup nor let you move it to another machine. That’s where SQL Backup and FTP comes in, a nifty add-on for a reasonable price. SQL Backup and FTP lets […]
