Writing Readable Code for VBA - Try* pattern   Lately, I've been finding myself using the Try pattern more and more. I really like this pattern because it makes for much more readable code. This is especially important when programming in a mature programming language like VBA where the error h [...]

Ad-hoc Connection Strings and Heterogeneous Queries for MS Access   Heterogeneous queries is the reason why connection strings, especially ad-hoc connection string are important. In previous articles of the series, you saw how you could customize the connection parameters for connecting to Exce [...]

Connection String Parameters for Saved Specifications   Access provides a second method of describing text files' schema by using system tables MSysIMEXSpecs and MSysIMEXColumns to save the specifications. In the previous article, I covered how schema.ini can be used to describe a text file's s [...]

Connection String Parameters for Schema.ini   Making a schema.ini to open or link text files from Access is one of two possible methods that can be used to work with data contained in the files from Access. In the previous article, we looked at the text file's connection string parameters. We a [...]

Connection String Parameters for Text File Sources   In the previous article I covered the connection string parameters for Excel data sources. We will now focus on the text files. There are different methods for describing text files' schema and using the information during opening or linking [...]

Connection String Parameters for Excel Data Sources   In the previous article, I discussed how we can treat Excel and text files as if they were a database using DAO, and how we can open them without linking. Because they do not use ODBC drivers, their connection string will be formatted quite [...]

Opening or Linking Text or Excel as Data Sources in Microsoft Access   Access is a phenomenal tool for working with many data sources. You may have long known that you can easily import or export data in a wide array of formats. However, we had a scenario where we needed to process data from ex [...]

Microsoft Office 365 Version 2009 May Break Your Database Application   Microsoft has reported that they've disabled the feature which should then avoid the need to rollback the version. The new feature will be made available in version 2010, planned for end of October 2020. In meanwhile, it wi [...]

Preview Documents in Microsoft Access Form Project Scope We recently added a document center to a project which allows users to attach documents such as pdf, word, txt and images to a project.  In addition they will have an automatic process set up to read incoming emails and save the email attachme [...]

Join Us for an Intro to Access with SQL Server   On Tuesday September 8th, 2020 at 6:30 PM CST we are back from summer vacation to start the new season! We will start with introduction to Access with SQL Server, you can learn more at https://accessusergroups.org/sql-server-with-access/event/375 [...]