This is the third part of a three part series on the Access IDE. Part I can be found here and Part II here.

IDE Tools I Love
Life in the Access IDE is a little easier with specialized IDE tools. In this final article of the series I’m going to let you in on my favorite tools, please comment on your favorites in the comments section!

FMS Source Code Library
Without a doubt one of the best compilations of Access code out there. Not only does it save you a ton of time, it also allows you to save your code too. You can learn more about it by clicking here. [Disclaimer: I’m a tester for FMS and have received complimentary upgrades in the past.]

MZ Tools
What I love about this tool set is it’s seamless integration into the Access IDE. It comes with a ton of great features, from a comprehensive search tool to powerful clipboard.  It also can paste frequently used code using shortcut keys, and best of all it’s Free! If you do use the software a lot, do contribute to the author via PayPal.

These are not IDE tools but I decided to expand the article with web based resources that help me program:

Google Docs
Sometimes I work out of the office and I need to quickly reach my code library. Google Docs allows me to save code snippets as individual files. Google’s incredible searching capability makes it a cinch to locate what I need.

UtterAccess.com
I love this site, but it can be frustrating to find answers to what I need. Using Google search with it’s specialized arguments is the best way, which I recommend you do before posting.

Experts-exchange.com
This is a paid website, but it has helped me in tight spots.

Google.com
If you haven’t learned Google’s parameters for restricting your search you’ve really haven’t exploited this site’s potential. My favorites are “-” to exclude keywords and “site:” to limit the search to a specific site. For example:

“adodb connections” -Oracle site:utteraccess.com

Will search for the narrow term adodb connections where Oracle is not mentioned on UtterAccess.com.

What do you use?
Let me know your favorite tools or sites in the comments section below. Anyone leaving a comment will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card 15 days from now. All comments from all three articles in this series will qualify, only one entry per author.