Microsoft Access parameter queries enable you to pass criteria from outside a query. This article shows how they can be called from VBA.

It’s actually possible to populate specific cells in an Excel worksheet with information from your Access database. Here’s how you do it.

In my latest video, I demonstrate how to use Microsoft Access as a front-end for MySQL without having to create a DSN entry on the client machine. Access easily connects to MySQL through an ODBC connection but the standard practice is to create a dedicated data source under the ODBC Data Sources Administration panel in […]

Combo boxes are extremely useful in Microsoft Access and other design environments. They provide a compact control from which your users can access a drop-down menu that enables them to choose from a variety of options. In my applications, combo boxes often pull their rows from lookup tables such as product or customer lists and […]

In my latest video, I go into more detail about Microsoft Access report settings. This video is also an addition to my tutorial series, Managing Your Data with Microsoft Access which is now free on YouTube. Microsoft Access has always been known for having a great report designer with which you can put together professional […]

My latest video shows how to split a database in Microsoft Access to separate the data from the user interface and programming elements. Access can link to data from different file formats including Excel, text files and other Access databases. For multi-user applications, you can have an Access file with just the forms, reports, queries […]

One of the things I hear about Microsoft Access is that it’s simply too complicated for many people to work with. This is because Access is designed for building database applications that can be used to automate and manage processes. Too few resources approach it from that perspective. This leaves users and students without the […]

Full Disclosure – I Owe My Career to Access I’ve been working with Microsoft Access off and on since 1997, just a few years after it was first introduced in ’92. I can realistically say that learning Access made my career in I.T.. I’d had some previous programming and database experience with Borland Paradox and […]

When you’re managing a multi-user Microsoft Access application, there are times when you need all users out of the database so that you can make changes to table structures and other items. Asking everyone to shut down is unreliable and using the Windows Task Manager to forcibly shut down instances of Microsoft Access is risky […]

Creating an Access application for other people means anticipating how the users are going to interact with your program. Without clear direction from the program or you, users can be easily confused by even simple things like the order in which data is to be entered. One of the basic tools in Access is the […]