In early 2020, I created the online course Managing Your Data with Microsoft Access which showed how to create an entire Access application from start to finish. This course has over 5 1/2 hours of video instructions covering the creation of tables, forms and reports along with specialty topics like printing Dymo labels from Access….
Category: Microsoft Access
Connecting Microsoft Access to MySQL
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…
Filtering Combo Boxes in Microsoft Access
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…
Customizing Reports in Microsoft Access
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…
Splitting a Database in Microsoft Access
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…
Online Course – Managing Your Data with Microsoft Access
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…
Recovering a Corrupted Table in Access With VBA
Recently, a client started experiencing errors, seemingly at random, in the database application I managed for them. The errors immediately started mentioning corruption and then these came through … Error 3167 – Record is Deleted Getting everyone out of the system and running a Compact / Repair seemed to help, but then … “The Microsoft…
How to Shut Down Remote Instances of Microsoft Access
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…
Troubleshooting MS-Access Error 31532 – Unable to export data.
Microsoft Access can sometimes seem to have its own obstinate personality, throwing errors that persist no matter what you try. I wanted to share a recent troubleshooting experience to show some of the steps that you can take when a function is just not working as expected and the decision process involved in fixing it.
Deploying MS-Access Table Design Changes to Remote Files
A New Challenge for Access I designed a Microsoft Access database for one of my clients and it’s split into two files – a front-end file with all the forms, reports and code and a back-end file with the tables. That’s pretty standard. During the development process, I needed to make adjustments to the table…