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.

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 […]

Let me tell you a story … In 2002, I was interviewing for a database support position and feeling pretty good about my chances. I’d been working with Microsoft Access for a few years, everyone at the last job knew me as the expert and general tech guru and I was hoping things panned out […]

Spend much time in beginner programming forums and you’ll see many of the same questions again and again from people trying to break into coding. For some of us who just sort of gravitated to the field, it’s a reminder that it doesn’t come as easily for everyone. Sometimes, I feel the urge to send […]

An essential skill … If there is one programming language that I would recommend for everyone, it’s Structured Query Language (SQL). SQL (often pronounced “sequel”) is the main language used to communicate with databases including Oracle, SQL Server and Microsoft Access. It’s the set of commands used to write and retrieve data. If you work […]

My latest online course on Teachable.com is about getting started with C# programming. Most of my previous video work has centered around Microsoft Access but I’ve produced a couple of other C# videos and, based on the reaction, I decided it was time to do some more with it. I learned how to program many […]

It Seems Like I’ve Been Here Before … People seem fairly impressed when I mention that I’ve written a couple of books on databases and software. I try not to make a big deal of it, just mentioning it in passing as appropriate, because I actually don’t consider it to be a big deal. I’m […]

One of the fundamental differences between an Excel spreadsheet and a Microsoft Access or SQL Server database is the database’s ability to group data by subject into tables and create links between that information.  This type of organization enables the user to store large amounts of data and retrieve specific information quickly by writing queries that […]

I started my (more or less) serious database development training many years ago in Microsoft Access.  One of my favorite controls was the Combo Box, a nice little drop-down field that enabled the user to select one of many values but collapsed down onto a single line.  The Combo Box control in Access was very […]

Years ago, when I was making do with the limited computer equipment that I could afford, I never dreamed that I would one day be able to login to a website, plug in a few specs about the machine I wanted and then, a few minutes later, log into that machine remotely and run whatever […]