Access JumpStart 2.0 | Email Archive
A Rapid Development Framework for Microsoft Access
Email Archive
TDD in Access: Separating Logic from Forms for Cleaner Tests
I decided to do some tests today, but didn't even get to writing any yet. The issue was that I had a function tied to a button click event event inside a form which referenced various controls on the form. Normally, it's easy to refactor this by simply putting a...
Access Date Filtering: Between vs. >= and < Explained
When you need to specify date ranges in Access, remember the following helpful tips: By default, a date includes the time of midnight 00:00:00. So #1/1/2025# is equivalent to the expression #1/1/2025 00:00:00# or #1/1/2025 12:00:00 AM#. When you use Between, it always...
What Happens When You Press Ctrl-A in an Access Text Box?
Do you know what happens if you are in an Access text box and press Ctrl-A? You might expect all the text in it to be selected like a text box on a web page or in a Word document. But it doesn't. If you are in a text box on a form in the normal single form view it...
My VS Code Setup Saga: Copilot, Cogent, and a Few Surprises
I did more experimentation with Visual Studio Code today and the free Copilot Github and Cogent extensions. Copilot Github interfaces with the Github site Copilot feature which offers a free version. I also got the Cogent extension which acts as an agent for Copilot...
Adventures in AI: My Quest for Smarter Development Tools
Today I spent the time I would have taken to write an article to start reviewing the 8th light's TDD starter's guide: https://8thlight.com/insights/getting-started-tdd-practical-guide I'm excited to practice more TDD. But the lion's share of time was spent on...
Access Report Trick: How to Tell If You’re Running as a Subreport
I was doing more complex report work today in Access. I had need to determine if my sub-report on another sub-report was running as a subreport or not. There is the case in development where I'm just testing it, but when it is running as a sub-report it needs to check...
When Your Access Power Users Want Subdatasheets—Here’s the Fix
Most of my customers that I build Access apps for have not been Access users. In other words, they tend to know very little about tables or queries or reports, design view, VBA modules and macros. This tends to make my job easier in that I don't have to be concerned...
Pair Programming Dreams and TDD Goals: A Personal Dev Update
I've been listening to a podcast called Mob Mentality on Spotify. I just get the audio there but I think there's a YouTube channel. I'm still interested in mob and pair programming, even though I petered out when trying to organize one. (Sorry Peter [petered out], but...
Stuck with a Non-Updateable Query in Access? Try This Simple Fix
I have a table that that stores info for a filename in each record, and another table that stores multiple rows for each file record representing the data. I wanted to update the file table with the maximum and minimum dates found in each record so I crafted a query...
Access Report Layouts: The Page Header Fix You Didn’t Know You Needed
I had another Access report challenge. In my previous workaround using a Subreport in the main Report Footer section, I was able to hide the page header on the final page. Unfortunately, this is where my Page x of y field was located which was also hidden. In this...
Focus your Access skills
Every day I remind myself that I am working to help businesses simplify and provide software to streamline people's work. I use that phrasing to keep my focus on why I am using my Access skills. I want to bring simplicity. I try to use these aspects in my work and...
Version Control Systems and customer updates
Versioning systems are great for me as a business entity. It gives me control over updates and changing objects and code, allowing me to go to previous versions easily and prevents the dreaded "Where did that feature go?" problem. But what if the customer wants to...
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