Welcome To Access Unlimited - Edition 19
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Access Unlimited is an email newsletter that provides free tips,  help and information for skilled Microsoft Access users and related software disciplines.

Produced by Garry Robinson from Sydney, Australia.

In this edition

GOING BACKWARDS IN A FORM
SMALL SCREEN DUMPS
HOW DOES GRAF-FX WORK ?  - YOU CAN FIND OUT
VISUAL BASIC FOR CE WINDOWS
MSDN ONLINE- SOME GREAT FREE ARTICLES
FREE STUFF
DATA TRANSFORMATION SERVICES
CORRUPTED ACCESS 97 DATABASE - AN UNLIKELY REPAIR IDEA
GOOD READING AND USEFUL SITES


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GOING BACKWARDS IN A FORM (Access, Internet. Etc)

Its not really all that obvious but if you want to move to the previous field on a data entry form, you have to hold down the {Shift} key and then hit the {Tab} key.   And don't forget that every Access form has a special viewer that allows you to set the sequence that the Tab key refers to on a form.   In form design view, select View ... Tab Order.   And Whilst we are on Tab, each control on an Access form has a property called Tab Stop (Look in the other section).  By turning this off, you can stop a user Tab(ing) into a Command Button or some other field not related to Data Entry.


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SMALL SCREEN DUMPS

A few issues ago I mentioned that sending screen dumps within Word was a great space saver.   Well if drop your screen dumps into Excel, it is also a great disk space saver

You can do this by

Getting the screen or the bug visible on the screen as you would like to demonstrate it.
Hitting the Print Screen button (for everything on your computer screen) or Alt Print Screen for just the current window.    Then open a blank Excel and paste in the screen image.   Now use Send To Mail on the File Menu in Excel.

What ever you do, don't just send the screen dumps as BMP files cause they are giganourmous.


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HOW DOES GRAF-FX WORK ?  - YOU CAN FIND OUT

http://www.gr-fx.com/graf/grafview.htm

will illustrate the features of what must be close to the most complicated
Access form ever written. 
 
Now you can purchase the full source code for Graf-FX
http://vb123.com/orders/


If you are a mining person, you can also find out how to write a drillhole data entry program by purchasing the full source code of Explore-FX.

http://www.gr-fx.com/mining/drill-fx.htm

Both options cost US $250.  

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VISUAL BASIC FOR CE WINDOWS

In response to a request for programming for CE in visual basic,  the hunt for documentation was on.   As per usual with these new technologies, very little was available but here is my pick of the bunch which will give you a good idea of what this new (smaller) world is all about.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period99/jm0499.htm

The rest of the links to the CE resources that Scott McManus and Ed came up with can be found at the following location.

http://www.vb123.com/toolshed/links/ce_vb.htm

As for the viability of CE Windows, what about the latest Sony VIAO Notebooks such as the C1 with a half size screen that weighs in at 1 kg.   It comes with 128 Megs Ram, 12 Gigs disk and runs a 500Mhz.   Something that small and fast with PCMCIA and USB built in for the price of an ordinary laptop.  The CE laptop marketplace might not actually get there before ordinary Windows technology comes down to its level.  So it might end up as Palms, Windows Notebooks and Fridges as the most common portable devices (and those horrible old PC's as well).   More on the C1 series at

http://www.sonystyle.com/sonystyle/4621/7018/7933/7251.default.html


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FREE STUFF

Microsoft have made downloading all the free Access goodies much harder.  

http://www.vb123.com/toolshed/99/freestuff.htm

and The Latest version of   "The Toolshed"

has the correct link.  Note that it seems to be getting harder and harder to find so maybe Microsoft are phasing out the old Access 97 (and others) free downloads.  Better be quick.


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MSDN ONLINE- SOME GREAT FREE ARTICLES

The following list of links feature some of The Informant's Microsoft Office and VBA magazine articles that have been feature at MSDN.   And if you want to read more than this list, click on the TOC button near the top of the page.

Using Access and PowerPoint to Create a User-friendly Survey Application
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/OfficeKiosk.htm

Mail Merge in Word 
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/MailMergePartI.htm

Self-Cleaning PivotTables In Excel
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/Self-cleaning.htm

Shaping ADO Queries with Access Subdatasheets
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/datashaping.htm

Integrating Client- and Server-side Scriptlets
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/ScriptComponents.htm

Building a Database Application from Spreadsheets
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/ExceltoAccess.htm

Fast, Undocumented String-handling Techniques
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/LightningStrings.htm

Tracking Multiple Bookmarks on Access 2000 Forms
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/BookmarkTracker.htm

International Issues: Part II
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/InternationalIssues.htm

COM Add-ins in Detail
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/Add-insDetail.htm

Automate Word Documents with Minimal Code
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/WordFieldsPartI.htm

Monitor and Debug Your Code
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/monitor.htm
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/debug.htm

Adding Your Own "Replace as You Type" Magic to Wordhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/intellisense.htm

Parsing XML Data with MSXML
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa163921(office.10).aspx

Collaboration with Microsoft Exchange
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/cDOpart1.htm

MapPoint 2000: Navigating Microsoft's Mapping Software
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period99/mappoint.htm

Create Your Own Popup Button Controls
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period99/button.htm

An Access 2000 Replication Primer
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period99/replicat.htm

Data Environment Designer Basics
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period99/data.htm

A More Powerful SQL For Jet
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period99/power.htm

WithEvents Revisited
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period99/withevents.htm

Or simply head over to
http://www.msOfficePRO.com

and get all the latest...


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DATA TRANSFORMATION SERVICES

Tucked away with the install of MSDE is a program called Data Transformation Services Wizard.   This offers a great number of choices for transferring data between different file types.   The following article explains it

http://www.vb2themax.com/HtmlDoc.asp?Table=Books&ID=1200&Page=2

But you do not get DTS designer with Access 2000.   So you have to run the MsDos command line program dtsrun.exe to rerun a DTS saved package.   Hmmm !!!  This help explains that at the very end.   Good luck...

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TOOLSHED QUARTERLY SUBSCRIBERS

Your latest version is coming out at the start of December.  

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CORRUPTED ACCESS 97 DATABASE - AN UNLIKELY REPAIR IDEA

One of my clients had a corrupted backend database that would simply just not open in Access 97 (on a number of PC's).  Nor would the tables import or link from another Access 97 database.  PANIC...

The solution was to be found in Access 2000 which managed to repair the database and convert it to Access 2000 format.  I then used the Convert back to Access 97 option in Access 2000 to return the data only database to Access 97 in a useable state. WHEW !!!
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http://vb123.com/sponsor

-----------------------------------------------------
ONLINE SOFTWARE AND BOOK PURCHASES FROM AMAZON.COM

Try out the new electronics section at Amazon.
Click here to enter the store at places suited to
the readership of this magazine
http://vb123.com#software


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GOOD READING AND USEFUL SITES

A Microsoft white paper on migrating from Access to SQL Server.  It only briefly dwells on the upsizing wizard which is odd as this is supposedly the tool of choice for upsizing.
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/accessmigration.htm

All sorts of useful detail on transfer between SQL server databases
http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/sql/dataimp.asp

Having troubles with your ODBC drivers.   Download the latest version of MDAC from
http://www.microsoft.com/data/odbc/default.htm

In need of a tool to deploy and test SQL scripts with your clients.
http://www.ssw.com.au/SSW/SQLDeploy/

Lots of database advice and articles
http://www.vb-world.net/databases/

Quick start to SQL Server
http://www.vb-world.net/articles/sqltutorial/index2.html

SQL Server and Soundex fuzzy logic.... Hmmmm
http://www.vb-world.net/articles/soundex/
eg Here's a sample SQL statement which retrieves all records where the AU_LNAME field sounds like 'Green': SELECT * FROM authors WHERE Soundex(AU_LNAME) LIKE Soundex('Green')

Interested In USB Devices
http://www.allusb.com/

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WRAPPING THIS EDITION UP

Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.


-- OUR SOFTWARE AND RESOURCES -----------------------
Explore your data visually using our popular Access
data mining shareware
---> http://www.gr-fx.com/graf-fx.htm

View our web site as a searchable eBook and have access
to all the downloads discussed in the articles and information
pages at the popular  vb123.com web site.
---> http://www.gr-fx.com/toolshed/


So thanks for reading our popular newsletter.
Feel free to make comments, copy the email to a friend
or maybe even contribute to the next edition.

Garry Robinson - Software Consultant




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