Microsoft Access reports just got a whole lot easier

We've just launched Report Builder for Microsoft Access, a way to create an Access report in far less time, and make it look much more polished than doing it all by hand!   Thanks to all the dedicated beta testers who gave such excellent feedback!

Here's the direct link:
http://www.opengatesw.net/products/Access-Report-Builder/Report-Builder-for-Access.htm

New Access 2010 Resources from Microsoft

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/gg406142.aspx

Mainstream Access 2010 Hosting

Microsoft is making Access 2010 web hosting more mainstream:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/access/archive/2010/10/19/office-365-and-access-web-databases.aspx

While another Access 2010 hosting solution exists already, clearly people look to Microsoft first to find the end-to-end solution.  Whether the pricing will be comparable, that's going to be interesting.

Transitioning your Database

Some time ago I posted about the risk you face in creating a database that becomes essential for your group's daily operations.  By no means should you think of NOT creating or pursuing the database.  It is a double-edged sword: creating an innovative and useful database will increase your value and the success of your group, while it can also add to your workload and cause your management a bit of fear when they think of promoting you or your departure.

Step 1: Set Expectations
Set clear expectations with your management about what your Access database can do functionally, and what it can do with and without you.  It may continue to work perfectly even if you are gone for weeks.  Or it might need daily care and feeding.  Either way, make sure you've communicated what it takes for your database to keep working, and what skill level is needed if you are gone.  Ideally your manager will be an ally, and make certain to facilitate finding a prospective replacement.  It also helps them to understand how much hard work you've put in to saving your group time and money.

Step 2: Find a Replacement
Look for someone in your group to begin sharing the work with.  If your application has been visible to others in your group, you may have no trouble finding someone willing to start taking some of the "hero" spotlight. And you don't need to tell them you're hoping for a promotion, just that you'd like someone to help cover questions and issues if you're out of town, on vacation, or sick.

It's likely that no-one will have your level of expertise in Access.  If so, you can try to convince your manager to fund an online Access class, or a book or two to help cross-train your colleague.

Step 3: The Transition
I've been fortunate to move to new positions several times in my career.  At least three included a departmental Access database that needed someone to take care of when I moved on.  Try setting up a series of short meetings to transition your responsibility.  Breaking your transition into several sessions gives some breathing time for you to remember details you might want to pass on, and the new person can assemble questions and absorb the information for the next session.    You may be tempted to apologize for poor code quality, imperfect architecture, and ineffecient steps.  Rest assured the person you are transitioning to will likely not recognize these facts, and will have an opportunity to improve upon them in due course (if they have the interest!).

Possible Game Changer from Microsoft

Creating an interface where normal business users can build an application without learning to program is the golden goose.  Microsoft seemed to think Access was that product many years ago, here's their next evolution of it (I think).  Beta is available August 23rd.  Can't wait to take a test drive!

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/lightswitch

Uploading Access to SQL Azure

Microsoft has just released an update to the SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) that allows you to load your Access database into the Azure cloud.  Haven't tried it yet, but please post a reply if you have.  Would love to see what your experience has been.  And specifically, how have you front-ended the database?  With ASP.NET, or just continue to use the Access client with linked tables.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/access/archive/2010/08/12/easily-migrate-access-data-to-sql-azure.aspx

Office 2010 - Time to Upgrade

We've got quite a few Access customers still on 2003.  Yesterday one asked if they should upgrade to 2007.  The answer, of course, was "no."  Naturally the conversation was directed to whether to upgrade to 2010 instead.  You can find highlights for Access 2010 here.  In the end, it's probably time for most users to upgrade to Office 2010 if you have 2003.  The fact is 2003 was a legacy of Windows 95-era desktop apps, while 20007 and 2010 are more representative of Windows Vista/7 user experience design patterns and security.  Not only will you find it easier (after some adjustment of course) to work in Office 2010, but security is also a key element to consider. 

Access 2003 introduced a minimal security prompt, whereas the Office 2007/2010 Trust Center treats security in Office with the consideration it deserves.  Office 2010 includes file-level trust, something definitely missing in 2007.

Lastly, if you are considering upgrading to Office 2010, you can reconsider whether all users require the full version of Access, or whether you can save money with the free Access runtime edition.

Weekly Status Reports Online

A new online service from OpenGate Software!  The free public beta period has started, sign up today for up to 10 users in your organization.  Collect weekly status reports from your employees online, and submit to your manager in minutes.  No more need to worry about status report templates, formatting, and reminders!  Simple Status takes care of it all for you.  Give it a try for free!

Simplify development, testing, and troubleshooting multiple versions of Access with Windows 7 Virtual PC

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/access/archive/2010/06/04/power-tip-simplify-development-testing-and-troubleshooting-multiple-versions-of-access-with-windows-7-virtual-pc.aspx

The Client App Lives!

These days everything new and interesting seems to be web-enabled.  From email to ERP, everyone is going to the web.  So it's interesting to note that a company like Google, heavily centered in the online world, offers a client-based application to manage pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns.  While rich internet applications continue to evolve and replace traditional desktop apps, it's good to know even Google recognizes the value (and necessity) of client-side apps.

For that very reason, Access 2010 will hold value where low- to mid-level complexity tasks are accomplished in a web client, and high-complexity (or processor intensive) activities are handled by power-user client applications.

Comparing Access 2000 through Access 2010

New resource available:
Access 2000 to Access 2010 comparison

Time for Spring Cleaning? Revisiting Your Access Database

It's fair to say few people I know involved with MS Access ever said to themselves, "I want to learn to be a database guru," or, "I want to specialize in Microsoft Access."  If you are like most MS Access users, it fell upon you as you searched your Start Menu for what your company had installed on your PC.  Or you bought Access thinking it might be useful some day.  At the same time, your very first database may also be the most important one you use, the reason you started using Access, and the little application that makes your day go faster.

Unlike a Word document or a web page, the thought of doing a major rewrite of your database to run more smoothly can make you cringe.  Your first few Access databases probably  remind you of when you were learning volumes of new concepts while trying to put them into practice that same day.  They are unwieldy and difficult to maintain.  Fortunately, you are wiser now.   You know that a single macro or line of VB can help you avoid creating 10 different copies of the same query just so they show information for 10 different products.  You know that you can accomplish the same task with a few simple modular VB functions instead of the gnarly 200-line monster that your database relies on. Or you know now that you don't need three separate tables (Prospects, Proposals, and Customers) that all store essentially the same information, when a simple "Account Type" field can help you differentiate between them.

Whatever ugly solutions lurk in your database, as Spring rolls around and the economy starts to tick back up, it may be time to start eliminating the vestiges of your create-as-you-learn-the-basics work.

The Benefits
Before you set out to rewrite or rework part of your database, it's sensible to do a back of the napkin cost/benefit analysis.  What will revising your Access database do for you?

1. Less costly maintenance.  Rewriting or reworking some of the most difficult-to-maintain areas of your database can save you time when you need to fix a bug or make a change needed to keep your business running.  Instead of changing your code in 5 different places and making sure it all works, revising your database can mean you only have to make the change in one location, and test it once.  
2. Fewer bugs.  If you simplify your Access database, and that is usually what you can do armed with greater knowledge of Access database design and development, you can reduce the number of failure points.  And because your database accomplishes the same tasks with fewer steps, queries, macros, and/or lines of code, you can spend more time testing and adding error checks into those steps.
3. Smaller database size.  If you have your database on a shared network drive, then the size of your database will matter when users open it each time.  Interestingly, deleting several redundant forms or optimizing your tables and indexes can make a big difference in the amount of space your database takes up.  That in turn can mean faster loading times.
   

Spring Cleaning Tips
So what can you do to clean up your database?

• Revisit your indexes.  If speed and size are important, make sure you have Access table indexes on the right fields.  Access will often automatically add indexes to some numeric fields (especially if you created that table by importing from Excel), even if you don't often run queries against those fields.  Conversely, you may find that Last Name or Email Address is very commonly used to search your database.  You may want to add an index to that field to make your queries run faster.
• Use the Access "WhereCondition" argument for DoCmd.OpenReport and DoCmd.OpenForm (for macros, it is just Open Form and Open Report).  In so many cases, I see people copying the same form, Access query, or report so that Report 1 is for Jane's sales numbers, and Report 2 is for Fernando's.  The fields are all the same, everything is the same except for the sales rep.  And each time you need to make a change to the report, you have to do it in 2 or more.  Instead, use the WhereCondition argument to control whether the report should display Jane or Fernando's data.
• Compact, Repair, and Decompile.  Compact and Repair are easily done.  In Access 2000 and 2003, click on "Tools>>Database Tools..>>Compact and Repair."  In Access 2007, select the Office icon, then Manage>>Compact and Repair.  Decompling your Access database is something you should do if you find your application is behaving oddly, such as ignoring when you explicity set a variable, or crashing when you edit one of your Access forms.  One of the Access MVPs has a fine page on the subject.
• Create lookup tables to improve consistency.  If you have a field that should contain a finite number of values, but you find your users enter all sorts of junk, it may be time to create a lookup field and table.  First, create the lookup table with the values you want to limit users to select.  Second, you'll need to create a new lookup field in your main table.  You can set the data type to "Lookup..." and Access will guide you through the process of pointing to your new lookup table.  Last, you have to update existing records to set the new lookup field equal to the corresponding lookup key in the lookup table.  To do that, create a new query that joins the lookup value (not the key, the value) in the lookup table to the "old" value field in your main table.  Then, make the query an update query and say you want to set the main table's new lookup field equal to the lookup table's key field value.
• Simplify your code and macros.  Whether you rely solely on macros, or you use VB heavily, simplification is always the goal.  Try to break out our macros or VB into small pieces of single-purpose elements.  If you have five macros that all update customer records, you may be able to create a single "master" macro that performs the update, and then all five simple point that that master macro to do the common work.  Similarly, if you have the same VB code on each form that validates your required fields are populated, but that code is identical, become familiar with the "Me" form object reference and create a single VB function that sits in it's own module, and each form's code simply calls that main function and passes the "Me" object reference to say which form needs to be used when running the code.

Have more Spring cleaning tips?  Would love to hear about them in the comments!

Getting Ready for Microsoft Access 2010

Several pages with overview information about Microsoft Access 2010, including an overview of the new Access Services and Access Services System Requirements