Access 2010 All-in-One For Dummies

Alison Barrows, Margaret Levine Young, Joseph C. Stockman

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780470532188
• eBook ISBN: 9780470770627
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Databases
• Index: Computer Science

The all-in-one reference to all aspects of Microsoft Access 2010

If you want to learn Microsoft Access inside and out, the nine minibooks in this easy-access reference are exactly what you need. Read the book cover to cover, or jump into any of the minibooks for the instruction and topics you need most. Learn how to connect Access to SQL Server, manipulate your data locally, use nifty new features from Office 2010 such as the enhanced Ribbon, create queries and macros like a champ, and much more. From the basics to advanced functions, it's what you need to make Access more accesssible.

• Shows you how to store, organize, view, analyze, and share data using Microsoft Access 2010, the database application included with Microsoft Office 2010
• Includes nine minibooks that cover such topics as database design, tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, database administration, securing data, programming with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and using Access with the Web
• Helps you build database solutions that integrate with the Web and other enterprise data sources
• Offers plenty of techniques, tips, and tricks to help you get the most out of Access

This all-in-one guide contains everything you need to start power-using Access 2010!

Book VIII

Programming in VBA

Controls on a form in Design view

Contents at a Glance

Chapter 1: What the Heck Is VBA?

Finding VBA Code

Enabling VBA Code

Using the Visual Basic Editor

Discovering Code as You Go

Chapter 2: Writing Code

How VBA Works

VBA Syntax

Declaring Module Options

Writing Your Own VBA Procedures

Typing and Editing in the Code Window

Testing and Running Your Code

Chapter 3: Writing Smarter Code

Creating Variables and Constants

Making Decisions in VBA Code

Executing the Same Code Repeatedly

Using Custom Functions

Chapter 4: Controlling Forms with VBA

Displaying Custom Messages

Opening Forms with DoCmd

Changing Form Controls with VBA

Understanding Objects and Collections

Chapter 5: Using SQL and Recordsets

Recordsets and Object Models

SQL and Recordsets

Running Action Queries from VBA

Chapter 6: Debugging Your Code

Considering Types of Program Errors

Fixing Compiler Errors

Trapping Runtime Errors

Dealing with Logical Errors

Chapter 1: What the Heck Is VBA?

In This Chapter

Understanding Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)

Using the Visual Basic Editor

Discovering code as you go

Visual Basic for Applications — often abbreviated VBA — is a programming language that you can use to extend the functionality of Microsoft Access and other products in the Microsoft Office suite of programs. A programming language is a means of writing instructions for the computer to execute (perform). Programmers often refer to the written instructions as code because the instructions aren’t in plain English. Rather, they’re in a code that the computer can interpret and execute.

You can create sophisticated Access databases without using VBA at all. In most cases, the other objects offered by Access — tables, queries, forms, reports, and macros — offer more than enough flexibility and power to create just about any database imaginable. But once in a while, you come across a situation where you want to do something that none of those other objects can do. That’s where VBA comes in. If you can find no other way to accomplish some goal in Access, writing VBA code is usually the solution.

Finding VBA Code

So what the heck is VBA code, anyway? To the untrained eye, VBA code looks like gibberish — perhaps some secret code written by aliens from another planet. But to Access, the code represents very specific instructions on how to perform some task.

Within any given database, Access stores code in two places:

♦ Class modules (code-behind forms): Every form and report you create automatically contains a class module (also called a code-behind form), as ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Introduction
• Book I : Essential Concepts
• Book II : Tables for Storing Your Data
• Book III : Queries (or Getting Information from Your Data)
• Book IV : Forms for Editing Data
• Book V : Reporting in Words and Pictures
• Book VI : Automation with Macros
• Book VII : Database Administration
• Book VIII : Programming in VBA
• Book IX : Going Beyond Access