Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Access 2002 Programming in 24 Hours

Paul Kimmel is the founder of Software Conceptions. Software Conceptions provides software development and consulting services to small, medium, and large companies worldwide. Paul has been developing business solutions in Microsoft Access for more than 10 years and is available for consulting and development projects (at pkimmel@softconcepts.com). Paul is the author of several books on Visual Basic and Access programming, including the upcoming Visual Basic.NET Unleashed, and is the co-author of Sams Microsoft Access 2002 Development Unleashed. Paul is the weekly author of the free newsletter Code Guru Visual Basic Tech Notes from Internet.com. Paul resides in Okemos, Michigan with wife Lori and children Trevor, Douglas, Alex, and Noah, all accompanied by their assorted critters.

(NOTE: Each chapter concludes with Summary, Q&A, and a Workshop.)

Introduction.
I. ACCESS PROGRAMMING 101.

Hour 1. What's New in Access 2002.


New Side Panes for Easier Navigation. Customizing Menus and Toolbars. Spell-Checking Data. Editing Options. Speech Command and Control. Collaborating Online. Network Places. Remove Author Information. Introducing ActiveX Data Objects. Programming Objects. Adding Data to Web Pages. Access Projects.

Hour 2. Exploring VBA.


Understanding How Access VBA Works. Learning Access VBA Keywords. Access Operators and Operands. Data: What a Program Knows. Putting It All Together. Prelude to Advanced Topics.

Hour 3. Storing Your Program's Data.


How Memory Is Used. Declaring Variables. Data Assignment and Evaluation. Be Explicit. Using Pop-up Hints. Using the Locals Window. Using the Watches Window. Running Code in the Immediate Window. Employing the Call Stack.

Hour 4. Controlling Program Flow and Performing Calculations.


What Goes into an Equation. Understanding Operator Count. Using Arithmetic Operators. Performing Comparisons. The Truth of Logical Operators. Concatenate It. Who Has Precedence Here? Special Operators.

II. WRITING CODE TO MANAGE YOUR ACCESS DATA.

Hour 5. Learning to Write Conditional Code.


A Programmer's Traffic Cop. Tidying Up Nested Conditional Statements. Want to Go for a Spin? Take It Once Around the Block. Iterating Through Data. Iterating Collections of Data. Short-circuiting Code. Using the Switch Function.

Hour 6. Managing Your Database.


Access 2002 Is Backward Compatible with Access 2000. Creating a Database. Managing a Table with Code. Iteratively Inputting User Data. Using Conditional Code to Find Data.

Hour 7. Using Advanced Data Types to Manage Data.


Understanding OLE Automation. Using the ADODB Object. Using the ADOX Object.

III. USING ACCESS RESOURCES TO GET THE JOB DONE.

Hour 8. Solving Problems a Piece at a Time.


The Mechanics of Writing Subroutines. The Mechanics of Writing Functions. Programming Rules of Thumb. Tying It All Together.

Hour 9. Using Macros As Learning Aids.


Creating a Macro 101. Using CopyObject. Using DeleteObject. The Keys to the City. Importing Data. Using Macro Resources in Code. To Macro or Not to Macro.

Hour 10. Employing Access Predefined Solutions.


Using String-Handling Functions. Formatting Data. Using Date and Time Functions. Managing File I/O. Dynamic User Input Functions. Using Function, Method, Property, and Statement References.

IV. DEFINING DATA TYPES AND USING ARRAYS AND COLLECTIONS.

Hour 11. Making the Complex Simple: Creating Your Own Data Types.


Understanding Aggregation. Using the Type Declaration. What Kind of Data Can Go into My Type? Declaring Instances of User Types. Defining Enumerated Types. Putting It All Together.

Hour 12. Managing Varying Amounts of Data.


Understanding Arrays. Declaring Arrays. Using Arrays to Store Data. Functions for Managing Arrays. Returning Arrays from a Function. Things You Should Do When Using Arrays. Sorting Array Data.

Hour 13. Storing Information in a Collection.


Understanding Collections. Declaring Collection Variables. Managing a Data Collection. Places You'll Find Collections.

V. DATABASE PROGRAMMING IN ACCESS.

Hour 14. Managing Your Code.


Naming Conventions. Using Whitespace Consistently. Managing Complexity. Commenting Guidelines. Understanding the Benefits of Code Reuse. Testing and Debugging. Managing Data.

Hour 15. Data Programming Made Easy with ADODB.


Connecting to a Database. Managing a Recordset. Finding Records. Copying Data to a Collection Object. Using AddItem and RemoveItem. Finding ActiveX Data Objects Resources Online.

Hour 16. Using Advanced SQL Techniques.


Using the SELECT Statement. Inserting New Data. Updating Data. Deleting Data. Calling Functions in SQL Code. Writing Stored Procedures. Querying a SQL Server Database.

VI. MASTER ERROR HANDLING.

Hour 17. Removing Bugs.


Scaffolding. Trapping Code. Tracing Code. Asserting Assumptions. Using Compiler Directives. Making Debug Code Read-Only. Development Versus Deployment Error Handling.

Hour 18. Adding Code to Handle Errors.


Comparing Error-Handling Styles. Writing Error Handlers. Clearing the Error Handler. Writing Silent Error Handlers. Using the Err Object. Using Error Handlers to Validate User Input. Creating the Resource-Protection Block Idiom. Reviewing the Debug Object.

VII. CREATING ACCESS USER INTERFACES.

Hour 19. Creating Custom Forms and Reports.


Using Form Wizards. Customizing Wizard Forms. Testing Your Form. Defining a Report. Setting the Startup Point for Your Program.

Hour 20. Adding Data to Web Pages.


Comparing Intranets to Internets. Understanding Web Pages. Building the Database Used for the Demo. Using Wizards to Generate Web Pages. Using Web Page Design Tools. Adding a PivotTable to Web Pages. XML's Role in Access.

VIII. OBJECT-ORIENTED PROGRAMMING IN ACCESS.

Hour 21. Class Programming Basics.


Understanding the Need for Classes. Creating Your First Class. Hiding Information to Make Code Easier to Use. Defining Class Methods. Defining Properties. Writing Initialization and Termination Code. Writing a New Class. Creating an Instance of a Class.

Hour 22. Adding Capabilities to Your Data Types.


Defining the Objective. Understanding When to Write a Class. Applying Basic Principles of Object-Oriented Design. Extending Existing Classes. Testing Your New Class. Using the Strings Class.

Hour 23. Writing Access Add-Ins.


Introducing Add-Ins. Defining an Error-Logging Database. Defining a Viewer for the Error Log. Testing the Error Logging Add-In Database. Installing and Uninstalling Add-ins. Going for a Test Drive. Summarizing the Process.

Hour 24. Managing Outlook Contact Information.


Understanding Outlook 2002. Introducing the Outlook Object Model. Viewing Outlook Contacts in Access. Updating Outlook Information. Searching the Body of a Mail Item. Undeleting Mail Items. Sending Mail to Contacts Automatically.

IX. APPENDIX.

Appendix A. Answers.


Hour 1. Hour 2. Hour 3. Hour 4. Hour 5. Hour 6. Hour 7. Hour 8. Hour 9. Hour 10. Hour 11. Hour 12. Hour 13. Hour 14. Hour 15. Hour 16. Hour 17. Hour 18. Hour 19. Hour 20. Hour 21. Hour 22. Hour 23. Hour 24.

Index.