Alison Balter's Mastering Microsoft(R) Office Access 2007 Development

Microsoft Office 2007 is a major upgrade from the last version of Office; Access will also be greatly revised. Alison Balter is the name that Access developers will trust to guide them through Access 2007's new features. She has the rare ability to take complex topics and explain them clearly, as shown by the success of her ten previous books on Access. Balter is known for providing real-world solutions to specific Access development problems. She also is known for her ability to back up her practical examples with just enough underlying theory to give the reader a good overall understanding of Access. In short, this book will provide beginning and intermediate Access developers with everything that they need to know to design and build Access 2007 applications. It should also appeal to DBAs and power users who want or need to get started building custom Access apps. This latest book in her Mastering Access series will not disappoint her many fans who anxiously await each new version, and should win her new fans as well.

 

Introduction

Part I The Basics of Access Development

1 Access as a Development Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 What Every Developer Needs to Know About Databases and Tables . . . . . . . 75

3 Relationships: Your Key to Data Integrity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

4 What Every Developer Needs to Know About Query Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

5 What Every Developer Needs to Know About Forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

6 What Every Developer Needs to Know About Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

7 What Are Macros, and When Do You Need Them? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

8 VBA: An Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

9 Objects, Properties, Methods, and Events Explained . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

10 Advanced Form Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

11 Advanced Report Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493

12 Advanced Query Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

13 Advanced VBA Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

14 Exploiting the Power of Class Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

15 What Are ActiveX Data Objects, and Why Are They Important?. . . . . . . . . . 671

Part II What to Do When Things Don?t Go as Planned

16 Debugging: Your Key to Successful Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727

17 Error Handling: Preparing for the Inevitable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755

18 Optimizing Your Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801

Part III Developing Multiuser and Enterprise Applications

19 A Strategy to Developing Access Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835

20 Using External Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 847

21 Access 2007 and SharePoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883

22 Developing Multiuser and Enterprise Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909

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Part IV Black Belt Programming

23 Working with and Customizing Ribbons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935

24 Automation: Communicating with Other Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 949

25 Exploiting the Power of the Windows API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 985

26 Creating Your Own Libraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1011

27 Using Builders and Wizards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1027

28 An Introduction to Access and the Internet/Intranet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1055

Part V Adding Polish to Your Application

29 Documenting Your Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073

30 Maintaining Your Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1091

31 Database Security Made Easy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103

The following appendixes are available for download

at www.samspublishing.com/title/0672329328.

Part VI Appendixes

A Naming Conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PDF:1131

B Table Structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PDF:1137

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1193

 

User review
One of my three greatest resources!
Contrary to popular claims, no one book could cover every aspect of this subject, but if there was one single book I could own, This would be it. Extremely well written, a tiny bit of humor, a fun read (quite actually). I spent hours in this and had something to show for my money.

This book can take you from marginal knowledge to building a company wide sabotage-proof application that will command respect.

Disclaimer: this is not to say that you might not have to spend hours and hours exploring this ocean-deep hobby. Work is still essential on your part, but Balter takes as much pain out of the task as humanly possible.

A nice complimentary companion to this work is Hernandez's Database Design for Mere Mortals, but take this one first.

A terrific Value.

Steve, Akron, OH
Hobbiest and enthusiast.

Expert's Exchange fee-based newsgroup is another terrific help to get you on your way.

User review
UNLOCK ACCESS 2007
This is a GREAT BOOK by an internationally acclaimed expert that allows you to get the most out of the 2007 version of Microsoft Access. Well organized and written in a common-sense, easy-to-understand style, Ms. Balter is able to make complex data base solutions simple.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning how to unleash the power of the Access 2007 database. It has topics any beginner can use immediately and essential tools every advanced user shouldn't be without.

Thank you Alison for writing the book other authors will envy.

User review
Simply Advanced
This book is very well written, and aimed at neither the total computer novice, nor the highly advanced expert - in other words, it is just right for most of us.

Each chapter begins with an explanation of why the area to be covered is important, and a general overview of the concepts. The remaining portion of the chapter then gets into the nuts and bolts of employing the practical techniques to build your database. When there is to be more advanced coverage of the concept in a later chapter, Ms. Balter notes where it will be found.

I recommend this book to anyone who may have a working knowledge of basic computer/database programming, but who is not the professional already steeped in advanced techniques.

User review
Indispensable Tool
I've been an Access developer since version 1.0. I purchased Alison's Mastering Access 2000 Development when I transitioned from 97 to 2000. With each new Microsoft Access release I purchase her book as a primer for the new version and a reference for my development activities. Her book on 2007 is indispensable. The changes are big but she outlines them in a practical way with relevant examples. Alison, thanks for a great book!

User review
Review
Still reading this but,,,,
Seems to lack the 'meat' and depth of information of the Access Developers Handbook series (of which no edition for Access 2007 seems to exist).
Product shipped without the accompanying CD that is referred to throughout the text.