Tony's Microsoft Access Blog

Updated the Convert Access to Visual Basic, Delphi, Java, ASP or ASP.NET page

I've added AccessForms2Web which converts Access pages to PHP & MySQL to my Convert Access to Visual Basic, Delphi, Java, ASP or ASP.NET page as well as cleaning up old links.

NASA did good - Mars rovers still roving

Ok, so this isn't Access related.  But I'm quite impressed with NASA's Mars rovers.  Which are still working three years after thier estimated ninety day life span.  NASA Mars Rover Ready For Descent Into Crater.

Updated the Calendars and Compression DLLs, OCXs, etc pages

I added the following to the Calendars and Microsoft Access page: Duane Hookum, fellow Access MVP, has an awesome and simple calendar in a report. See the Calendar Reports sample section at Hook'D on Access Samples 

I added the following to the Microsoft Access Compatible Compression DLLs, OCXs, etc page: Zip a File by fellow MVP Garry Robinson is a "simple way to add a file to a zip file using Access VBA and WinZip"

Access 2007 runtime is on hold again

According to Clint Access Runtime is on Hold.   Better to get it right.  Irritating for some I know but I support Microsoft's decision to hold off on this.

Added: Much more details at Erik Rucker's blog Access 2007 Developer Extensions and Runtime are LIVE!!! in the comments.

(If this is a duplicate in your RSS reader it's because the blog server had a hiccup and had to be restored.)

Access 2007 Runtime is now available.

According to Eric Rucker Access 2007 Developer Extensions and Runtime are LIVE!!! 

 Well, almost.  As of this posting one link worked but the other didn't. 

 Added:  I'm told that it can take a while to update all the servers in the various server gangs.

Who says Microsoft writers have no sense of humor

From a posting by a fellow MVP

Windows XP: Show your style! Make Windows look the way you want

 "If all the walls in your home are white, stop reading.  If you've never accessorized an outfit, customized your car, or pierced your body, this article isn't for you. But if you like adjusting your environment to fit your mood and sense of style, you'll likely enjoy the number of ways Microsoft ..."

Another way to test drive Access 2007

You can download a Virtual PC VHD (Virtual Hard Drive) file containg Windows Vista and Office 2007, including Access 2007, from Microsoft Office 2007 Professional VHD.   A link to download the now free Microsoft Virtual PC is also on that same page.  

 Note that you will need at least 512 spare MB of RAM not currently being used and 10 Gb of hard drive space..  That file is somewhere between "448.8 MB - 2548.8 MB*" according to that page.  I'd think that you'd be safe in assuming the 2.5 Gb download size.

You also have to sigh at the following sentence.  "This download offers you the benefits of registering with Microsoft."  Benefits, uh huh.  Marketing speak.   Ah well, it's been my experience that Microsoft is relatively benign when it comes to sending you unwanted emails.

 Ahh, now, Microsoft folks were quite smart on this large download. They split the download into four parts.   I won't be downloading it though.

Added:  I won't be downloading the VHD because I already have Office 2007 including Access 2007 installed on my system.  Thus no need to download the file.

Norton Antivirus strikes again - ODBC to SQL Server 2005

From a recent newgroup posting 

> I'm trying to link an Access 2003 project to a SQL 2005 database on a
> network server.  Everything seems to go okay until I select ODBC as the type
> of source I want to link to and them nothing happens.  If I select any of
> the other types of files such as Excel I get the appriiate dialog box.  What
> is going on???  I'm running VISTA 64 Bit on the wokstation and Windows 2003
> Server on the database server.
>
I had the same problem - felt a bit dishearted when I saw there was no
response on your question.  But - I found the solution!

Van T. Dinh (MVP (Access) wrote in one of the other groups:
"If you use Norton AntiVirus, try disabling the Office Plug-in. You'll
find the Office Plug-in under 'Miscellaneous' in the Norton AntiVirus
options."

 Update 2007-06-21.  Fellow MVP Jens Schilling mentioned this problem back in 2006-10-03 in this Google posting titled Connecting to data sources

Page with sample VB code for Serial Port IO

Thanks to christianlott1 at yahoo dot com for posting in the comp.databases.ms-access newsgroup.

Perform Serial Port Communication - The sample code linked to this page consists of a VB module containing a collection of routines to perform serial port I/O without using the Microsoft Comm Control component. The module uses the Windows API to perform the overlapped I/O operations necessary for serial communications.

My Microsoft Access and Serial Port Communications page has been updated with the above.

Book: The Rational Guide to Microsoft Office Access 2007 Templates

Zac Woodall, of the Microsoft Access team has written a book titled The Rational Guide to Microsoft Office Access 2007 Templates

Note that I do not have any kind of associate code in that URL so I'm not making any Amazon commissions from that link.

From WTF: The Legend of Kyle Söze

The Legend of Kyle Söze 

<snip>
The rules of Kyle’s database design are simple:

- All identifiers (table names, column names, etc) must be exactly eight characters in length
<snip>

Which leads into Tony's Table and Field Naming Conventions Naming standards can be a hot topic. 

Running Access on a Windows Vista peer to peer network?

Are you running Access on a Windows Vista peer to peer network?  That is the back end MDB is on a Windows Vista machine.  And the front end is also on a Windows Vista box.  Wierd things are happening? Performance is terrible or Access crashes?  The problem is Server Message Block 2.0 (SMB).   (This sounds somewhat similar to the OpLocks corruption problem a number of years ago.)

Then you need to either use a Windows XP or other system as the server or get the recently released hotfix.  See the KB article Issues that you may encounter when you open or are using a Microsoft Office Access database on a computer that is running Windows Vista

You're running the database on Windows Longhorn Server?  On a beta operating system?  You're much braver than I am.   However that same article applies.

New version of Auto FE Updater available

- Windows Vista now supported. 
- Starting an exe, such as the Sagekey runtime system, is now supported.
- Fixed the "The MDW account name and password in the INI file weren't valid for opening the MDB to determine the version of the MDB" message when in a mixed operating system work station environment.
- Emphasized using %appdata% as a location for the Front End MDB/MDE in the sample ini files and documentation
- Added error numbers to the messages.  It was getting a bit difficult tracking down specific error messages in the code. 

http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm

Microsoft: We Share Your Pain

This is a hilarious video.  YouTube version   Microsoft version (for which you will have to log in.)

On a serious note though please do send in all the crash error reports from Windows, Office and other applications.  Microsoft personnel do pay close attention to all those reports and they will fix the problem, if at all possible, in the next Service Pack. 

 One Microsoft employee once stated to us MVPs "You know, my mother gets on my case sometimes about Windows.  It's really hard dealing with your mother on Microsoft issues."

 Now what does happen occasionally is that Microsoft can see highly unusual problems happening.  And they'd really, really like to help out.  But privacy laws and ethics forbid them from reaching out to the problem systems directly.

Office 2007 format documents in Office 2000, XP and 2003

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats From within Office 2000, XP and Office 2003 you can "Open, edit, and save documents, workbooks, and presentations in the file formats new to Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007."

 Correct, this isn't Access related.