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Traversing the call stack with vbWatchdog
Just a quick note today. I wanted to add the call stack to my error log messages for my client app. That way I could see the full set of calls that was causing the error and it would help me debug better. For example, if I pass bad SQL to my SQL Executing function, I...
Copying Access Tables / Data using VBA Real World Case – Part 2
I have finished coding the solution. I ended up using DAO after all. The solution grabs a collection containing info about the source and target database paths and table names. Then it loops through the collection, opens the target database, deletes the table if it...
Copying Access Tables / Data using VBA Real World Case – Part 1
I received a task today to update a demo / WIP Access system which will be upgrading an existing Access system. Many parts of the system are the same, the upgrade is meant to address importing data from a new datasource. The customer is currently using both systems...
Access VBA Sometimes Fails Silently
I'm working in Access today and I noticed that a confirmation dialog box I have set up to ask me as a developer if I really want to send an email was not working. Initially I thought it was because of a flag that was failing to get set, but that wasn't it. I kept...
Totally Geeking Out on VBA
So, I was having an email conversation with a regular reader of my Access Adventure and he was discussing the sad lack of documentation for VBA's internals. The engine that runs it and it's various components. Although I have a cursory knowledge of VBA, I have never...
VBA Loops cheat sheet
There are a number of looping structures in VBA. Here is a quick cheat sheet: Loop Types:For <var> = <start> To <end> (Step <amount to add>) / Next <var> For Each <itm> In <array / collection> / Next <itm> Do While...
When to use Macros vs VBA in Microsoft Access
As an Access developer, my typical knee jerk response to Macros is: DON'T USE MACROS, anything a macro can do, VBA can do! However, there are a couple of things macros can be used for that VBA actually can't do. -- GASP -- WHAT??? One thing you can't do with VBA...
How many ways are there to NOT do something?
I'm struggling through some client work right now and finding that I have found at least 3 ways of how not to get the results I'm trying to achieve. In this case it has to do with reporting to the user everything that has changed from the beginning of opening an order...
Transparent = True or Visible = False?
They sound the same, don't they? But they aren't!!! Often you want to control elements visibility on forms. For example, you might want to hide certain fields or buttons from view when you are adding a record instead of editing it. In a recent case for my...
Finishing the Combobox Group Headers
Yesterday I discussed a Combobox I was adding dummy header lines into. See that message here: The Joys of Combo Dropdown Group Headers. My combo box is multiple columns and I use the extra columns to insert data into other fields on the line when the Item Description...
The Joys of Combo Dropdown Group Headers
What? Combo dropdown group headers? What voodoo is this? I have a combo box on a continuous form in an Item Description field. Each row on the continuous form can contain a line item that can be populated from different sources. There is a job estimate source where...
An example of using AI to write a function
Programming with AI You can shortcut some work by asking a large language model (LLM) how to do something. If someone else out there has done it and the AI LLM has trained on it, it might even do a decent job. Today I needed to write a function that would take a...
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