Importance of Installing MS Office Patches Access 2000 error, "Network connection may have been lost," might indicate Vbe6.dll conflict. An article for Tech Republic: In Access 2000, receiving the message "Error accessing file. Network connection may have been lost" may not really reflect a connection issue. Instead, it may merely reflect the hazards of patching security holes over time. The solution is another patch, of course.

Access SQL Tip From TechRepublic: Search for two or more single characters in a field. You can use the [ ] wildcard with the Like operator in your queries to search for two or more single characters in a field.

For example, suppose you want to find all customers with the following ZIP codes: 08052, 08053, or 08055. To use the [ ] wildcard, enter the following in your query's Criteria row under the ZIP Code field:

Like "0805[235]"

This expression searches for all field entries whose last character matches one of the characters specified between the brackets. Conversely, to search for all customers that don't live within these three ZIP code areas, place an exclamation point before the list, as shown below:

Like "0805[!235]"

The exclamation point inside the brackets stands for Not in the list. The query results will include all entries whose characters do not match any character in the list within the brackets.

You can combine the [ ] wildcard with any other wildcard character. For example, you can combine the * wildcard character with [ ] to search for any ZIP codes that begin with 0805, 0807, or 0808:

Like "080[578]*"

New from MSDN:

Creating Charts in Excel 2003 Using Visual Basic for Applications Code Methods of creating charts though the macro recorder, using VB and automation.
Building Office 2003 Research Services That Work Offline Give users the benefit of research services whether they are in their office plugged into the network or writing a proposal on a plane without network connectivity.
Migrate Word VBA Solutions to Visual Studio Tools for Office Learn how to migrate an existing Word VBA solution to a Visual Studio Tools for Office solution.
Microsoft Office Access 2003 VBA Language Reference The new objects, properties, and methods in Access 2003.
Microsoft Office Excel 2003 VBA Language Reference The new objects, properties, methods, and events in Excel 2003.
Migrating Word VBA Solutions to Visual Studio Tools for Office Explores the process of migrating an existing solution to managed code in Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System.

Access Knowledge Base Browser The Articles database for my Access Knowledge Base Browser has been just updated. The number of article references has been increased by nearly 100 to 2,641 article titles. The KB Browser is an easy way to search the on-line Microsoft Access Knowledge Base. Existing Users can click the "Update KB Table" button on the Application Toolbar to get the update. KB Browser is free for all buyers of a Premium Access Tool from aadconsulting.com, with prices starting from a low US$9.95.

Access Extra MS Access Reources CD v5.0 I have also just launched the Updated CD full of MS Access and MS Office resources: a massive 650mb of articles, code, add-ins, wizards, utilities and sample databases. Take your Access skills to the next level: the contents is fully organised and classified. You can use the CD's Searchable Browser Application to locate content.

Quick MS Access Tips:

Give your applications a quick makeover by globally replacing MS Sans Serif font with Tahoma.

Overcome the limited color choices offered by the Format menu for the backcolor of cells in datasheets by using VBA:

Private Sub Form_Open(Cancel As Integer)
Me.DatasheetBackColor = 12910591 'a soft yellow
End Sub

Free Evaluation of InstallShield X The new InstallShield X creates Windows Installer (MSI), InstallScript, and cross-platform installations and extends them to database servers, Web services, and mobile devices.

Tutorial: Validating XML Learn what validation is and how to check a document against a Document Type Definition (DTD) or XML Schema document.

I recently discovered the MSDN Library Archive for older content.

New Articles:

Bind an Access Form's Record Source from an XML File at Runtime Learn how to bind a form dynamically to a recordset created from an XML file.

Excel 2002/2003 Add-in for SQL Server Analysis Services Access multidimensional data, perform in-depth analysis, and create flexible, interactive reports in Microsoft Excel.

Access 2003/2002/2000 Sample: Summing in reports sample database Provides example reports that demonstrate creating group sums, report sums, page sums, running sums, and how to number the rows in your MS Access reports.

Office Talk: Easy Task Reports with Outlook and WordML How to export Outlook 2003 task data to XML and then use this as a source for reports in Word 2003. Sample Files

Recent MS Access Knowledge Base Articles:
Use this URL: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;xxxxx
where xxxxx is the Article No.

Access 2000

840644 "There are no Office Assistant character files present" error message when you start an Office 2000 program for the second time
841530 Office 2000 post-Service Pack 3 hotfix package: May 13, 2004

Access 2002

839781 You may receive an error message when you try to open a data access page in Access 2002
827983 Access 2002 post-Service Pack 3 hotfix package: May 7, 2004

Access 2003

838983 You may receive "The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable" error message when you try to remove an Access 2003 runtime application from your computer

Access

826137 You may receive the "Can't find the database you specified" error message when you open an Access database by using a shortcut
824165 ActiveX control that is contained in an Access form does not appear when the design-time license is not available
827983 Access 2002 post-Service Pack 3 hotfix package: May 7, 2004
826760 Incorrect object dependencies information appears for database objects in a read-only database
828411 You cannot use the MSODSC control when you insert an Office Chart 11.0 control in a data access page
841779 How to reset the page number and the total page count for each group in a Microsoft Access report
840992 Description of the Office XP post-Service Pack 3 hotfix package: May 8, 2004
828412 Programmatically modifying an action query in an Access database invalidates the digital signature of the Access database
824189 The AutoExpand property may not work when ANSI-92 syntax is enabled and the Combo Box RowSource does not use DISTINCT values
824171 Administrative installation of the Access Run-time Application is not successful
824176 "The Text You Entered Isn't an Item in the List" error message when you programmatically add a new record to a table by using the NotInList event of the Combo Box on a form
824180 Compilation is not successful when you convert a macro to a module
823228 BUG: Field size is changed when you copy and paste a table in an Access project
825445 Data remains unchanged when you modify dates by using the Calendar Control
824279 "Undefined Function '{FunctionName}' in Expression" error message when you open a data access page in Internet Explorer
824261 Jet 4.0 OLE DB Provider requires a Jet 4.0 system data