Office 2007 Video: Creating Data Portals

2007 Office System Video: Portals Download this series of developer-oriented videos to view conference breakout sessions about customizing search capabilities, building custom portal interfaces, providing personalized views, and aggregating connections to line-of-business data.

Ezy SQL: Still Only US$19.95

Ezy SQL Editor and Builder Add-In and Wizard for Microsoft© Access 97 - 2007

As used by many enterprise developers, including Lockheed and Kansas Department of Agriculture.

• Font Name and Font Size Customization
• Full Find and Replace and Undo functionality
• SQL Keywords Assistant
• Parameter Wizard
• SQL String Parser/Formatter
• Easy insertion of table and field references
• Automatically insert formatted SQL Strings into modules or copy to the Clipboard
• Preview queries, including action queries
• Automated query versioning
• Integrated with Access CommandBars and PopUp Menus
• Also accessible from the Access Query Windows and the VBA Editor

Try the demo

MSDN Articles for Access 2007 Developers

Creating Managed Add-ins for Access 2007

Ribbon Extensibility in Access 2007

Transitioning Your Existing Access Applications to Access 2007

MSDN Articles on Using Visual Tools for Office 2007

• Creating Custom Task Panes Using Visual Studio Tools for Office

  Learn how to create custom task panes with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System.

• Customize the Office (2007) Ribbon UI for Developers (Part 1)

  Learn how new features in Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System support RAD development of Ribbon customizations.

• Customize the Office (2007) Ribbon UI for Developers (Part 2)

  Find detailed reference material about the controls and method signatures of the Ribbon user interface.

• Customize the Office (2007) Ribbon UI for Developers (Part 3)

  Get a list of frequently asked questions regarding the Ribbon user interface.

• Migrate a Document-Level Customization to an Application-Level Add-In

  Learn how to migrate your document-based solutions to application-level add-ins.

• Migrating a Shared Add-in to a Visual Studio Tools for Office Add-In

  Learn about issues you might have with migrating existing shared add-ins.

• Migrating a VBA Solution to a Visual Studio Tools for Office Add-In
  Add new functionality to your VBA solution using the VBA skills you already have and Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office.

Just Released: Visual Studio Tools for Office 2007 Add-On for Visual Studio 2005

Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office system is now available! Download this fully-supported add-on to Visual Studio 2005 which enables developers to build robust, scalable, line-of-business applications targeting the 2007 Office system.

Download Office 2007 Data Connectivity Componenents

2007 Office System Driver: Data Connectivity Components This download will install a set of components that can be used by non-Microsoft Office applications to read data from 2007 Microsoft Office system files.

Office 2007 and Web 2.0 Integration

2007 Office System Document: Bringing Web 2.0 to the Enterprise with the 2007 Office System  This MS white paper explores how the 2007 Microsoft Office system allows enterprises to adopt Web 2.0 ideas and technologies to create high-value, user-driven applications for the Internet and intranet.

Tool for Checking Update Status of Office Installations

Office Update Inventory Tool Version 2.2  The Office Update Inventory Tool version 2.2 enables administrators to check one or more computers in their organization for the status of Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2203, and Office 2007 updates.

Migrating To Access 2007

Now that Office 2007 has been relased to production, the following are essential resources to guide developers in moving to the new version of Access:

Access 2003 Conversion Tool  You can use the Access 2003 Conversion Tool to analyze databases for upgrade and conversion to Access 2007, by scoping and identifying known issues that have an impact on the conversion process.

Migration considerations for Access 2007  With Access 2007, you can open and use databases created in Access 2000, Access 2002, and Access 2003.  You can also convert databases created with previous versions of Access into the new Access 2007 file format, and create MDE's.  Databases created with Access 97 or earlier must be enabled or converted for use with Access 2007. This TechNet articles discusses database migration considerations, including:

• Migration considerations for Access 2000, Access 2002, and Access 2003
• Migration considerations for Access 97 and earlier
• Access 2007 in mixed environments
• Access 2007 and SQL Server
• Tools to help with your conversion project

Access 2007 Specifications

Microsoft has released the Access 2007 specifications:

General

Attribute	Maximum
Access database (.accdb) file size	2 gigabytes, minus the space needed for system objects
Number of objects in a database	32,768
Number of modules (including forms and reports that have the HasModule property set to True)	1,000
Number of characters in an object name	64
Number of characters in a password	20
Number of characters in a user name or group name	20
Number of concurrent users	255

Table

Attribute	Maximum
Number of characters in a table name	64
Number of characters in a field name	64
Number of fields in a table	255
Number of open tables	2048; the actual number might be smaller because of tables opened internally by Access
Table size	2 gigabyte minus the space needed for the system objects
Number of characters in a Text field	255
Number of characters in a Memo field	65,535 when entering data through the user interface; 2 gigabytes of character storage when entering data programmatically
Size of an OLE Object field	1 gigabyte
Number of indexes in a table	32
Number of fields in an index	10
Number of characters in a validation message	255
Number of characters in a validation rule	2,048
Number of characters in a table or field description	255
Number of characters in a record (excluding Memo and OLE Object fields) when the UnicodeCompression property of the fields is set to Yes	4,000
Number of characters in a field property setting	255

Query

Attribute	Maximum
Number of enforced relationships	32 per table, minus the number of indexes that are on the table for fields or combinations of fields that are not involved in relationships*
Number of tables in a query	32*
Number of joins in a query	16*
Number of fields in a recordset	255
Recordset size	1 gigabyte
Sort limit	255 characters in one or more fields
Number of levels of nested queries	50*
Number of characters in a cell in the query design grid	1,024
Number of characters for a parameter in a parameter query	255
Number of AND operators in a WHERE or HAVING clause	99*
Number of characters in an SQL statement	Approximately 64,000*

*Maximum values might be lower if the query includes multivalued lookup fields.

Form and Report

Attribute	Maximum
Number of characters in a label	2,048
Number of characters in a text box	65,535
Form or report width	22 in. (55.87 cm)
Section height	22 in. (55.87 cm)
Height of all sections plus section headers (in Design view)	200 in. (508 cm)
Number of levels of nested forms or reports	7
Number of fields or expressions that you can sort or group on in a report	10
Number of headers and footers in a report	1 report header/footer; 1 page header/footer; 10 group headers/footers
Number of printed pages in a report	65,536
Number of controls and sections that you can add over the lifetime of the form or report	754
Number of characters in an SQL statement that serves as the Recordsource or Rowsource property of a form, report, or control (both .accdb and .adp)	32,750

Macro

Attribute	Maximum
Number of actions in a macro	999
Number of characters in a condition	255
Number of characters in a comment	255
Number of characters in an action argument	255

Project specifications

The following list of tables is specific to Office Access 2007 projects:

General

Attribute	Maximum
Number of objects in an Access project (.adp)	32,768
Number of modules (including forms and reports that have the HasModule property set to True)	1,000
Number of characters in an object name	64
Number of columns in a table	250 (Microsoft SQL Server 6.5) 1024 (Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, 2000 and 2005)

Microsoft SQL Server database

Microsoft SQL Server maximum capacity specifications are described in the SQL Server documentation.

Form and report

Attribute	Maximum
Number of characters in a label	2,048
Number of characters in a text box	65,535
Form or report width	22 in. (55.87 cm)
Section height	22 in. (55.87 cm)
Height of all sections plus section headers (in Design view)	200 in. (508 cm)
Number of levels of nested forms or reports	7
Number of fields or expressions that you can sort or group on in a report	10
Number of headers and footers in a report	1 report header/footer; 1 page header/footer; 10 group headers/footers
Number of printed pages in a report	65,536
Number of controls and sections you can add over the lifetime of the form or report	754
Number of characters in an SQL statement that serves as the Recordsource or Rowsource property of a form, report, or control (both .accdb and .adp)	32,750

Macro

Attribute	Maximum
Number of actions in a macro	999
Number of characters in a condition	255
Number of characters in a comment	255
Number of characters in an action argument	255

Access Control Center Now Free!

A new version of Access Control Center to cover Access 2007 is under development, and I have decided to make the popular current version free. Was US$30.

Download from aadconsulting.com

More info on this fully-featured application follows. Don't pay upwards of US$120 for other applications.

What is Access Control Center (ACC)?

ACC manages all your Microsoft Access database projects from within an integrated project environment.

ACC detects which supported versions of Access are installed on your PC, allowing you to organize projects by Access versions. Projects are managed centrally and .mdb's are opened by the appropriate Access version automatically. Each .mdb has it's own Notes record. The Shortcut Wizard creates desktop shortcuts for secured and unsecured databases. You can compact, repair, and decompile files from within ACC.

System Requirements

ACC requires at least MS Office 97 Professional and VB6 Runtime files.

ACC automatically supports Access 97, Access 2000, Access 2002, and Access 2003 ('supported versions'). You can manually add references to Access 2 and Access.

Setting Up ACC

When ACC is first opened, it will detect which supported versions of Access are installed on your PC.  

Using ACC

The ACC Find Database Wizard automatically locates all Access files in a location and adds them to ACC classified by the Access version required to open a file.

For each Access version installed on your PC, you can also manually add a reference to each database you wish to automatically open with that version. The Add Databases dialog will list all the Access database files in the selected folder, and you can optionally add files in bulk. You can check that a file is compatible with the current Access version by selecting a file and clicking the Check command button. The Check command will attempt to open the file in the current Access version. Duplicate database names are allowed.

Once a database has been added to ACC, you can optionally assign a reference to an Access workgroup file for that database.

The paths of the database file and any assigned workgroup file will be displayed in the first status bar at the bottom of the ACC application window. Double-clicking on a database will open it in the assigned Access version. The second status bar details the size of and date of the file.

You can open supported versions of Access from within ACC by selecting the Access version from the dropdown menu on the Toolbar. Double-click on an Access version node in the ACC data tree to open that version of Access without opening a database.

You can drag a database node from one Access version to another in the ACC data tree by holding down the right mouse button and dragging the database onto another Access version.

Open a database on the fly with command-line options by using the Command-Line Dialog.

After adding a database to ACC, you can also create Windows Desktop shortcuts to the database. You can incorporate command line switches in shortcuts for unsecured databases and also user-specific shortcuts for secured databases. You can also optionally add a shortcut to your Windows Favorites folder for unsecured databases. You can edit a shortcut and add multiple switches.  You can in-text edit all the components of the shortcut, and test the shortcut before creating it.

The Task Pane

The main ACC application window organizes databases by Access version. The main ACC application window organizes databases by Access version. The Task Pane allows shortcuts to any file to be organized by task or project. You can add shortcuts and tasks in the Task Pane, from the ACC application Menubar, or by dragging files from Windows Explorer onto an Access version in ACC or a Task in the Task Pane.

The Task Pane is an integrated floating Task Window, which can be hidden and sent to the icon tray, and with a Stay On Top option. You can add Tasks (ie. Projects, Jobs etc), and add Shortcuts to databases under each Task. The Task Pane is a separate application that, as needed, works in tandem with ACC, and there is an option to turn autostart of the Task Pane off.

Other Features Include:

• Export the note for a database to a .txt file.
• Right-click on a database node to Compact/Repair or Decompile a database on the fly.
• In-place editing of database names within the ACC data tree. The Copy Database Dialog allows in-line editing of the field name.
• You can toggle between a vertical and horizontal split for the Tree and Notes panes, or hide the Notes pane completely.
• Drag files from Windows Explorer and automatically create shortcuts by dropping onto an Access version in ACC or a task in the Task Pane.
• Refresh the date tree by selecting View, Refresh Tree from the Menubar.
• You can copy a database file to another drive/folder, and re-name a database file from within ACC.
• Intelligent file dialogs, which default to the most recent database folder used by a selected Access version, or to the folder for the current database file, according to the context, allow easy access to current projects.
• User settings are saved between sessions.
• The File Properties Utility allows viewing of database file information from within ACC.
• Use the Filing Assistant for the bulk copying of files from within ACC.
• The Logged Users Tool allows you to locate all users and network stations logged into a production Access database, and send network broadcasts to logged-in machines within ACC.
• Functionality for Access2/95/97 is customized to deal with such issues as .ini files, short file names, and different command-line switches.
• Extensive Browse File Dialogs assist in the creation of shortcuts and the location of files.

Download from aadconsulting.com

---

Access Control Center v2.8.2
©2003-2006 Anthony D'Ambra
www.aadconsulting.com

Manipulating Office 2007 Open XML Format Files

2007 Office System Sample: Manipulating Office Open XML Format Files  Download this set of sample files for use with the MSDN article How to: Manipulating Office Open XML Format Documents for Developers.

New SQL Server Resources

From TechRepublic.com:

Understand the effects of NULLs on inner and outer JOINs  This SQL Server tip explains the effects of NULLs, and the different results obtained by inner and outer JOINs.

Turn XML into relational data with OPENXML  XML support has been significantly extended for SQL Server 2005. This article takes a look at how you can shred XML data into a relational format with SQL Server's OPENXML function.

Software download: SQL Visualizer  SQL Visualizer is a Windows client-based SQL Server database query and management tool designed to make SQL development simpler and more productive. Free to try.

Open XML Developer Portal

Open XML Developer  For Open XML Format news and information, a place to get your questions answered and share your insights as well. It's all free, and open to everyone.

Access 2007 and Sharepoint Integration

Access 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0  This TechNet article provides an overview of the changes that Access 2007 introduces over previous versions and takes a look at the new layout and the way the contents of the Ribbon bar in Access changes depending on the context of your work.  Learn how to extend the data gathering reach of Access by including InfoPath email forms and how to extend the reach of the Access database by linking it into WSS.

New Access 2007 Versions of aadconsulting.com Add-Ins

Access 2007 versions have been added to the following premium product downloads from aadconsulting.com:

• Access Object Dependency Browser
• Ezy Documenter
• Ezy Exporter Premium
• Ezy SQL
• SmartForm ADP
• SmartForm Plus

Save as PDF or XPS Add-In for Office 2007

2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS (Beta 2 Technical Refresh) This Beta 2 Technical Refresh download from Microsoft allows you to export and save to the PDF and XPS formats in eight 2007 Microsoft Office programs. It also allows you to send as an e-mail attachment in the PDF and XPS formats in a subset of these programs.

Towards Better and Faster VBA Code

Aivisto Oy, who develops coding tools for VB, has just posted two excellent articles on creating better and faster VB code, which apply equally to VBA and Office applications:

Optimize Loops  Performance tricks for squeezing the maximum speed out of your code. Restructure loops, rebuild function calls, fine-tune conditionals, choose fast operators, pre-calculate values, and access arrays the proper way.

Release Checklist for Programs  A code review checklist to go through before releasing an application to users.

Cool New Search Engines ;)

    

Clearification    Ms Dewey

Practical Data Normalization

Practical database normalization tips  From TechRepublic.com. Normalization is a series of steps to guide you through analyzing and designing relations in your database schema.  Find out why a database in the third normal form is sometimes not very practical, and why a hybrid approach to table normalization may be more parctical.

Using Common Table Expressions in SQL Server 2005

Using common table expressions in SQL Server 2005 queries  From TecgRepublic.com. Common table expressions (CTEs), a powerful new feature in SQL Server 2005, make your SQL more readable and easier to maintain. See how you can use a CTE more than once in a SQL Server statement.

Access Database Documenters Package: Save 33%

Object Dependency Browser (ODB) v2.0
Ezy Documenter Premium Edition (EDP) v6.0
Add-Ins for Microsoft© Access

A package of the only documentation tools you need to easily document your Access databases is now available from aadconsulting.com:  

• Object Dependency Browser for visually exploring all objects, object collections, and dependencies of your Access database.  Each object can be fully documented in a formatted Access report by clicking the Document button. More
  
• Ezy Documenter Premium  automatically documents and prints in fully formatted Access reports all the objects in your Access database: tables and fields, table relations, query definitions, forms and record sources, reports and record sources, code modules, macros, data access pages, references, custom command bars, and database properties. More

The package is only US$39.95 A saving of US$20 if each product is purchased separately. Secure payment with PayPal.

New Access 2007 Resource Center

I have expanded my Access Resources page on aadconsulting.com to include a new section devoted to Access 2007 and related Office 2007 technologies, with over 50 links to MS resources and downloads for 2007.

XML Notepad 2007

The just released free XML Notepad 2007 provides a simple intuitive user interface for browsing and editing XML documents.

Handy features include:

• Tree View synchronized with Node Text View for quick editing of node names and values.
• Incremental search (Ctrl+I) in both tree and text views, so as you type it navigates to matching nodes.
• Cut/copy/paste with full namespace support.
• Drag/drop support for easy manipulation of the tree, even across different instances of XML Notepad and from the file system.
• Infinite undo/redo for all edit operations.
• In place popup multi-line editing of large text node values.
• Configurable fonts and colors via the options dialog.
• Full find/replace dialog with support for regex and XPath.
• Good performance on large XML documents, loading a 3mb document in about one second.
• Instant XML schema validation while you edit with errors and warnings shown in the task list window.
• Intellisense based on expected elements and attributes and enumerated simple type values.
• Support for custom editors for date, dateTime and time datatypes and other types like color.
• Handy nudge tool bar buttons for quick movement of nodes up and down the tree.
• Inplace HTML viewer for processing xml-stylesheet processing instructions.
• Built-in XML Diff tool.

NEW ASP Web Switchboard for Access Databases



My latest Access Switchboard has just been uploaded.

The ASP Web Switchboard for Access Databases, which uses the native MS Access Switchboard Items table and the free Open Source TreeView Control from obout.com, can be used for any Access database MDB on a Web Server that supports ASP. View the Demo

Calling Excel Web Services from SharePoint

SharePoint Server 2007 Sample: Web Part That Calls Excel Web Services This download contains a sample solution that demonstrates how to create a Web Part that calls Excel Web Services to perform custom calculations. It includes a deployment package sample that can be deployed to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Major BETA Upgrade to SQL Server Products Announced

This week, Microsoft, at its Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) Community Summit, Microsoftannounced a new community technology preview of:

• Service Pack 2 (SP2) for SQL Server,
• the Release Candidate (RC) of SQL  Server 2005 Compact Edition, and
• Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals.

From: www.internetnews.com

The CTP for SP2 adds data compression, increased business intelligence functionality, security updates, and support for Windows Vista and Office 2007. Excel, Excel Server and Sharepoint have all been integrated with SQL Server, allowing for Excel data analytics to be done within SQL Server.

Microsoft [has] also added interoperability with Hyperion Essbase and Oracle data sources, allowing administrators to build reports on top of both SQL Server and SAP applications.

SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition is a rebranding of SQL Server Mobile Edition, which is designed for small footprint devices. It shares the SQL Server database syntax and ADO.NET programming model and is aimed at what Microsoft called 'occasionally connected systems'. "This is for developers that need to build apps that store and need to synchronize data," said Francois Ajenstat, director of SQL Server for Microsoft. "Your phone or laptop are not always connected to the data center where you data is stored. This is designed for when you get connected to synchronize your data."

Cool New Office 2007 Icons Gallery Add-In

2007 Office System Add-In: Icons Gallery Download this macro-enabled Excel worksheet to see a gallery of built-in icons available for solution development.

Calendar Printing Assistant for Outlook 2007

Calendar Printing Assistant for Outlook 2007 An MS applet that provides an easy way to print and customize Outlook 2007 calendar information.

New v1.1 of TrayIE: The Free IE Windows Manager

TrayIE sits in your Windows Desktop Icon Tray as an icon and lets you easily manage your Internet Explorer windows. The tray icon changes according to the current status of IE windows on your Desktop:

• No IE windows is open. Click Launch IE to open IE window.
• At least one IE window is visible. This icon also appears on your IE Links toolbar: clicking the icon sends the active IE window to the Icon Tray.
• At least one IE window is hidden.

Left-click on the tray icon to use the pop menu, where you can manage all open IE windows, and set an alternate global hot key. The default hot key is {Win} + i and saves you clicking the tray icon anywhere in Windows.

Have Floppy Office: Will Travel

Floppy Office from XTORT.NET is a collection of small, self contained no-install free office software applications and at 1.4mb is an essential mobile companion software package for your USB stick. Just extract all the zip files containing each application to your USB, configure, and you are ready to  hit the road.

The GUI applications include: an encryption program, a zip utility, an FTP client, a multiple document interface Rich Text editor, a notepad-style editor, secure file shredder, full POP email client, web server for hosting files via http, a mini tree-style outliner, vector graphics editor, a spreadsheet program compatible with Excel, file renaming utility, and a PDF creator, and more.

Thanks to TroisJ for this link.

Download the Access 2007 Vision Document

A complete customer-ready overview for Access 20007 from Microsfot is available here.  A more technical document is in the pipeline.

Office 2007 Out!

Microsoft Office 2007 is available for MSDN and Technet Subscribers Bink.nu has posted that Office 2007 is available for MSDN and Technet Subscribers.

Three SQL Server Tips

From TechRepublic.com:

Add Bulk Copy Program (BCP) to your SQL Server Arsenal  "The Bulk Copy Program (BCP) is a command-line utility that ships with Microsoft SQL Server. With BCP, you can import and export large amounts of data in and out of SQL Server databases quickly and easily. Any DBA who has utilized this functionality will agree that BCP is an essential tool."

Achieve High Availability with log Shipping in SQL Server 2000 Log shipping is a technology in SQL Server that database administrators can use to provide a standby database to failover to in the event of a primary database failure.

Running Totals in SQL Server Queries An example of how to run totals in SQL Server queries. Two advantages to such a query include: you don't have to store the results, and you end up with a transaction log that can be inspected row by row.

Office 2007 Migration and Conversion Tools

InfoPath 2007 Tool: Server Upgrade and Migration Tool for Microsoft Office InfoPath Allows a SharePoint farm administrator to change hard-coded URLs in InfoPath form templates, Universal Data Connection (UDC) files, and content types for specific scenarios.

2007 Microsoft Office System Open XML Format converters Administrative Template (ADM) An administrative template which can be used to modify the default behavior of the Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 Open XML Format converters.

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats (preview) Open, edit, and save documents, workbooks, and presentations in the file formats new to Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007.

New SQL Server Readme Files

Readme Files for SQL Server 2005 SP2 and SQL Server 2005 SP2 Express Editions and Tools

Before you install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2), download, extract, and read the SP2 Setup documentation (sqlhotfix_setuphelp.exe), and review the SP2 readme file.

Before you install SQL Server 2005 SP2 Express editions and tools, read the related readme files. This information can help you avoid common installation issues, and answers other installation questions.

SQL Server 2005 Books Online SP2 CTP Out Now

SQL Server 2005 Books Online SP2 CTP (November 2006) Download a Customer Technology Preview (CTP) version of the documentation and tutorials for Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

SQL Server Reporting Services Add-In for SharePoint

SQL Server Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies CTP The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies is a Web download that provides features for running a report server within a larger deployment of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Get New Visual Studio 2005 Extension Tools for Office 2007

Get the latest Visual Studio 2005 extensions for Windows Vista Office 2007 Download a collection of tools you can use today with Visual Studio 2005 to develop solutions for Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system. Take advantage of these innovative new platforms to create clear, connected, and confident user experiences.

New Client-Server Tools

SQL Server Compact Edition Books Online CTP  SQL Server Compact Edition CTP Books Online and Release Candidate Readme. 

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Tools: Visual Studio 2005 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0  Tools for developing custom SharePoint applications: Visual Studio project templates for Web Parts, site definitions, and list definitions; and a stand-alone utility program, the SharePoint Solution Generator.

SQL Server Compact Edition Runtime Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition RC1 is the compact database for rapidly developing applications in both native and the managed environment that extend enterprise data management capabilities to desktop applications.

SQL Server 2005 VHD This download comes as a pre-configured VHD. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is a comprehensive, integrated, end-to-end data solution that empowers your people by providing a more secure, reliable, and productive platform for enterprise data and BI applications.

MSDN Library August 2006 Edition Now Available for Download

The MSDN® Library is an essential resource of information for developers using Microsoft® tools, products, and technologies, and provides access to essential programming information, including technical white papers, software development kits and code samples necessary to develop web services and applications. This is an updated version of the MSDN Library for Visual Studio® 2005.

New Version 1.1 of SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access

SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access (SSMA) automates database migration from Access to SQL Server 2005, by converting Access database objects to SQL Server database objects, loading those objects into SQL Server, and migrating data from Access to SQL Server.  SSMA supports Access 97 - Access 2003 databases.

Business Intelligence Portal Sample Application for Office 2003

Business Intelligence Portal Sample Application for Microsoft Office 2003 This sample application enables an organization's employees to create and share OLAP/Relational/XML-based views using SharePoint Portal Server, SQL Server Reporting Services, and Office Web components.

SharePoint Language Packs

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 x64 Beta 2 (All Language Packages and Deployment Documents) This download is a self-extracting executable that contains all languages of Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Beta 2 for the x64 processor architecture.

FREE Office Accounting 2007

Office Accounting Express 2007 Office Accounting Express 2007 helps small business bookkeepers save time on everyday tasks and grow their business through online sales, online invoicing, and payment processes.

Office Accounting 2007 Update: Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 Transaction Migration This download provides the update to Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 to enable import of transactions from Intuit QuickBooks.

Office Accounting 2007 SDK This SDK includes documentation and samples-everything developers need to write, build, and deploy Microsoft Office Accounting integrated applications.

Multilingual Office Comunicator

Multilingual User Interface Package for Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 This package adds Multilingual User Interface (MUI) functionality to the English version of Microsoft Office Communicator 2005.

Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals

Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals - CTP 7 Tools for building SQL databases in a managed project environment with support for versioning, deployment, unit testing, refactoring, and off-line SQL development.

Microsoft Outlook Connector

Microsoft Office Outlook Connector With Outlook Connector, you can use Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2002(XP), Outlook® 2003 or Outlook® 2007 to access and manage your Windows Live Mail or Office Live Mail accounts, including e-mail messages, calendar, tasks, notes, and contacts.

Thanks!

AccessExtra.Net has just achieved a Google PR of 5 :) Thank you to all my readers and subscribers!

Creating Managed Add-Ins for Access 2007

Creating Managed Add-ins for Access 2007  Learn how you can extend Access 2007 by creating and incorporating managed add-ins into your applications. This article demonstrates how to create a simple add-in that consumes data returned from a Web service, by using the Visual Studio Shared Add-In template. (26 printed pages)

Migrating a VBA Solution to Visual Studio Tools for Office

Migrating a VBA Solution to a Visual Studio Tools for Office Add-In  Learn how to use Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System to add new functionality to your Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) solutions, using the VBA skills you already have.

Contents:

• Types of Microsoft Office Solutions
• Office Solution Architectures
• A Global Template Example: The Amazon Add-In
• Migrating the VBA Global Template to an Add-In
• Conclusion
• Additional Resources

Office 2007 Developer Posters

2007 Office System Developer Posters Download these posters to learn more about the new features and enhancements  in Office 2007.

Office Accounting 2007 Downloads

Office Accounting 2007 Software Development Kit (SDK)  Includes documentation and samples—everything developers need to write, build, and deploy Microsoft Office Accounting integrated applications.

Office Accounting 2007 Update: Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 Transaction Migration This download provides the update to Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 to enable import of transactions from Intuit QuickBooks.

TrayIE: New Applet to Manage Internet Explorer

I am now using IE7, but disappointed that there is still no minimize to the TaskBar IconTray functionality, and I can't find an add-on.

So I built my own applet to reduce screen clutter and re-launch IE instantly after hiding it.

TrayIE sits in your Windows Desktop Icon Tray as an icon and lets you easily manage your Internet Explorer windows. The tray icon changes according to the current status of IE windows on your Desktop:

• IE is not open. Double-clicking the icon will launch IE.
• IE windows are open and visible. Double-clicking the icon will hide all IE windows.
• All IE windows are hidden. Double-clicking the icon will restore all IE windows.

A global hot key [Win+i] saves you double-clicking the tray icon anywhere in Windows.

Left-click on the tray icon to use the popup menu, and set an alternate global hot key.

Download

Improved Performance in Excel 2007

Improving Performance in Excel 2007 Learn about the increased worksheet capacity in Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and techniques to improve calculation performance.

Office 2007 Download: Office Sharepoint Server 2007 SDK B2TR

Download: Office SharePoint Server 2007 SDK: B2TR The Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (Beta) SDK contains conceptual overviews, programming tasks, code samples, and references to guide you in developing solutions based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Office 2007 Automation: Latest Resources

Improving Performance in Excel 2007 Learn about the increased worksheet capacity in Excel 2007 and techniques that you can use as you design and create worksheets to improve calculation performance.

Integrating Visio 2007 and Project 2007 Take advantage of the new integration capabilities in Project 2007 and Visio 2007 by using a combination of native features and COM add-in features.

Using XML to Write a Trip Report Are you a salesperson who spends time on the road visiting customers? Are you part of a marketing team that tracks sales visits? Find out how you can make creating trip reports easier with Word XML features.

Creating Custom Task Panes Using Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office  The 2007 release of the Microsoft Office system introduces enhanced custom task panes that you can use to provide contextual assistance to your users. Learn how to create custom task panes with Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office.

Video: Building Documents from Scratch Using the Office XML File Formats  Demo of the Open XML formats, including the key things that go into building a document.

Integrating Visio 2007 and Excel 2007 See an example of linking data in Visio to Excel by using the Visio Data Selector and an example of creating and populating an Excel Bill of Materials by using Automation code.

Integrating Visio 2007 and Access 2007 Use Automation code to create a Visio drawing from data defining the contents of a drawing

SQL Server Hosting Toolkit Launched

The SQL Server Group at Microsoft has just launched the SQL Server Hosting Toolkit with the release of the Database Publishing Wizard Community Technology Preview 1:

The objective of the SQL Server Hosting Toolkit is to enable a great experience around hosted SQL Server.  The Database Publishing Wizard works toward this mission by making it easy to upload a database from a development box up to a shared hoster.  In its first incarnation, the Database Publishing Wizard is a command line tool that generates a T-SQL script designed to be executed in the script execution windows provided by most hosters in their database management consoles.  In the coming months we'll be adding a GUI and building seamless integration between the tool and an upload service we'll provide to hosters for deployment.

Details on the Database Publishing Wizard as well as the download can be found at http://www.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?ProjectName=sqlhost&title=Database%20Publishing%20Wizard.

We plan to be releasing advances in the Toolkit frequently so check out this first CTP and give us your feedback!

Latest Ms Access Knowledge Base Articles

Access 2000

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918144 Description of the Jet 4.0 Database Engine post-837001 hotfix package: May 11, 2006

923274 Description of the security update for Office 2000: October 10, 2006 

Access 2002

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922665 How to change the source for a client computer from an updated administrative installation point to an Office XP original release version baseline source

925082 The icon is blank when you insert an object or a file into a document, presentation, spreadsheet, or other Microsoft Office file

922581 MS06-062: Vulnerabilities in Office could allow remote code execution

924122 Description of the Office XP post-Service Pack 3 hotfix package: August 17, 2006

923273 Description of the security update for Office XP: October 10, 2006  

Access 2003

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920355 Description of the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: July 17, 2006

922326 Description of the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: July 3, 2006

917937 Description of the Access 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: August 14, 2006

922328 Office 2003 icons appear fuzzy or have poor contrast after you change the DPI setting in Windows to "Large size (120 DPI)"

924866 Description of the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package for the Dutch proofing tools and for the Dutch Multilingual User Interface Pack in Office 2003, in Project 2003, and in Visio 2003: September 8, 2006

922395 All the fields of a record display #Delete when you copy and paste a record that contains a Null field in Office Access 2003

925152 Description of the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package for Office 2003, for Project 2003, and for Visio 2003: September 13, 2006

923508 A .tif file or a .tiff file unexpectedly opens in Microsoft Office Document Imaging

923097 Description of the update for Office 2003: October 10, 2006

923272 Description of the security update for Office 2003: October 10, 2006

924424 Description of the security update for Office 2003: October 10, 2006

SQL Server Reporting Services

Building Ad-hoc Reporting Solutions with SQL Server 2005 Report Builder and Analysis Services OLAP  This paper introduces Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Report Builder and demonstrates how to build an end-to-end ad-hoc reporting solution for enterprise customers using Report Builder and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services OLAP.

Get More Out of SQL Server Reporting Services Charts  Review general information, best practices, and tips for designing charts within Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services reports.

Latest Office 2007 Resources

Download: Windows SharePoint Services SDK  Conceptual overviews, programming tasks, samples, and references to guide you in developing solutions based on Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

Download: Office Project 2007 SDK: B2TR  Documentation, code samples, How to articles, and programming references to help customize and integrate the Project 2007 clients and Project Server 2007 with other Office applications.

2007 Office System Document: Lists of Control IDs (Beta 2 TR)  Download containing files that list the control IDs for built-in controls in all applications that use the Office 2007 Ribbon.

Building Better Business Applications Using 2007 Office System   MS Office 2007provides a set of servers, clients, and tools to make it easier for enterprises and software vendors to build and deploy OBAs to connect current LOB systems with the people who use them through the Microsoft Office interface.

Download IE 7 Now!

Yahoo has released its version of Internet Explorer 7. Download

10 Step Security Lockdown

Frem TechRepublic.com:

• Microsoft Outlook 2003: Lock it down in 10 steps
• Microsoft SQL Server: Lock it down in 10 steps

10 Tricks For Handling Null Values in Access

10 tricks for handling null values in Microsoft Access Null values indicate that data is missing or unknown, and if not handled correctly can cause runtime errors or corrupt your data. These pointers for MS Access from TechRepublic.com will help you understand and effectively address null values in various situations.

Integrating Office with ASP.NET 2.0

Integrating MS Office Applications with ASP.NET 2.0 Web Sites  Integrate Microsoft Office Word 2003 and Microsoft Office Excel 2003 with ASP.NET 2.0 Web sites to generate form letters in Word and graphical reports in Excel.

Understanding Workflow in SharePoint and Office 2007

2007 Office System Document: Understanding Workflow in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and the 2007 Microsoft Office System In this white paper, learn the basics of the Windows Workflow Foundation, how this technology has been integrated into both Windows SharePoint Services and the 2007 Office System, and how to benefit from workflows applied to business processes.

SQL Server Database Publishing Wizard CTP 1

SQL Server Database Publishing Wizard CTP 1 The SQL Server Database Publishing Wizard provides a way to publish databases to T-SQL scripts for later use. The Wizard enables the deployment of SQL Server 2005 databases into a hosted environment on either a SQL Server 2000 or 2005 server. It generates a single SQL script file which can be used to recreate a database - both schema and data - in a shared hosting environment where the only connectivity to a server is through a web-based control panel with a script execution window.

New Office 2007 Articles from MSDN

 

Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007 Developer Guide Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager combines the familiar appearance of Outlook with customer information management to help small business owners track customers and sales opportunities more effectively.

Integrating Office Applications with ASP.NET 2.0 Web Sites Read about how one MVP integrates Microsoft Office Word 2003 and Microsoft Office Excel 2003 with ASP.NET 2.0 Web sites to generate form letters in Word and graphical reports in Excel.

Developing Add-ins (XLLs) in Excel 2007 Learn about Microsoft Office Excel 2007 features that affect XLL add-ins and enable new XLL functionality, as well as changes to the XLL C API itself.

Migrating a Shared Add-in to a Visual Studio Tools for Office Add-In Read this article to learn about issues you might have with existing shared add-ins. Learn how to migrate add-ins to Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System and how to convert command-bar code to support the new Ribbon.

Working with Content Controls in Word 2007 View this screencast to walk through using content controls in Word 2007.

Integrating Visio 2007 and Access 2007  Use Automation code to create a Visio drawing from data defining the contents of a drawing and the connectivity between shapes stored within Access tables.

Integrating Visio 2007 and Excel 2007 Visio 2007 and Excel 2007 provide built-in integration capabilities. See an example of linking data in Visio to Excel by using the Visio Data Selector and an example of creating and populating an Excel Bill of Materials by using Automation code.

Creating Custom Task Panes Using Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office The 2007 release of Office introduces enhanced custom task panes that you can use to provide contextual assistance to your users. Learn how to create custom task panes with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System.

Mutimedia: Building Documents from Scratch Using the Office XML File Formats Watch this webcast to learn about creating documents using

The Office 2007 Collaboration Platform

 

2007 Office System Document: Working Together in the New World of Work In this white paper, explore the Microsoft communication and collaboration platform and see how it offers a flexible solution set to businesses of all types.

Office 2007 Developer Video: The SharePoint Services Platform

 

2007 Office System Video: Windows SharePoint Services Platform 2007  Learn how Windows SharePoint Services provides the unified server foundation for many of the 2007 Microsoft Office system server capabilities. This download presents videos of  conference sessions including:

Microsoft Office "Live" Services: An Overview and Benefits to Developers

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007: Building No-Code SharePoint Solutions

 

Testing SQL Server Rules

Test the SQL Server Business Rule Chaining Method Chaining database stored procedures to execute business logic in your SQL Server database. This article from TechRepublic.com explains the concept of business rule chaining, and provides an implementation example.

Office 2007 Client Development How To

2007 Office System Video: Client Development Download this series of developer-oriented videos to view conference breakout sessions about using the Microsoft Office System client.

New SQL Server 2005 MSDN Articles

Using Visual Studio 2005 to Perform Load Testing on a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Report Server Visual Studio 2005 Team System includes a load-test tool you can use for performance and stress testing of a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services deployment. The tool runs the tests you create, and optionally logs the data into a SQL Server 2005 database.

Designing and Delivering Rich Office Reports with SQL Server Reporting Services 2005 and SoftArtisans OfficeWriter Use SQL Server Reporting Services 2005 and SoftArtisans OfficeWriter to design and deliver full fidelity, data-driven Microsoft Excel and Word reports.

Google Launches Code Search Portal

Google Code Search gives software developers a tool for searching billions of  lines of on-line source code.

Office 2007 Enterprise Content Management

Office 2007 System: Enterprise Content Management Download this series of developer-oriented videos to view conference breakout sessions about the new, extensible content management features in Offcie 2007.

Accessing SQL Server 2005 Databases with PHP

Accessing SQL Server 2005 Databases with PHP  Improve your Web development by configuring the PHP extension with SQL Server 2005 Express Edition databases.

Download Office 2007 Smart Client Development Videos

2007 Office System Video: Client Development

Download this series of developer-oriented videos to view conference breakout sessions about using the Microsoft Office System client.

2007 Office System Video: Business Intelligence

Download this series of developer-oriented videos to view conference breakout sessions about building smart client and browser-based BI solutions leveraging a wide array of extensible capabilities, including key performance indicators, PivotTables, Web parts, and spreadsheet-based Web services.

Latest Reources On the Office 2007 GUI

· Developer Overview of the User Interface for the 2007 Microsoft Office System

· Download: 2007 Office System Document - Lists of Control IDs

· Office Noir: Chapter II - The Ribbon Bar

· Screencast: Extending the Office 2007 UI with a Custom Ribbon

· Screencast: Extending the Office 2007 UI with a Custom Task Pane

WinZoomBox - The Easy Way to Edit Smaller Text Boxes

WinZoomBox v1.1 Freeware 4-Oct-2006 ©2006 Anthony D'Ambra. All rights reserved.

To overcome my frustrations when editing Windows Shortcut properties, I have developed a new free system applet: WinZoomBox.

WinZoomBox sits in the Icon Try of your Windows Taskbar. You use the Hot Key combination, Win+Z, to display WinZoomBox wherever you are in Windows or an application to view/edit text at the Cursor location in any edit control where Copy and Paste commands are available. WinZoomBox will pick-up the text in the edit control and display it for editing. After editing, click the Copy To Clipboard button to send the edited text to the Windows Clipboard ready for pasting into the original location. WinZoomBox includes case-sensitive find and replace functionality. Version 1.1 adds Auto-Paste and an alternate Hot Key. Download from aadconsulting.com

New Office 2007 Articles

Make Office XP and Office 2003 compatible with Office 2007's new Open XML format

2007 Office System Document: UI Style Guide for Solutions and Add Ins

Easy Make-Over for Your Access Applications

Want to give your Access97-2003 applications a quick make-over to an Access2007/Windows Vista look?

Then follow these 10 easy steps:

1. Download the free Access add-in, V-Tools, from http://www.rezo.net/skrol29
   
2. Use the Deep Search tool from V-Tools to change the display Font for all controls, including command buttons in all forms to Frutiger Linotype and the FontSize to 9
   
3. Change the BackColor for FormHeaders to 10058106
   
4. Change the ForeColor for all display text in FormHeaders to 16777215
   
5. Change the ForeColor for all other display text to 0
   
6. Change the BackColor for all FormDetail sections and FormFooters to 16050158
   
7. For all controls except labels change the following properties to:
   SpecialEffect - Flat
   BorderStyle - Solid
   BorderColor - 12632256
   
8. For all labels change the following properties to:
   BackStyle - Transparent
   SpecialEffect - Flat
   BorderStyle - Transparent
   
9. Check all labels for widening if a caption is cut-off
   
10. For a consistent-look ensure you use only the Access-supplied icons for graphical command buttons.

Office 2007 As A Business Application Platform

2007 Office System Document: AMR Research Article - The 2007 Microsoft® Office system as a Business Application Platform

A short AMR Research Alert Article about the 2007 Office system as a Business Application Platform.

AMR Research reports that the 2007 Microsoft® Office system is evolving into a platform for building and extending business applications, making vital business processes more relevant and accessible to more people. Most directly acknowledging this trend is Microsoft’s Office Business Application (OBA) Services, denoting platform-level enhancements, such as workflow, enterprise search, XML file formats, security, and the new extensible UI. This allows Office Client and Server products—as well as products from other independent software providers—to serve and support business intelligence (BI), communications and collaboration, and enterprise content management (ECM) needs for enterprises.

Office 2007 BETA Technical Refresh Now Available for Download

The Technical Refresh to the Beta 2 version of 2007 Microsoft Office System has just been released for public download.

Download Visual Studio Tools for Office 2007 BETA

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System Beta Install the beta version of VSTO 2005 SE and try out the new application level add-ins for six applications in the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Use managed code to customize task panes, form regions, and the Ribbon.

VSTO SE Runtime Beta Install the beta version of the runtime for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System Beta (VSTO 2005 SE Beta). This runtime beta is required for testing VSTO 2005 SE Beta solutions on computers other than the development computer.

XML Development with Butterfly XML IDE

Butterfly XML IDE is an open source tool that features multiple open documents in tabs, element completion, and the ability to test XSL transformations.  You can also download from TechRepublic.com a White Paper that explains how the various features of Butterfly XML work and how developers can take advantage of them.

Microsoft has also just released an update of its free XML Editor: XML Notepad 2006

New Office 2007 Add-Ins

2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as XPS 

2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF 

2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS 

Use these download allows to export and save to the PDF and XPS formats in eight 2007 Microsoft Office programs,  and send as e-mail attachment in the PDF and XPS formats in a subset of these programs.

Latest Office 2007 Resources from MSDN

Outlook 2007 Reference: Business Contact Manager for Outlook Developer Guide Learn to create an Outlook add-in and then use Business Contact Manager for Outlook from that add-in to customize your application.

Integrating OneNote 2007 with a Document Management System Learn how to create a OneNote 2007 add-in to integrate OneNote with a document management system.

Designing Shapes for Use with Themes in Visio 2007 Learn about the new Theme feature in Visio 2007, how it works, and the implications of themes for shape design.

What's New for Developers in Visio 2007 (Part 1 of 2) What's New for Developers in Visio 2007 (Part 2 of 2) Get a description of the new objects and members of the Visio VBA object model, and the new ShapeSheet cells and functions.

MS Office Developer Portal Revamped

Looking for Office Developer Content? Check out the redesigned Office Developer Center on MSDN where you’ll find a ton of new developer resources for the 2007 Microsoft Office System—as well as articles, SDKs, code samples, downloads, and references for Office 2003 products and technologies.

The landing page is set out as a TOC so you can more easily locate content.

Access Database Synchronizer for SQL Server

Access Database Synchronizer Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Everywhere Edition Access Database Synchronizer provides a way to synchronize data between a Microsoft Access database on a desktop and a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Everywhere Edition database on a device.

HOT: New Version of Classic Database MenuBar and Window for Access 2007

I have today uploaded v2.0 of this free sample Access 2007 database that gets you beyond the frustrations of the new Office Ribbon, and in v2.0, helps you learn the location of familiar commands in the unfamiliar Ribbon environment.

In version 2, I have added the full Classic MenuBar to the Ribbon Add-Ins tab. The Menubar is context-sensitive and button-clicks on commands in the Menubar as well as functioning in the normal way, also operate on the Ribbon to display the relevant Ribbon tab.

Download the Sample ACCDB file and import the two forms and one module into your Access 2007 ACCDB, after checking the Menus and Toolbars checkbox in the Import Objects dialog.

The following screen-shots show the sample ACCDB in action in Access 2007 BETA 2:

1. The Right-click Popup Menu from the Classic Database Window:



2. The Menubar:

New Outlook 2007 Add-Ins

Outlook 2007 Sample Add-Ins are learning tools to help developers understand new features of the Outlook 2007 object mode:

• Using the Rules object model to programmatically create or access most rules supported by the Outlook Rules Wizard (Rules sample)
• Implementing a form region for an Outlook contact item (Travel Agency sample)
• Adding a custom task pane to an Outlook AppointmentItem (Prepare Me sample)

New Office 2007 How to Videos

These Office 2007 Video Tutorials have just been released by Microsoft:

Custom Task Panes in Visual Studio Tools for Office "v3" June CTP Create an add-in for Excel 2007 and then customize the application-level custom task pane.

Generating Office Documents using the New XML Open File Formats Generate, read and modify documents without going through the object model of the hosting Office application.

Extending the Office 2007 User Interface with a Custom Task Pane Create a shared add-in with Visual Studio 2005 that extends the new user interface with a custom task pane.

Customizing the Ribbon with Visual Studio Tools for Office "v3" June CTP Create an add-in for PowerPoint 2007 to customize and modify the ribbon.

Creating Custom Workflows with the SharePoint Designer 2007 Build a custom workflow using the wizard provided by SharePoint Designer 2007.

Creating and Using Event Handlers in Windows SharePoint Services V3 Create a list item receiver class to handle both synchronous events as well as asynchronous events.

Creating and Testing Features with Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Step through the process of using Visual Studio to create a custom feature and an associated assembly DLL.

Creating and Customizing Site Pages with SharePoint Designer 2007 Understand the difference between page templates and page instances and then learn how to customize your pages.

Extending the Office 2007 User Interface with a Custom Ribbon Create a shared add-in with Visual Studio 2005 that extends the new user interface with a custom ribbon.

Creating and Customizing Document Information Panels with InfoPath 2007 Discover the integration that exists between Document Information Panels and content types in Windows SharePoint Services V3.

Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals CTP 5 - Beta

Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals CTP 5 - Beta Tools for building SQL databases in a managed project environment with support for versioning, deployment, unit testing, refactoring, and off-line SQL development.

Microsoft Backtrack on Office 2007 Ribbon Bar

Further to my post of July 26, Microsoft has modified the Office 2007 GUI after complaints from beta testers that the replacement Ribbon menu system took up too much space on screen.  In the next technical refresh of the Office 2007 BETA, users can set the ribbon to automatically minimize whenever it is not being used. Source: ZDNet Australia

Personally, my view is that the Ribbon is another Edsel - giving away my age ;)

Btw, I have been trying to get info from MS about how the Ribbon paradigm effects the implementation of legacy library databases and custom CommandBars, as they have published very little on this topic. After some email traffic the following was extracted from an un-named member of the Access team (my emphasis):

You can use Access 2003 or earlier to create custom command bars and menus in MDB files and those can be used in [Access 2007] add-ins.  If you want to use an ACCDB format add-in or if you don't want to use Access 2003's visual designer for command bars and menus, you will have to create them programmatically.

The add-ins command bars will appear on a separate add-ins tab in the Ribbon.  If you want to have a custom ribbon instead of using the old style command bars, you will probably have to develop either a COM add-in or a managed add-in. There is [aad: "a bit of "] documentation on building add-ins for the ribbon.  You can find some of that documentation here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/tool/addin/.  That said, ribbon add-ins and Access menu add-ins don't work all that well together.  This ISV would probably want to convert their Access menu add-in into a managed add-in or a COM add-in if they want to use the ribbon.

New SQL Server 2005 Articles from Microsoft

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver 1.1 Download the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver 1.1, a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides database connectivity through the standard JDBC application program interfaces (APIs) available in J2EE (Java2 Enterprise Edition).

SQL Server 2005 Failover Clustering White Paper Comprehensive document about implementing failover clustering for SQL Server 2005 and Analysis Services.

How To Add a Pivot Chart To Your Access Reports

This article from TechRepublic.com provides a step-by-step guide on adding a Pivot Chart to an MS Access report.

How To Display Summary Values in Access Using a UNION Query

A good article from Susan Sales Harkins of TechRepublic.com on a fast no-frills way of returning a row of summary values using UNION. Normally, you use SQL’s UNION operator to combine data from two or more tables or queries, but you can also use it to display detail records and summaryvalues.

NEW Access 2007 Style Switchboard
A Complete Replacement and Demo Using Only Native Access Controls for
Microsoft© Access 2000/2002/2003

I have just uploaded my latest Access Switchboard Demo, which has been inspired by the new Access 2007 database templates, and includes the following features:

• Replaces the native Access Switchboard with a superior switchboard, navigation paradigm, and GUI.
• Uses the Switchboard Items table created by the native access Switchboard Manager.
• Built-in support for up to 16 option buttons for each switchboard!
• Option Button Icons are assigned on the fly from a value stored in the Switchboard Items table.
• The Switchboard resides in a subform, so that the main screen is not affected when switching switchboards.

Download the Demos (acc2007swbdem.zip - 276kb)

FLASH: Windows Vista Will NOT Support MSDE or SQL Server 2000.

Windows Vista/Server will support only SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 and later. SP2 is due to ship soon after Vista to ensure compatibility.

There will be no support for the Microsoft Desktop Engine (MSDE), the SQL Server subset, used by many Access developers, shipped with Ms Access/Office prior to Version 2003, and mean't to be replaced by SQL Server Express.

Source: Another Vista Wrinkle: Latest Database Required By Barbara Darrow, CRN 3:34 PM EDT Wed. Aug. 16, 2006

MSDN Just Published: Office 2007 Articles and Videos

Word 2007 HTML and CSS Rendering Capabilities in Outlook 2007 (Part 1 of 2) Provides reference documentation related to supported and unsupported HTML elements, attributes, and CSS properties.

Word 2007 HTML and CSS Rendering Capabilities in Outlook 2007 (Part 2 of 2) Provides detailed instructions on how-to install and use the Outlook 2007 Tool: HTML and CSS Validator. Outlook 2007 HTML.

Video: Customizing the Ribbon with Visual Studio Tools for Office "v3" June CTP Create an add-in for PowerPoint 2007 to customize and modify the ribbon.

Video: Extending the Office 2007 User Interface with a Custom Task Pane Create a shared add-in with Visual Studio 2005 that extends the new user interface with a custom task pane.

Video: Generating Office Documents using the New XML Open File Formats Generate, read and modify documents without going through the object model of the hosting Office application.