Access 2007 Books List

The MSDN Blog, What's New in Access 2007, has put together a comprehensive Access 2007 Books List, with titles for all levels of experience. From a complete Access reference like Microsoft® Office Access 2007 Inside Out to the more targeted such as The Rational Guide to Microsoft® Office Access 2007 Templates, and beginner titles such as Access 2007 for Starters : The Missing Manual, to the expert with Access 2007 VBA Programmer 's Reference.

Go Beyond Macros in MS Access

Another freebie. For those of you that want to go beyond macros in Access and need an introduction to VBA, this sample chapter from Access VBA Programming is a solid primer.

MS Access: Blocking Bad Data

Oreilly's have provided a free sample chapter, for their just released book, Access 2007: The Missing Manual. The free download is a good introduction to data validation and data integrity techniques in Access, and covers the essential set of Access data validation tools:

• The basics - including duplicates, required fields, and default values.
• Input masks - formatting ordinary text into patterns, like postal codes and phone
numbers.
• Validation rules - to lay down strict laws for unruly fields.
• Lookups limit values to a list of preset choices.

Icon Constructor GiveAway

Icon Constructor converts images of any format into Windows icons for use in your applications. It supports Windows XP icons in 32-bit color depth with an alpha channel, so you can create semi-transparent XP icons easily. With just a few clicks, any image can be turned into an icon.

This is a really cool tool. With a few mouse clicks I created the icon set below from this JPG:






The program is available for $29.95, but it will be free to visitors to giveawayoftheday.com as a time-limited offer for today only!

NEW Versions of the NATIVE SideBar MS Access Switchboard

Check out my completely revamped Native SideBar Access Switchboard, which now comes with two themes: Windows XP and Access2007 Vista. Click on the images below to zoom in for full screenshots:





These Demo Databases feature:

• Outlook-style application navigation using only native Access controls
  
• Seamlessly use the native Switchboard Items table created by the Access Switchboard Manager
  
• Outlook-style navigation
  
• Custom Icons for each Switchboard Bar and Switchboard Item
  
• Two Switchboards for the price of one!

You can use the demos as a Contacts Manager or buy the source code to use the GUI in your own Access applications. Download the fully-functional demos.

Download All 40 Sharepoint Services 3.0 Templates in One Package

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Application Templates: All Templates This download package includes all forty of the Application Templates for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 plus the Application Template Core solution, which is required to deploy server administration templates.

New Office Developer Portal

MSDN has launched the Office 2007 Developer How-to Center. The portal compiles task-based samples that will help you learn the new features of the 2007 Microsoft Office system programs, servers, services, tools, and technologies. Each sample is a short walkthrough that showcases one feature. By integrating several of these code samples together, you can start building Office Business Applications on the Microsoft Office 2007 platform.

Latest Articles & Resources for Office 2007: 14 Links!

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.

Managing Task Panes in Multiple Word and InfoPath Documents VSTO 2005 SE samples that provide code examples for the management of task panes in Microsoft Word 2007 and InfoPath 2007.

InfoPath 2007 Developer Reference This reference contains conceptual overviews, programming tasks, samples, and references to guide you in developing solutions based on InfoPath.

SharePoint 2007 Sample: User-Defined Functions for Excel 2007 and Excel Services Sample Solution Contains sample user-defined functions (UDFs) and supporting files.

SharePoint Server 2007: Extending the Excel Services Programmability Framework Optimize version 1 of the Excel Services programmability framework to extend Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and Excel Services functionalities to work with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 lists, query tables on Excel Services, external workbook references, SQL write-back, and user-defined functions (UDFs).

Conditional Formatting: Adding Customized Data Bars to Excel 2007 Summary: Data bars give you an opportunity to create visual effects in your data that can help you see how the value of a cell compares with other cells. Learn how to implement and manipulate data bars programmatically through the user interface.

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.

Video: Working with Content Controls in Word 2007 Walk through on using content controls in Word 2007.

Office Visual How to: Building Word 2007 Documents Using Office Open XML Formats The Office Open XML Formats are based on XML and ZIP archive technologies. The new file format in Microsoft Office Word 2007 divides the file into document parts, each of which defines a part of the overall contents of the file. You can easily create, change, add, or delete data in a Word 2007 file programmatically or manually.

Microsoft Architect Journal: Building Office Business Applications The 2007 Microsoft Office system provides a set of servers, clients, and tools to make it easier for enterprises and software vendors to build and deploy composite applications in the enterprise. These solutions, called Office Business Applications (OBAs), are quick to build and deploy; empower end users through extensive personalization capabilities; are easy to change when business needs require; and are built using familiar Microsoft Office tools and applications. This paper shows how to architect composite applications, and how the 2007 Microsoft Office system provides a good platform—familiar to end users—for building such applications.

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.

Video: Building Documents from Scratch Using the Office XML File Formats An 8 minute demo around the Open XML formats, including the key things that go into building a document.

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.

Latest SQL Server 2005 Resources (February 2007)

SQL Server 2005 Samples and Sample Databases (February 2007) Download over 100 samples and five sample databases for SQL Server 2005.

SQL Server 2005 Books Online (February 2007) Download an updated version of the documentation and tutorials for Microsoft SQL Server 2005. See the "Additional Information" section for an update on SQL Server Express Books Online.

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.

Latest Access Knowledge Base Articles

Courtesy of KbAlertz.com:

Access 2000

895751 Description of the Jet 4.0 Database Engine post-837001 hotfix package: April 12, 2005
927844 Users experience problems when they try to use Internet Explorer or a shortcut to open an Access database if the database is already opened by a user
927417 A table field appears incorrectly in Datasheet view when you add the field by using the Microsoft DAO Object Library and you set the OrdinalPosition property in Access
920906 Description of the security update for Office 2000, for Office 2000 MUI, and for Project 2000: February 13, 2007
929062 Description of the security update for Office 2000 and for Project 2000: February 13, 2007

Access 2002

920816 Description of the security update for Office XP, for Project 2002, and for Visio 2002: February 13, 2007
929063 Description of the security update for Office XP, for Project 2002, and for Visio 2002: February 13, 2007
931665 Description of the Access 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: January 26, 2007
920813 Description of the security update for Office 2003, for Project 2003, and for Visio 2003: February 13, 2007
931808 Description of the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: January 30, 2007
929064 Description of the security update for Office 2003: February 13, 2007
931662 Description of the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: January 26, 2007
931663 Plot lines that contain labels disappear when you edit a Microsoft Excel chart or a Microsoft Graph chart in an Office 2003 program

Access 2003

927138 Description of the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: October 23, 2006
919029 Description of the update for Office 2003: November 14, 2006
926259 Description of the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: October 11, 2006
926903 Description of the Access 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: October 17, 2006
924886 Description of the update for Office 2003: December 12, 2006
931665 Description of the Access 2003 post-Service Pack 2 hotfix package: January 26, 2007
927417 A table field appears incorrectly in Datasheet view when you add the field by using the Microsoft DAO Object Library and you set the OrdinalPosition property in Access

Security Update for Office XP

Security Update for Office XP (KB920816) Microsoft has released a security update for Microsoft Office XP, addressing a vulnerability that could enable malicious code execution. Other fixes are included.

NEW from aadconsulting.com: Ribbon Switchboard for Access 2007

Click on the image to zoom in...

I have just launched my latest Access Switchboard. Ribbon Switchboard for Access 2007 is a new space-saving application navigation paradigm that utilizes the flexible new Ribbon Bar GUI and tabbed MDI option in Access 2007, as well as dispensing with traditional Access switchboard and hiding the Access 2o07 Navigation Pane.


Features:

• Fully customisable set of context-sensitive Custom Ribbons
• Access 2007 Database Window, Navigation Pane, and Menus fully hidden
• MDI interface with popup dialogs for Add Only forms
• Illustrated instructions and resource links.
  

Download the demo.

STOP PRESS: Access 2007 Runtime and Developer Extension will be Free!

You heard it first from Access Extra.

This morning MS announced that the developer extensions and runtime for Access 2007 will be available for FREE! Previously Access developers to build and deploy runtime solutions had to purchase the ODE for pre-Access 2003 versions and Visual Studio Tools for Office for Access 2003. VSTO cost US$800 for the full version and US$550 for the upgrade.

This really is great news for Access developers :)

A release date has yet to be announced.

Download Three Sample Add-Ins for Outlook 2007

Outlook 2007 Add-Ins: RulesAddin, TravelAgencyAddin, and PrepareMeAddin These sample add-ins demonstrate many of the new and enhanced features of the Outlook object model.