2007 Office Resource Kit Technical Library in Compiled Help format

This downloadable CHM file (3.5mb) is a copy of content in the 2007 Office Resource Kit technical library. The CHM is current as of 29 August 2009.

NEW Ezy Dashboard Builder for Access 2002/2003/2007

My latest Access tool is Access Dashboard Builder, a free cutting-edge tool from aadconsulting.com for quickly building a fully-functional Access database dashboard.

You don't need a switchboard in your existing application to build a dashboard using the Builder, and you don't need to know VBA or write any macros - the builder automatically handles everything.

You add this cool professional-looking dashboard to your existing database:




using an easy to use 1, 2, 3 wizard:







Download

Untangle MS Access Relations with Ezy Documenter Premium

One of the great features of MS Access is the interactive Table Relations Window, where you graphically create and review table joins. But once the joins start to multiply, the relations window becomes unwieldy, and understanding the joins is like untangling a hopelessly tangled ball of string. This is the relations window that greets you when you open the Access 2007 Northwind sample database:


click to zoom...

You can try moving tables around in an effort to get a better perspective, but perversely it appears even more tangled:


click to zoom...

My Ezy Documenter Premium Access add-in to the rescue! With the Table Relationships Report you can in one mouse-click easily review and automatically document even the most complex table relations - click on the screenshot to zoom:


click to zoom...

This report is only one of a number of reports that this Access Add-In produces:


click to zoom...

Check it out - only US$39.95 - demo available

Cool Firefox PDF Plug-In

I must confess to using Firefox (FF) and not IE - it has so many free high quality plug-ins to enrich the browsing experience. The Open in IE add-on allows you to open any web page in an embedded IE window inside a FF tab. This has allowed to me save pages as MHT files. The problem with MHT files are that they takes ages to load in IE and are easily corrupted.

Now NitroPDF has added a cool new feature to its pdfdownload plug-in for Firefox: Convert Web pages to PDF. By clicking File|Save Page as PDF... from the FF menubar you can convert and download any Web page to a PDF file. The quality of the PDF produced is excellent.

Neat Office Toolbar Tricks

There is always something you can learn about MS Office. In a post today on her Tech Republic blog, Susan Harkins reveals two really neat tricks to quickly copy or move a toolbar button in any Office 97 to Office 2003 application

New Excel Chart Wizard

Microsoft Office Labs has developed the Chart Advisor: a prototype add-in that provides an alternate approach for creating charts in Excel 2007 and uses an advanced rules engine to scan your data and, based on predefined rules, displays charts according to score.

Top scoring charts are generated charts, ranked, and displayed as thumbnails in a dialog for preview and tweaking by filtering data and how it is mapped.

I have asked for an Access version.

Latest SQL Server Express Releases

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express with Advanced Services a version of SQL Server Express that includes a graphical management tool and powerful features for reporting and advanced text-based searches.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express with Tools a version of SQL Server Express that includes graphical management tools.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Report Builder 2.0 provides an intuitive report authoring environment for business and power users. It supports the full capabilities of SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services. The download provides a standalone installer for Report Builder 2.0.

Running Stored Procedures in SQL Server from Access

Randall Rode has posted an article on the process of running parameterized stored procedures in a SQL Server database from an Access client application.

Data Mining: The Parallax View

This look into the future of the semantic web will be fascinating for anyone involved in databases:




More: The Future of the Web

The Lowdown on SQL Server 2008 Express

Destination.NET has published a concise article by Ty Anderson introducing the features and capabilities of the free SQL Sever 2008 Express Edition. In summary:

SQL Server 2008 Express is an easy-to-use database for learning and building small server applications while also providing a seamless upgrade path. It is a solid database intended for real-world applications, and provides most of the security and manageability features available in the full version of SQL Server. The main caveat is that these features come with built-in performance limitations:

• Max CPUs Supported: 1
  
• Max RAM: 1 GB
  
• Max Database Size: 4 GB

Latest SQL Server 2008 Resource Links

These have just been released by Microsoft:

• SQL Server 2008 Release Notes
• SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services Datasheet
• SQL Server 2008 Predictive Analysis Datasheet
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Upgrade Advisor
• SQL Server Data Mining Add-ins for Office 2007
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Feature Pack, August 2008
• SQL Server Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies

Microsoft Releases SQL Server 2008

Microsoft today announced the release to manufacturing of Microsoft SQL Server 2008. Press release

New MS Access (Sub) Blog

I have just come across a new blog, Cyrpis' Lookout, from Renaud that has an MS Access section. So far Renaud has posted some very elegant Access solutions complete with sample databases:

• Checking network paths without freezing your application
• Enhanced Message Box Replacement
• Restarting the database programmatically
• Changing the Access 2007 colour scheme programmatically
• Modal Dialogs with transparent background

More SQL Server Fixes

FIX: SQL Server 2005 Express Edition cannot pass the Windows logo certification when you install an ISV application on a Windows Vista-based computer or on a Windows Server 2008-based computer.

FIX: When you update more than one row in a table that is joined to another table in SQL Server 2005, some rows are not added.