How To Build an Access 2010 Web Database

A detailed article from MS on building a web database in Access 2010.

New Access 2010 Resource Center on TechNet

TechNet has launched a new Access 2010 Resources portal with a focus on migrating, deploying and securing Access 2010 databases. Learn how to plan and implement an Access Services site, and get links to developer resources, training, videos, and how-to articles.

Free eBooks from Microsoft Press

• Free ebook: Moving to Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (10 chapters by by Patrice Pelland, Pascal Paré, and Ken Haines)
• Free ebook: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 (10 chapters by Ross Mistry and Stacia Misner)
• Free ebook: Programming Windows Phone 7 Series (DRAFT Preview) (6 chapters by Charles Petzold)
• Free ebook: Petzold’s Programming Windows Phone 7 (Special Excerpt 2) (newer than the ebook above; 11 chapters by Charles Petzold)
• Free ebook: Own Your Future: Update Your Skills with Resources and Career Ideas from Microsoft(8 chapters by Katherine Murray)
• Free ebook: Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions (Second Edition) (6 chapters by Mitch Tulloch)
• Free ebook: First Look Microsoft Office 2010 (14 chapters by Katherine Murray)
• Free ebook: Windows 7 troubleshooting tips (short ebook by Mitch Tulloch)
• Free ebook: Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2 (9 chapters by Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker)
• Free ebook: Deploying Windows 7, Essential Guidance (10 chapters from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and 6 TechNet articles)

Latest Access 2010 and Office 2010 Resources and Guides

• Office 2010 Product Guides
• Office 2010 Developer References
• Office 2010 Add-In: Icons Gallery
• Office 2010 Help Files: Office Fluent User Interface Control Identifiers
• Office 2010 Product Guides
• Access 2010 Runtime
• Access 2010 Database Engine Redistributable

Access 2010: Download the Interactive Menu to Ribbon Guide

A visual, interactive reference guide to help you find the new location of commands in Access 2010. Download

Access 2010 Migration Guide

The Access 2010 Migration Guide walks you through new features such as the ribbon interface, the Navigation Pane, where to find Access Options, and so on. The other Office 2010 Migration Guides are also available from the above link. Essential for those upgrading from pre-Access 2007 versions.

Important Access Updates

Latest KB Articles courtesy of KB Alertz:


Access 2002

• 201279   Upsizing Wizard in Access 2002, Access 2003 or Access 2007 database results in message when attempting to upsize to SQL Server 2008

Access 2007

• 2276481   Description of the Office Access 2007 hotfix package (ace-x-none.msp, access-x-none.msp): August 31, 2010 
• 2396342   Office 2007 Cumulative Update for August 2010 

Operations guide for Microsoft Office 2010

This eBook provides information about how to maintain and manage an installation of Microsoft Office 2010.

Visual Studio LightSwitch BETA: The New MS Access Robot?

Check out this short video: Introduction to Visual Studio LightSwitch then read more here.  Access databases will be supported post-BETA!  The blurb:

"With LightSwitch, you can build custom applications that rival off-the-shelf solutions. Get a head start by using pre-configured screen templates that give your application a familiar look and feel. LightSwitch also provides prewritten code and other reusable components to handle routine application tasks, along with helpful step-by-step guidance. However, if you need to write custom code, you can use Visual Basic .NET or C#. You can deploy to the desktop, browser, or cloud (post-Beta) to share your application with others more easily without the cumbersome installation processes... Applications created with LightSwitch support exporting data to Microsoft Office Excel for fast and easy sharing and reporting. You can also attach your application to existing data sources, which makes it easy to collect, analyze, and reuse information from a variety of data sources including Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SQL Azure, SharePoint, Microsoft Office Access (post-Beta), and other third-party data sources."

Thanks to Alex Dybenko of Alex & Access for the heads-up.

New MSDN Articles on VBA In Office 2010

• Getting Started with VBA in Office 2010
• Working with VBA in Office 2010 (32-bit) and Office 2010 (64-bit)

Download the Office 2010 Developer Training Kit

Download the Office 2010 Developer Training Kit - "provides developers with collateral to get started quickly developing for Office 2010". 95.5mb

New Office Ribbon Developer Center Launches on MSDN

A new Office Fluent UI Developer Center has been launched on MSDN, where you can dind developer resources for customizing the Backstage view for Office 2010 and the Ribbon UI for Office 2010 and Office 2007.

Northwind 2010 Web Database is now available

A new version of the Northwind sample database has just been released. The best way to get to the template is to start up Access 2010, under Office.com Templates, click on Sample Templates, and then click on Northwind Web Database. You can also get the template here: Northwind Web Database. 

New Access 2010 Resources PDFs

Download:

• Microsoft Access 2010 Features and Benefits
• Microsoft Access 2010 Getting Started Guide
• Microsoft Access 2010 Product Guide
• Microsoft Access 2010 Reference Access 2003 to Access 2010

Free Corporate Event Manager for Access 2007 and Access 2010

I have just uploaded a cool new Access application that streamlines the process of managing corporate events. No other free database application offers the degree of functionality offered by the The Event Manager application. Download ( 210kb Zipped ACCDE file for Access 2007/2010).

Office 2010 Office Environment Assessment Tool

An environment scanning tools to assist in the assessment phase of deployment. It identifies the following:

• Currently installed applications and installation environment.
• Add-ins currently in use by Office clients.
• Programs that are not registered as add-ins but still interact with Office programs.
• Report: Environmental assessment (potential upgrade issues).
• Report: Add-ins assessment—list of third party programs and information about the compatibility of those programs with Microsoft Office 2010.

Download

Office 2010 Compatibility Inspector

The Microsoft Office 2010 Compatibility Inspector compares existing (legacy) code against the Office 2010 object model by using a text search for known properties and methods that have changed. You can run the tool against specific projects. You also have the option to mark those areas in the code where text search has identified a possible object model match. The comment will include description of what was found along with possible remediation link to online content or help.

The tool integrates with both Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 7.0 (VBA 7) and Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. It includes a basic scanner where definitions and remediation links are updated from a central online location. It also generates a summary report and a details report. The summary includes the total lines of code scanned as well as total lines identified as potential candidates for object model changes. The details report includes the module name, line number, and links to remediation for each identified issue along with color-coded flags for impact guidance.

New MS Office Developer Portals

• Office VBA Developer Center
• Office Developer Center
• Developing Office Business Applications with Office 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010

Latest Access KB Alerts

Courtesy of KbAlertz.com:

Access 2002
977896   MS10-003: Description of the security update for Office XP: February 9, 2010
978214   MS10-003: Vulnerability in Microsoft Office (MSO) could allow remote code execution


Access 2003
977645   Description of the Office Access 2003 hotfix package (Msaccess.msp): December 15, 2009
983235   MS10-036: Vulnerability in COM validation in Microsoft Office could allow remote code execution
982311   MS10-036: Description of the security update for Office 2003: June 8, 2010


Access 2007
978402   Description of the Office Access 2007 hotfix package (Access-x-none.msp, Ace-x-none.msp): February 23, 2010
981049 Description of the Access 2007 hotfix package (Access-x-none.msp, Ace-x-none.msp): April 27, 2010
201284 When you create a Pivot Chart or a Pivot Table in Microsoft Office Access 2007, the Field List is not visible
201284   When you create a Pivot Chart or a Pivot Table in Microsoft Office Access 2007, the Field List is not visible
982312   MS10-036: Description of the security update for the 2007 Office system: June 8, 2010

Access Switchboard to Ribbon Converter Wizard

Exclusive to readers of Access Extra!
A new free Wizard for Access 2007 and Access 2010

This Wizard has been retired and replaced by The Access Instant Ribbon Wizard. The Wizard will automatically create an Access 2007/2010/2013 Ribbon Switchboard based on the native Switchboard Items table in your database built using the native Access Switchboard Manager.

Download

The Access Switchboard to Ribbon Converter Wizard in just two mouse-clicks turns your legacy Access Switchboard (as built by the native Access Switchboard Manager) into a fully functional Ribbon Switchboard!

Download now! Only 155kb (v1.0.1 updated 27 May 2010)

Also check-out these free new Access 2007/2010 tools:

• Ezy Access RibbonX Builder & Editor for Access 2007/2010
• Easily Migrate Legacy Access Switchboards to the Access 2010 Navigation Form

Office 2010 Developer Atlas

A new interactive portal for Office developers where you can explore the new features of of Office 2010.

Office 2010 Australian Retail Release Date is June 15

According to LifeHacker

Microsoft Says: Top 10 benefits of Access 2010

Office 2010 will have its corporate launch tomorrow.  So what does Microsoft  consider compelling in Access 2010: Top 10 benefits of Access 2010.

Office Still Top Business Suite: Google Apps Serious Not

New Forrester data, released on May 11, reports that 81% of the enterprises it surveyed are running Office 2007 and 78% supporting SharePoint, compared to only 4% using Google Apps. Forrester also says that one third of survey respondents are already planning an upgrade to Office 2010 within the next 12 months. The Forrester sample is 115 North American and European enterprise and SMB decision makers.

Source: Forrester: ZDNet: Google still a distant Office competitor

Microsoft Access 2010 Source Code Control

The Microsoft Access 2010 Source Code Control makes it easy to deploy and manage solutions built using Microsoft Access.

Office 2010 Developer Training Kit

Download the just released Office 2010 Developer Training Kit.  The Training kit that provides developers with collateral to get started quickly developing for Office 2010, and includes a comprehensive set of technical content including hands-on labs, presentations, source code, and instructor-led videos, that are designed to help you learn how to develop for Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010.

File Name: Office2010DeveloperTrainingKit.Setup.exe
Version: 1.0
Date Published:  9 May 2010
Language: English
Download Size:  91.1 MB

Access 2010 RTM Runtime Environments Available for Download

Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable This download will install a set of components that can be used by non-Microsoft Office applications to read data from Microsoft Office 2010 files.

Microsoft Access 2010 Runtime The Microsoft Access 2010 Runtime enables you to distribute Access 2010 applications to users who do not have the full version of Access 2010 installed on their computers.

Download the Final Access 2010 Product Guide

Download link is available here.

Microsoft Office 2010 RTM Released on MSDN

Microsoft today released Office 2010 RTM to TechNet and MSDN subscribers.

The retail release will be available in June.

Over 60 Free Controls from DevExpress!

Coinciding with the launch of Visual Studio 2010, DevExpress is offering a vast library of cutting edge controls for FREE!

Go to: http://www.devexpress.com/Products/Free/WebRegistration60/

Easily Migrate Legacy Access Switchboards to the Access 2010 Navigation Form

In Access 2010 the venerable Native Switchboard Manager has been retired. The old Switchboard form has been replaced by a cool web 2.0 style Navigation Form using a tabs paradigm of up to two levels. The Navigation Form Control and Button controls cannot be created in code, so there is a degree  of hard-coding involved.

I saw the opportunity to ease the design process by adapting the legacy Switchboard Items table and porting it to the new Navigation Form.  I have created a demonstration Access 2010, which can be downloaded from here.  The code can be used freely in your applications 'as is'.  All the required code is behind the custom Navigation Form, which  is pre-built with generic two-level tabs control: 8 level one options and each option having 8 buttons, which are populated at run-time  from the Switchboard Items table, using custom code adapted from the Access 2003 vba module behind the native Switchboard form:

The top level option tabs are equivalent to the legacy Go to Switchboard command, and each top level tab has 8 sub-tabs, which equate to the old Switchboard Items.  At run-time the code behind the Navigation Form assigns to each tab button the Item Text to the Caption property, the Command and Argument values to the Tag property of each button control, and an on-click function for macros and code functions to the OnClick Event.  Form and report objects names are assigned to a button’s 'navigate to' property.  Tab buttons are displayed only for actual item entries. Unused tab  buttons are hidden.

I have also built a Manage Switchboard Items Form to manage the Switchboard Items table and automate the process of upgrading legacy Switchboard Item tables from previous versions of Access. Updated 28 May 2010 so that after an item is deleted all items are automatically renumbered sequentially

Office Release Date Announced

According to the Office 2010 Engineering blog the ship date for Office 2010 is May 12.

Office 2010: Understanding 64-Bit Office

Office 2010 will ship in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Get the lowdown on 64-bit Office here.

Building Solutions with Access 2010 Lab

This Hands-On Lab covers the new developer related features of Access 2010 with an emphasis on:

1.  Understanding the differences between developing database objects that will work in a Web database versus objects that work only in a client database.
2. Understanding the benefits of starting from templates, learn basic data design modification for Web databases, develop an understanding of Web form modification and creation.
3. Learning how to use navigation forms and learn how to use the new data macro editing environment.

Access 2010 Gotchas

Compatibility between Access 2007 and Access 2010

New Access 2010  features such as Data Macros and  Calculated Columns are not compatible with Access 2007.  To prevent data loss or corruption Access 2010 will make changes to an ACCDB that will prevent it from being opened  in Access 2007 or make it as read-only in Access 2007.

According to a post on the Access Team Blog, Access 2007 cannot open a database built or modified in Access 2010 if it uses:

• the Access 2010 sort order feature,
• Access 2010 encryption, or
• the application has been published to SharePoint.

Other new features such as Data Macros, Calculated Columns, Navigation controls, Web browser controls, and new layouts for forms and reports, are supported as read-only in Access 2007 SP2.

Features Not Supported in Access 2010

Another post at the Access Team Blog provides an overview of features and components that will be not be supported in Access 2010:

• Calendar Control (mscal.ocx) The calendar control will not be shipped with Access 2010. If you open a form that inlcudes the mscal.ocx control you will see the following error: “Your Microsoft Office Access database or project contains a missing or broken reference to the file 'MSCAL.OCX’.”  To fix this issue, you will need to remove the control and use The Access Date-picker or a 3rd-party control.
  
  
• Report Snapshot Format In Access 2010, snapshot format for reports will not be available.
  
  
• Data Access Pages (DAPs) In Access 2007 legacy DAPs were run-only. In Access 2010, DAPs are completely removed. They will be listed in navigation pane but if user attempts to open them, they will see the following error: “Microsoft Office Access does not support this operation for Data Access Pages. To perform this operation, use Microsoft Office Access 2007 or earlier.”
  
  
• Paradox (3, 4, 5, 6, 7) ISAM, Lotus 1-2-3 ISAM and Red 2 ISAM or Jet 2 Export, import and linking to data from Paradox 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Lotus 1-2-3, Access 1.0 and 2.0 (Red 2, or Jet 2) will not be available in Access 2010. User may see the following error: Installable ISAM not found. You will need Access 2007 or older in order to be able to export, import or link data from Paradox 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Lotus 1-2-3, Access 1.0 and 2.0 (Red 2, or Jet 2) files.
  
  
• Replication Conflict Viewer In Access 2007 and before, the Replication Conflict Viewer enabled users to visually display synchronization conflicts and enable resolution. The Viewer will not be shipped in Access 2010.  As a workaround, you can write your own custom conflict resolution functions and mark them on the ReplicationConflictFunction property in the database replica set. Here is a link that describes how to set property so that you can create a custom procedure to resolve conflicts: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/158930.

Testing Access 2010 BETA? - Free Access Sharepoint Hosting Trial

Access Hosting is a full service hosting platform and data migration service for current Access databases. They are offering a limited free hosting trial with SharePoint Server 2010 Beta for early adopters. This is a sandbox beta hosting environment designed to allow developers to try out the service without having to install and configure SharePoint.