Tag Archives: MS Access Add-in

Great Access Tools – Access Shortcut (right-click) Tool

As developers our primary job is to facilitate our user’s interaction with the data. One way to provide easy access to functionalities (sorting, filtering, …) is by creating Right-Click Context Menus. Sadly, Microsoft has, in recent years, made this even more complicated than it already was and it is quite undertaking to say the least!

Thankfully, Dale Fye, fellow MS Access MVP, has created a really nice add-in, the Access Shortcut (right-click) Tool, to completely revolutionize the task of creating such context menus.

Through the use of his add-in, you simply fill in a couple menus to make selections and apply settings and the next thing you know you have fully functioning MS Access right-click context menus in your database!

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Windows Explorer MS Access Database Right-Click Context Menu

I was part of a discussion, Easy Use Command Switches \decompile \excl \compact \runtime Etc, Access 2010 , regarding Windows Explorer Context Menus for sending/opening accdb files to:

Compact
Decompile
Runtime

Up until now, I simply created a couple of shortcuts with I added to the SendTo Menu as described in the Reusable decompilation method section of the MS Access – Decompile a Database which did work very nicely and is relatively easy to setup.

but each of the above methods does present certain issues:

SendTo approach always displays the options regardless of the file extension, so you could technically try sending incorrect files to Access.
Jon Smith’s approach:
- requires pressing the SHIFT key for the options to display (I do not like hidden features!)
- currently it only works with accdb file extensions. so it currently does not support accdr, accde, accda, mbd, mde, mda, …
- Is hardcoded for Access 2010 requiring editing the reg files for every version of Access you wish to install it on.

So I set out to try and figure out a better a solution, one that would:

only be available for all access files (or whatever extensions I specify)
did not require extra key sequences
did not require manual editing of setup files

and this is why, last night, I developed the Windows Explorer MS Access Database Right-Click Context Menu Creator.

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Smart Indenter on Win 10 with Access 2013/2016

As posted previously, there are some truly great add-ins for the VBE (VBA Editor), one of which is the Smart Indenter. That said, with the various changes in OS and MS Office products there have been a few bumps in the road trying to get it to install properly with the latest and greatest versions. In a recent thread on UtterAccess, one member reported that they managed to get it properly installed and the solution was to actually install the IndenterVB6.exe rather than IndenterVBA.exe. Seems counter intuitive, but definitely worth trying out so you can continue to use this small, but powerful tool!

Update 2020-04-03 2016-02-25

Also, I was informed by fellow MVP Jack Stockton, that Smart Indenter will work with the MSI installer, but not with the Click-to-Install/Click-to-Run edition of MS Office. So if you buy the standalone MS Office then you should be able to install Smart Indenter, but if you are using MS Office through an Office365 account, then sadly you won’t be able to. This is yet one more issue with the Click-to-Install/Click-to-Run editions.
Fellow MVP Tom van Stiphout has now confirmed that the above is no longer true and that Smart Indenter is now compatible with all versions.

MZ-Tools 8.0 Has Been Released!

There are 2 tool/add-ins I install on any computer I will be doing MS Office VBA programming on: (i) Smart Indenter (ii) MZ-Tools.

I’m happy to announce that Carlos Quintero, the man behind MZ-Tools, has released a brand new version of MZ-Tools 8.0. If you have never heard of MZ-Tools, I would urge you to take a look. It will seriously aid you in the development process by putting powerful features (much more powerful Search/Find/Replace, code library, Error Exception and so much more!) at your fingertips.

For an overview of some of the features of MZ-Tools, check out http://www.mztools.com/v8/features.aspx or better yet, take it for a 30 day test drive.

On a side note, Carlos is giving a 50% reduction on the price of MZ-Tools for a short period of time to celebrate MZ-Tools 15th anniversary. So if ever you were considering it, now’s the time.

I should also state that I have no affiliation with Carlos or this product. This is simply my opinion. I personally believe this to be an exceptional tool and have been using it for years now and couldn’t work without it!

Upgrading from a Prior Version

A nice thing to know is that, if you already have a prior version of MZ-Tools installed, you can install this new version without needing to uninstall your current version. This permits you to keep the toolbar from the previous version, allowing you some time to get familiar with the new version’s toolbar and features.

Furthermore, I was pleased to see the installation routine asked to import my settings from my prior version, thus saving me the time of setting up my preferences (error handler, procedure header, module header, code library, …).

Smart Inderter Not Working in Office 2010, 2013

If you do any serious VBA development, you should have heard, and installed, Office Automation Ltd’s Smart Indenter. If you haven’t you should! It is an exceptional FREE tool that helps properly indent your code to help with code legibility & standardization. It offers numerous customizable options to suit your specific needs.

That said, I recently tried installing on a machine with Office 2013 and it would not work!? What to do.

After so going back and forth with Mz-Tools (another must have VBA developer tool), I finally got it operational.

Now, I do not know exactly why or how, but the only conclusion I could come up with is the order of installation somehow fixes whatever the underlying problem is/was. You must install Mz-Tools first and then Smart Indenter. Smart Indenter on its’ own does not work, nor does installing Mz-Tools subsequently. After trying different variations, the one that appear to have “fixed” the problem was to uninstall the Smart Indenter & Mz-Tools, then reinstall Mz-Tools followed by Smart Indenter.

So the conclusion drawn from my experience, it would appear, is that Mz-Tools must be installed first!

If you have any insight into the nature of the problem (perhaps even an alternate solution) or if you can confirm my fix, please post a comment.

Update

Please refer to: Smart Indenter on Win 10 with Access 2013/2016 for another potential solution to getting Smart Indenter operational.

FMS Total Access Analyzer

As an MVP, we are granted the privilege of getting Not For Resale licenses of certain software to take for a test run.

I recent installed and tested FMS’ Total Access Analyzer (Database Analysis for Access 2010). Below are my thoughts.

Installation

Nothing could be simpler! Simply download the ‘setup.exe’ and run it.

Impressions

The usage of the Total Access Analyzer is once again very straight forward and highly customizable!

You can not only select what type of objects (tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, modules, command bars) your wish to analyze, but you can select the specific object itself. So you can analyze just one specific table or the whole database in one shot.

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FMS Total Visual SourceBook Review

FMS Total Visual SourceBook

What I wouldn’t have given to be aware of this add-in when I was starting out as a developer! Seriously, this add-in would have saved me hundreds, if not thousands, of hours searching online, posting to forums, to find out how to code what I needed to do. Beyond which, it provides the user with a standardized set of procedures, instead of trying to piece together countless routines found here and there as you search online.

Just yesterday, I needed a particular routine and instead of searching online, as I always have done until now, I opened the TVSB, performed a quick search, exported the appropriate code into my module and was back at work in a matter of 1-2 minutes, if that!

So what did I think of the TVSB?

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Microsoft Access Database Add-ins, Tools, Etc.

One thing any good worker will tell you is that you must have the right tools to do the job. Computer programming, MS Access database development, is no exception to this rule!

I thought I’d try and list a few add-ins and other useful tools that I have come across, or heard of, in the hopes it could prove useful to other developers.

This is an unbiased listing and I have no financial gain from any of the tools listed below. I am simply trying to regroup them to help you find them, and you can judge their usefulness on your own. In a future post, I will examine the 2 or 3 that I use myself and find very useful.
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