Welcome to Building Applications with Microsoft Access 97, your guide to designing and creating Microsoft® Access applications. In this book, you’ll find out how to build applications that you and others can use to effectively manage data. In addition, you’ll learn how to use Visual Basic® for Applications—the programming language included in Microsoft Access—to go beyond what you can accomplish by using only the Microsoft Access interface. With Visual Basic, you can extend and customize your application to fit your needs and those of your users.
If you’re new to Microsoft Access, look first at Getting Results with Microsoft Access 97 for information on creating the objects that make up a Microsoft Access database. In addition, consult the Office Assistant with questions that arise as you learn Microsoft Access.
This book has four sections:
The first section, which includes Chapters 1 through 3, shows you how to tie database objects together into a coherent system and introduces Visual Basic for Applications, the programming language used in Microsoft Access. Examples in this section are based on the Orders sample application included with the Microsoft Access sample applications.
The second section, which includes Chapters 4 through 8, describes the elements of Visual Basic in more detail, including an overview of the objects and collections you can work with in Visual Basic and the events you can respond to. In addition, it shows you how to use the Visual Basic debugging tools to test and debug your Visual Basic code, and explains how to respond to errors that occur while your code is running.
The third section, which includes Chapters 9 through 15, shows you how to accomplish complex data management tasks in your application, including manipulating sets of records in code, developing an application for multiple users, communicating with other applications such as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word, and using library databases and dynamic-link libraries. In addition, the third section explains how to optimize, secure, and deliver your application to users.
The fourth section, which includes Chapters 16 through 21, explores powerful features that address special development needs, such as using ActiveX™ controls, creating your own wizards and add-ins, working with external or client/server data, implementing database replication, and developing applications for the Internet and the World Wide Web.