The Microsoft Access Language Reference describes the Microsoft Access–specific language elements. A Microsoft Access database is made up of different types of objects. Some types are used to display the data in the database, while others are used to store and manage the data itself, or to assist you with programming in Visual Basic. The objects provided by Microsoft Access represent the forms, reports, controls, and modules in your Microsoft Access application. You can use the Microsoft Access objects and the various actions, collections, events, functions, methods, properties, and statements described in this section to program Microsoft Access databases in Visual Basic.

The DAO Language Reference contains reference information on programming with Data Access Objects (DAO) and their methods and properties. Data Access Objects provide a way to control a database from any application that supports Visual Basic for Applications, including Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Visual Basic. Some DAO objects represent the structure of your database, while others represent the data itself. By using DAO, you can create and manage local or remote databases in a variety of formats, and work with their data.

The SQL Language Reference contains information on using the Microsoft Jet database engine Structured Query Language (SQL). You can use the SQL statements described in this section to query, filter, and sort data in Microsoft Access databases. You can also use these statements in Microsoft Query, which is included with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word; however, you can't use these statements directly in any Microsoft Office application except Microsoft Access.

Volume 2: Microsoft Excel Language Reference

Volume 2 describes the Microsoft Excel–specific language elements. There is a set of objects available in Visual Basic that correspond to the elements of Microsoft Excel, such as the Workbook, Worksheet, and Range objects. Every element in Microsoft Excel — each workbook, worksheet, chart, cell, and so on — can be represented by an object in Visual Basic. You can use these objects to program your Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and to automate tasks in Microsoft Excel. This volume describes these objects, and the collections, events, functions, methods, and properties you can use to program Microsoft Excel in Visual Basic.

Volume 3: Microsoft Word Language Reference

Volume 3 describes the Microsoft Word–specific language elements. There is a set of objects available in Visual Basic that correspond to the elements of Microsoft Word, such as the Document, Bookmark, and Selection objects. Every element in Microsoft Word — documents, tables, paragraphs, bookmarks, fields, and so on — can be represented by an object in Visual Basic. You can use these objects to program your Microsoft Word documents and to automate tasks in Microsoft Word. This volume describes these objects, and the collections, events, methods, and properties you can use to program Microsoft Word in Visual Basic.

Volume 4: Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Outlook Language References

Volume 4 contains two parts: the Microsoft PowerPoint Language Reference and the Microsoft Outlook Language Reference.

The Microsoft PowerPoint Language Reference describes the Microsoft PowerPoint–specific language elements. You can use Visual Basic to automate common tasks in Microsoft PowerPoint and to manipulate your PowerPoint data. This section describes the objects, collections, methods, and properties you can use to program Microsoft PowerPoint in Visual Basic.

The Microsoft Outlook Language Reference describes the Microsoft Outlook–specific language elements. Microsoft Outlook is a fully programmable desktop information management program. Although Outlook doesn't contain Visual Basic for Applications, it does include a complete type library and Visual Basic Scripting edition (VBScript). Using the Outlook type library and VBScript, you can write procedures that respond to specific events — such as opening or replying to an e-mail message or clicking a control on a form — and store those procedures in a custom form. Using the type library and Visual Basic in Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, or Microsoft PowerPoint, you can control an entire Outlook session by using Automation. This section describes the objects, collections, events, methods, and properties you can use to program Microsoft Outlook in Visual Basic.

Volume 5: Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications and Shared Libraries References

Volume 5 contains six parts: Visual Basic for Applications Language Reference, Microsoft Office Language Reference, Microsoft Forms Language Reference, Extensibility Object Model Language Reference, Microsoft Binder Language Reference, and Microsoft Graph Language Reference. These references describe language elements common to some or all of the Microsoft Office applications.

The Visual Basic for Applications Language Reference describes the Visual Basic collections, events, functions, methods, objects, operators, properties, and statements that you can use in Visual Basic code with all of the Microsoft Office applications. These language elements form the basic building blocks of the Visual Basic language. Each application or component then adds specific language elements that apply to programming that particular application or component in Visual Basic.

The Microsoft Office Language Reference describes the language elements that you can use when programming Office components, such as command bars or the Office Assistant, which are common to some or all of the Office applications. Microsoft Office supplies common features to its component applications, and you can use the collections, methods, objects, and properties described in this section to program these features in Visual Basic. For example, you can create custom command bars for your application by using the command bars object model in Visual Basic.

The Microsoft Forms Language Reference describes the language elements for this component of Microsoft Office. You can use the collections, events, methods, objects, and properties of the Microsoft Forms feature to create and modify custom forms in your Microsoft Office application.

The Extensibility Object Model Language Reference describes the language elements for this component of Microsoft Office. In the Microsoft Office applications that support Visual Basic Extensibility (VBE), you can use the collections, events, methods, objects, and properties of the Extensibility object model to customize the way your Visual Basic interface (the screens where you write and edit Visual Basic code) appears and behaves.

The Microsoft Binder Language Reference describes the language elements for this component of Microsoft Office. In the Microsoft Office applications that support the Microsoft Binder, you can use the collections, methods, objects, and properties of the Microsoft Binder to control the storage and manipulation of other objects such as Microsoft Word documents or Microsoft Excel worksheets within the Binder object.

The Microsoft Graph Language Reference describes the language elements for this component of Microsoft Office. You can use the collections, methods, objects, and properties of the Microsoft Graph object model to control the graphs and charts you create in your application.

Note Most language elements from one Microsoft Office application can be used when programming this application from any of the other applications by using Automation (formerly called OLE Automation). However, some language elements aren't available in particular applications. The following table shows which components are available in which Microsoft Office applications.

Application	DAO	SQL	VBA	Office	Forms	VBE	Binder	Graph

Microsoft Access	X	X	X	X				X
Microsoft Excel	X		X	X	X	X	X	X
Microsoft Word	X		X	X	X	X	X	X
Microsoft PowerPoint	X		X	X	X	X	X	X
Microsoft Outlook	X			X	X

Each of the volumes contains the following sections:

Table of Contents

Each volume contains a table of contents for that volume. In addition, Volume 1 contains a complete table of contents for the entire set of volumes.

Object Model Diagram

Each volume (or for volumes that have more than one part, each part) begins with a diagram that shows the object model for the language elements described in the volume (or part). For example, at the beginning of the Microsoft Word Language Reference, there's an object model diagram that shows all the objects and collections available when programming in Microsoft Word. Some items in the object model diagrams represent an object only, and others represent an object and a collection, as indicated by the shapes in the following table.

This type of item	Is designated this way

Object only
Object and collection

A–Z Reference

Each volume or part contains an A–Z Reference section that includes detailed descriptions of the actions, collections, events, functions, keywords, methods, objects, operators, properties, and statements provided by the Microsoft Office application or component. This section also provides code examples that show how to use selected elements in Visual Basic code.

Some of the language element topics include information specific to one or more Microsoft Office applications or components in addition to general programming information. This information follows the general information in the topic. For example, the Position property topic in the Microsoft Office Language Reference part of Volume 5 is followed by Microsoft Access–specific information. Similarly, examples specific to one or more Microsoft Office applications or components may follow general examples in the language element topics.

There are a number of cases in which a method or property provided by a Microsoft Office application has the same name as one provided by Visual Basic, or by another Microsoft Office application or component. In Help, the topic title denotes whether the method or property is supplied by the Microsoft Office application or component, or by Visual Basic. For example, the Microsoft Access Count property Help topic is titled "Count Property (Microsoft Access)," and the Visual Basic Count property Help topic is titled "Count Property (Visual Basic)." In these reference manuals, each method or property is included in the volume or section for the Microsoft Office application or component of which it's a part.

In most cases, you don't need to know whether a language element is provided by Visual Basic or by one of the Microsoft Office applications or components when you're programming. However, to look up these objects, methods, and properties in the Object Browser, you'll need to know whether they are included in the Visual Basic type library or in the type library for one of the Microsoft Office applications or components. If you know that the language element you want is part of a particular Microsoft Office application or component, you can search for it in that type library. If you're not sure which application or component contains the language element, you can search all the type libraries in the Object Browser, or search Help, to distinguish the language element you need from other language elements with the same name. For more information on using the Object Browser, search the Help index for "Object Browser."