Archive for the ‘Access Tips and Tricks’ Category

Formatting Access Queries to the Thousands Place

October 24th, 2011

In an Email last week, Christina asks:

“Do you know of an easy way to show Access query results in thousands?
Thanks DataPig.You are the like that black bird on Angry Birds – the bomb.”

Ok….so I added that last sentence. But Christina did ask a pretty good question.

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Here’s how you can format Access query fields so that they show as thousands.

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You first start with a working query. As you can see, this query shows revenue by market with an indication of how much of that revenue comes from Internet Sales. You’ll notice that the revenue columns inundate you with lots of numbers. That is to say, the revenue columns are difficult to read. Showing these columns in thousands would help readability.
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Replacing the Microsoft Access Splash Screen

May 2nd, 2011

Many of us have created Microsoft Access applications which are used every day in professional environments. And we all strive to have those applications to look as professional as we can get them. Given all the work we do to give our Access applications a professional look and feel, it is a bit annoying to see the Microsoft Access splash screen pop up each time we open the application.

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Exorcizing Microsoft Office

March 16th, 2011

The other day, a co-worker of mine lost the ability to send an email from Excel. You know…Office button -> Send -> E-mail.

He used to be able to do this, but for some reason, things went all wonky and now he can’t. I guess sometimes Microsoft Office gets a bug up its butt and starts acting possessed.

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The good news is that Microsoft comes with its very own Father Merrin who can exorcize Office, returning it to the happy little girl it usually is. Yes…Microsoft Office is a girl.

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Microsoft Office comes with a built in tool called Diagnostics (or Detect and Repair). This tool is designed to (according to Microsoft):   “solve some problems directly and might identify ways that you can solve other problems.”

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Changing Sort Order of Access Crosstab Headings

February 14th, 2011

By default, Access Crosstab queries sort their column headings in alphabetical order. This is becomes a real drag when you’re struggling to show months in month order instead of alphabetical order.

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This screenshot shows the mess that comes from running a Crosstab with month columns. According to Access, April is the first month of the year.
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Create a Keyboard Hot Key to Start Excel or Access

December 28th, 2010

Are you constantly opening Excel and Access?

Why use your mouse to click on the Excel or Access icon?

Why not create a keyboard hot key?

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Creating and Using User Defined Functions in Access

November 2nd, 2010

We haven’t had an Access post in a while, so today, I’ll show Access some love.

We all know that we can create our own User Defined Functions in Excel. Well, did you know you can also create and use your own User Defined Functions in Access?

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Can’t Export More than 65,000 Rows to Excel 2007?

April 22nd, 2010

Kusleika and I are at the Excel and Access Power User Workshop this week. Between you and me, he’s not doing that well.

Anyway, one of our attendees asked why Access 2007 can’t export more than 65,000 rows to Excel 2007. I replied with my usual professorial demeanor “What? You’re on crack!”

This is when he demonstrated these steps:

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Adding Trend Icons to Access Queries

March 23rd, 2010

With the release of Office 2007, Excel introduced cool new conditional formatting rules that gave you the ability to show dashboard-esque icons inside cells. With these icons, you can represent performance using different shapes and colors.

 

As usual, Access gets the short end of the visualization stick. No such functionality exists in your cache of Access tools. But today, I’ll show you how to hack your way into showing dashboard-esque icons in Access queries.

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Avoiding Data Cut-Off in Excel

February 3rd, 2010

It’s been a busy week and I’ve been working hard. I think I’ll reward myself by writing a blog post for people I’ve never met. Here we go.

Let’s talk about getting Access Memo Fields into Excel.

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Clearing Access ImportError Tables

January 26th, 2010

If you move data from Excel to Access on a regular basis, you’ll know that sometimes Access can’t resolve the data being imported from Excel. In these cases Access automatically creates a new table called ImportErrors..
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