Building Applications with Microsoft Access^®: Hands-On

What is this course about?

This course takes you through the design process of building complete Access applications. It implements business logic into your solution by incorporating complex macros, expressions, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and Structured Query Language (SQL). The course is designed around a single case study to give you real-world practical knowledge. You learn to automate the extraction and modification of data in tables, design an intelligent user interface (UI) using macros, VBA and expressions, gain a solid foundation of VBA, and understand the processes required to distribute an Access solution in a multi-user environment.

Who will benefit from this course?

Both beginner and intermediate Access users learn techniques that can be put to use immediately at work. This course also helps break down the technical jargon in order to understand the real issues in contractor development projects.

What background knowledge do I need?

Knowledge at the level of Course 970, Microsoft Access^®: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction, is assumed. It is important that you are comfortable building forms, adding controls, and setting properties of the Form and Control objects. You should also be able to build queries using the Query Design Grid. General experience in navigating the Access application itself is also important, but you need not be an expert in creating complete end-user applications. Programming experience is recommended, but not required. This course builds upon your existing Access knowledge of tables, queries, forms and reports.

What can I do with Access?

You can build custom applications for your department, workgroup or enterprise that will decrease the time and effort needed to accomplish your job requirements. You can combine external data from many different sources, including SQL Server and Oracle, to provide exactly the information or analysis that is required. You can also customize your applications to look like name-brand products that you purchase "off-the-shelf".

What version of Access is used in the course? What if I use a previous version?

This course is based on Access 2010. If you are using Access 2007, all of the concepts you learn in this course are applicable. There are some differences between Office 2010 and Office 2007, and we will point out those differences. If you are using Office 2003, the concepts are basically the same, but the interface is radically different. Specifically, Office 2010 and 2007 employ the Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) interface, whereas all versions 2003 and earlier use the menu and toolbar as the primary interface. The report creation process was rewritten in Access 2007 and the macro creation interface was completely redesigned between Access 2007 and Access 2010.

Is programming experience required for this course?

No. Previous programming experience in any language is helpful but not required. We cover VBA "from the ground up," so you can learn everything that you need to know during the course. Even if you have taken a beginner's course in Visual Basic or VBA, you learn something new in this course because the Access forms and controls are different from those in VB and other Microsoft Office products.

Why should I learn VBA?

In Office 2010, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the primary language for automating Microsoft Office applications, as well as for over 200 other non-Microsoft products. VBA is used to extend the functionality of existing applications to meet the dynamic needs of the corporate environment. Learning the fundamentals of VBA gives you the capabilities to automate just about any application that supports VBA. While there is an alternative to VBA-Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO)-most developers have yet to move in that direction.

Given that VBA has been around for almost 20 years and that VBA will remain the primary automation language for the foreseeable future, it is a very powerful language, and when coupled with all the examples and support that can be found on the Web, it is hands down the winner for creating Office solutions.

How much time is spent on each topic?

What kinds of hands-on exercises are in the course?

Approximately 50 percent of class time is hands-on. The exercises and course examples are based on an inventory management database. They build upon each other throughout the course to show the progression of a real-world application. The exercises are based on concepts that can be applied to almost any project. Exercises include:

• Adapting business requirements into VBA code
• Exploiting Forms and controls by manipulating properties and executing methods
• Empowering your code using built-in functions
• Incorporating logic and iteration statements
• Programming data Access objects to manipulate data at the code level
• Creating multiple copies of Forms
• Implementing error-handling code
• Compiling the application into an executable database (ACCDE)

How does this course fit into the Learning Tree Access curriculum?

Learning Tree's Access curriculum includes the following courses:

• 970, Microsoft Access®: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction 
• 382, Relational Database Design, Tools and Techniques: Hands-On 
• 315, Developing User Requirements: The Key to Project Success 
• 209, VBA Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction