Microsoft Access Team Blog

When will you reinstate the menubar and allow the ribbon to be completely dumped in runtime application.

If the answer is still never and no then Access is over for us until you do.

BTW Access 2007 is another 95 fiasco.

When will there be a proper release (95 replaced 97 within 18 months will this fix be quciker?)

It is all academic if we can't dump the ribbon in the fixed version.

Second that. There are many crummy things about Access 2007, but the ribbon is ruinous. We've made over a million bucks doing Access development and unless Access is restored to something like it's former suitability for application development, the show is over for us. We're already moving off-platform, but for client server Access 2003 is still pretty good. Eventually I expect it will become brittle and so if a new, legit version of Access not put forward, it'll all be over.

Pitiful what you've done to a great bit of software.

There is no question that the Access ribbon (actually, it's the Office ribbon) has a pretty steep learning curve. Trust me, there is no way to build ribbons by trial and error. Without intellisense and without an Object Browser view of the ribbon hierarchy, it's very, very difficult to make headway on ribbon customization.

My personal experience has been that the key to ribbon customization. Several months ago I found a good, working example of a custom ribbon here on Erik's blog, and without too much trouble, was able to modify it for a number of different purposes. Erik generously allowed me to exploit his example in my book and in conference presentations.

Because of its reliance on XML, and without a good XML validator, I don't think ribbon development will ever be particularly "easy". But, so far, and with few exceptions, I've been able to get ribbons to do what I need them to do.

I'm happy to share my ribbon examples with anyone who asks. I just sent an update to my ribbon chapter's example to Wiley -- it'll soon be posted on their support page for the Access 2007 Bible. You should be able to download it there very soon now.

If you'd like to contact me directly, drop an email to AccessBible@mikegroh.com and I'll get back to you. Please prefix the subject line with "AccessBible:" or you won't get past the spam blocker on this account.

In the meantime, keep in mind that XML is v-v-VERY unforgiving. It's case-sensitive, and fussy about the tags and other elements required for "well formed xml" (that's what I mean by a "good XML validator" -- a nice built-in Office XML editor that validates your XML as you enter it would be worth a lot to developers!).

I finally got past the hump on ribbon development with Erik's help and input from Ken Getz and a couple other people. I still hate having to use an external editor for the XML, but I'm much more optimistic than I was a few months back on the Office 2007 ribbon paradigm.

The debut of the Ribbon is an admission that the original Windows menu system was a bitch to learn in the first place because the main upper menu titles were not logically connected to the lower functions.

So, we all established the nebulous connections in our brains.

I am not a programmer, or even a power user. But, I have done thousands of menu operations in Excel, Word and PowerPoint. I have spent a lot of time learning the menu system.

The Ribbon is an affront to me and to all users of my capability.

The added functions in 2007 should have been merely AddIns to the existing menu system. By condensing the existing system into the left 2/3 of the menu bar, the added functions could have been added in the right 1/3 for those who want to learn the new functions.

What is so hard about that idea?