Microsoft Access Team Blog : Macro

Write expressions faster with fewer errors

Clint Covington — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:16:00 GMT

The Expression Builder sports new features and simpler UI in Access 2010. You will spend less effort thinking about syntax and available functions/properties because IntelliSense features provide all the information you need as you type.

Expression Builder

The first thing you’ll notice about the dialog is that we used a little technique called progressive disclosure to focus the user experience.

Gone are the operator buttons to make room for a larger edit surface.
Only show expressions that are allowed in a given context.

Here’s the Access 2007 Expression Builder when editing the control source of a control (Acquired Date in the Assets template):

Here’s the Expression Builder for the same context in Access 2010:

Click the less button to collapse the catalog of expressions:

IntelliSense

IntelliSense consists of a number of features that make expression creation easier. It helps you spend less time memorizing expression names and syntax. You also won’t need to learn a lot of keyboard shortcuts. Finally, you will spend less time hunting and pecking through documentation to find the expression information you need.

Access 2010 offers the following IntelliSense features:

AutoComplete (type ahead, complete word): shows a dropdown list of words that match an object, function, or parameter once you enter enough characters to disambiguate the term. You can either accept the suggestion by typing ENTER or TAB or continue typing the name.
Quick Info: displays the complete declaration for a given function in the expression.
QuickTip ( ToolTip or Screen Tip) provides supplementary information about a UI component when, or when a value is selected using AutoComplete.

IntelliSense Support in Access 2010

IntelliSense is available in the Expression Builder as well as in other locations inside Access where you can type an expression.

Tables

Calculated Fields (more detail in a future post)
Field Default Value
Field Validation Rule
Table Validation Rule
Table Events

Query Designer

Design View: Field
Design View: Criteria

Forms

Control Source Property
All Events

Reports

Control Source Property
All Events

Macro Designer

Where Condition
Repeat Expression
Expression argument values

Note: we do not display expressions in the Expression Builder if it is not supported in a context.

IntelliSense in Tables

IntelliSense is available for both table Datasheet and Design views. We’ll explore both. Let’s continue with the Assets template as an example.

Field Validation

Open the Assets template and take a look at the Acquired Date and Retired Date fields. You will notice that they each have a validation rule that ensures the values are greater than January 1, 1900.

Here I am using the Expression Builder from the Ribbon in Datasheet View:

Table Validation

Now you want to make sure that Retired Date is always greater than Acquired Date. To do this, you create a table validation rule. When you type, IntelliSense will provide both functions and fields in the current table that match. Entries have icons that distinguish the two.

I can create a table validation rule in the Ribbon in Table Datasheet view. Alternatively, I can create it in the table properties task pane in Table Design view:

IntelliSense in Queries

You can create queries faster and reduce errors by using IntelliSense in the query designer.

We’ll edit the Assets Extended query in the Assets template to add a constraint on the Retired Date field so only show assets that are in service:

The QuickTips in this example are particularly useful because they give you return value information so you can select the correct function.

You’ll receive IntelliSense to complete field names for tables included in your query:

When you show additional tables in the designer, you’ll receive IntelliSense to complete table names:

Finally, IntelliSense will list all parameters that you define for your query using the Parameters dialog in the Query Designer.

IntelliSense in Forms and Reports

Now we’ll look at the experience of creating Depreciation (from the example in tables) as an unbound control. To do this, we open the Asset Detail form and add an unbound textbox called Depreciation. We then edit the Control Source for our textbox:

When you type the equal sign and a character, IntelliSense provides a list of the possible matches for my text. Because our context is inside a form, we have more possibilities. In addition to field names and functions, we also see the various properties from the form object model. When I put focus on a particular item, QuickTips provides help on that item.

Expression Build and IntelliSense filter out items that do not apply in the current context.

IntelliSense for Macros

Now that we are generally informed about what IntelliSense has to offer, we will take a closer look at using IntelliSense in macros.

Function Names

Help is listed in IntelliSense for expressions, and will also highlight your current function argument as you type. You can drag and drop the help bubble so it doesn’t get in your way.
You can click the name of the function in the bubble to go directly to the help content for the expression.

Arguments

Access 2010 shows IntelliSense for macro arguments:

Arguments that are expressions by default (Where Condition in OpenForm).
Arguments whose values are relevant for the action argument.
- SetOrderby, SetProperty, Requery,SetFilter/ApplyFilter and GoToControl have the Control Name argument that gets IntelliSense of all the controls in the form.
- FilterName argument of SetFilter gets all the Select queries in the database enumerated.
- RunCode action gets the modules enumerated.
Arguments are not expressions by default but expect constant values.
All other arguments receive IntelliSense when you type “=” to indicate that the argument’s value will be the result of the proceeding expression.

Embedded Controls

Embedded macros enumerates the list of controls and their properties for a given context.

Debugging

The MacroError object is included in IntelliSense for UI and data macros. The most commonly used fields are MacroError.Description and MacroError.Number to help in debugging.

Power Tips

Shift-F2 is a shortcut to the expression builder in the macro designer
Ctrl-Space drops all IntelliSense as it applies to the current cursor location. If you haven’t typed anything, it will drop all IntelliSense.

Enjoy!

Updated: 8/11/2010 with updated images.

Set query parameters with macros

Clint Covington — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:55:57 GMT

Last week we blogged about changes to the new macro designer. I promised to write about IntelliSense but the first draft was lost in an unfortunate hard drive crash. I thought this is a good time to tell you about changes to the macro designer that encourage good design through better support of parameters.

A good database design requires developers to think performance and scalability upfront. Query parameters are often used to improve database performance because it forces application developers and users to restrict data sets before the engine executes queries. This results in faster queries, less load on database servers, and smaller network traffic. Parameters also add flexibility to data access layer because you can reuse a query without modification. The new templates have far more parameterized queries.

If a form is bound to a parameterized query and a parameter is not provided—Access prompts for the value before the query is processed. Most of us have seen the “Enter Parameter Value” dialog:

Honestly—this isn’t a great user experience. Typically, developers will set parameters before an object bound to a parameterized query is opened (see Alison Balter’s recent post on criteria forms). Previously macros didn’t support a method to set parameters.

In Access 2010, we’ve included support to set query parameters with macros. When you add the OpenForm, OpenReport, OpenQuery, or the new BrowseTo action (used to set source objects of sub-form controls--we will talk more about it in later posts) the new macro designer will evaluate the source query object and identify any query parameters. This allows you to programmatically set parameter values at runtime and bypass the parameter prompts:

Click the Update Parameters command at the bottom of the action to inspect the underlying query and repopulate the latest query parameters.

Macros with parameters can be converted to VBA with the Convert Macros to Visual Basic command. Here are the relevant lines of code:

DoCmd.SetParameter "MinDueDate", Forms!issues!MinDate
DoCmd.SetParameter "MaxDueDate", Forms!issues!maxDate
DoCmd.OpenForm "IssuesDS", acNormal, "", "", , acNormal

We will try to get the IntelliSense post done so that the discussion can turn to data macros.

Enjoy!

Meet the Access 2010 macro designer

Clint Covington — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:00:12 GMT

Today’s guest contributors are Kerry Westphal, Krunal Sheth, James Rivera, and Michael Tucker—from the macro designer feature crew.

The Macro Designer is a revamped editor that allows you to automate repetitive tasks; wire together forms and reports to create productive UI; and implement business logic in Access databases. We will talk more about business logic next week when we start the conversation about data macros.

Probably the best way to introduce this feature is a demo:

The goal for the redesign was to help business users and developers be more productive, reduce coding errors, and create robust applications. There are five key usability improvements that support this goal:

Increase developer productivity with features such as the action catalog, IntelliSense for expressions, keyboard accessibility, and copy/paste.
Readable program flow and logic.
Allow for more complex logic execution with support for nested IF/Else/Else If.
Code faster through reuse of existing macros in your database.
Share via email, newsgroup posts, blogs, and code sample web sites through XML.

As you can see—the new layout looks more like code. The Expand Actions, Collapse Actions, Expand All, and Collapse All commands helps readability as you move around macros. Here is an example drill-through macro in Access 2007:

Now, here is the same macro in collapsed view the new designer:

Here is a view with just the actions collapsed:

Here is what the macro looks like fully expanded—notice it reads like code:

Quick Tips

Error handling. One of the first things I do when someone asks me to help them debug their macro is add the On Error macro action to the top of the macro. I put a MessageBox at the bottom of the macro with a message that shows the error description:

Show all actions. By default the Action Catalog and Add New Action combo box show actions that execute in non-trusted databases. To see all actions (including the widely popular SetValue) click the Show All Actions command.

Submacros. Submacros are essential if you have lots of snippets of logic that is frequently reused and should only be modified in one place. This concept maps to the Macro Name column in the old macro designer.

Macro Groups. There is a new program flow construct called Group. This makes it easy to put macros into a group that expand/collapses together.

Action catalog search. The Action Catalog search box not only looks at the action name but also includes the action description. Search for “Query” to see what I mean… It also includes ApplyFilter, GoToRecord, and ShowAllRecords.

MessageBox rename. We renamed MsgBox to MessageBox but you can still type in MsgBox to add the action.

In this database. The “In this database” node in the Action Catalog lists all the macros in your database. Drag and drop of database level macros creates a RunMacro(MacroName) action. You can then use the dropdown to call Submacros.

Drag the Macro Library to create a RunMacro action with a dropdown of sub-macros:

If you drag an embedded macro it always creates a copy as embedded macro cannot be invoked from another macro.

Hot Keys

Expand and collapse code blocks with the Left and Right arrow keys.
The ALT + Up and ALT + Down key strokes moves the selected action up and down.
CTRL + drag copies the actions when you need to quickly duplicate logic.

Quick comments. Enter “//” followed by text will create a comment with from the text.

Tool tips for collapsed actions. Hover over a collapsed action displays a super tool tip with all the arguments:

Argument quick tips. Hover over an argument provides useful tool tips. Here is the Where Condition argument for the OpenForm action:

Insert IF Block. The right click menu has some useful commands to help organize code and insert IF statements without using the Action Catalog.

Convert to VBA. Even with all the improvements to the macro designer, many developers will still want to convert macros written by business users into code. Open the form in design view and use the Convert Form’s Macro to Visual Basic command.

Next, we will blog about how IntelliSense speeds up development and reduces errors.

Create custom menus and shortcut menus by using macros

cdowns — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:59:13 GMT

About a month ago, we posted a Power Tip from Edwin Blancovitch about creating shortcut menus by using VBA. However, if for some reason you’re not interested in cracking open the Visual Basic Editor, there is a way to create shortcut menus (the menus that appear when you right-click an object) just using macros. See this article on Office Online to see how to get started.

Have an Access Power Tip that you want to share? Send it to Mike and Chris at accpower@microsoft.com.

Kiosk Forms

robcooper — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:23:11 GMT

One of my favorite tricks with forms in Access has always been what I call a kiosk form. A kiosk form is a form that takes up the entire screen and is one that you might find in a store or shopping center displaying information. For example, a real estate kiosk might display homes for sale in the area. These screens often take up the entire screen so your attention is drawn to the content on the screen. Interesting scenarios for a kiosk form include:

Real estate information
Dashboards
Store directory
Product searches

You can create a kiosk form in Access by maximizing a popup form. When you do this, the form will cover the entire desktop including the Access window and give it this kiosk effect. This is really easy to do by using the Maximize macro action in the Open event, or with the following line of code:

DoCmd.Maximize

If the form appears to flicker when being maximized, you might consider suspending screen updates using the Echo method as follows:

With DoCmd
    .Echo False
    .Maximize
    .Echo True
End With

Be sure to set the Popup property of the form to Yes to see this in action. The BorderStyle property of the form also has an impact on the form:

When the BorderStyle property is set to None or Dialog, the form will also cover the Windows Taskbar
When the BorderStyle property is set to Single or Thin, the form will not cover the Windows Taskbar

New Access 2007 Articles on Office Online

Zac Woodall — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:33:00 GMT

Thanks to Jeff Conrad on the Access test team for this:

Office Online now has published four articles with material pulled from the Microsoft Office Access 2007 Inside Out book. This enormous book, published by Microsoft Press, is co-authored by Access MVP John L. Viescas and recent Microsoft hire Jeff Conrad. You can find these new articles at the following links:

Exploring a desktop Access 2007 database:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/HA102326851033.aspx

Create an Access 2007 database using templates:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/HA102326861033.aspx

Build forms in Access 2007 using design tools:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/HA102326841033.aspx

Automate applications with macros in Access 2007:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/HA102326831033.aspx

Report View

Erik Rucker — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 15:35:00 GMT

The last regular post was on Sorting and Grouping in Reports, and that followed a post about Sort & Filter in Forms. This time, we'll go into the new Report View, which provides interactive reports at view time and so improves on the old Print Preview view, which was static. The goal of this feature is to make the report an interactive part of the application in a way you never could before.

Report view is simply a new view on reports and a sample report from our Issues tracking app looks like this:

(Click image to enlarge)

By example, the same report looks like this in Print Preview:

(Click image to enlarge)

You can see that the links on Cliff Jones and the Title field are gone in print preview, as they were formatted to show as links only on the screen through a new property. More on that later.

You've seen Layout View for Reports and Forms before.

(Click image to enlarge)

And finally the same report in Design View:

(Click image to enlarge)

Drill Through

The hyperlinks in the report above are actually not real links but are macro actions formatted to look like hyperlinks. To create the macro, you need to go to the Design View, and select the control, then set the Embedded Macro property. Embedded Macros are simply Access macros that are attached to the control, which makes it easier to move them around or update the document. In this example (and in the tracking apps) the macro is attached to the On Click event. You enter the macro editor by clicking on the builder at the right side of the edit next to the On Click event.

The macro is quite simple, just pulling up the relevant form and passing in the record ID. Here's the macro editor for the first line of the macro:

(Click image to enlarge)

The second step ("Not IsNull") is the interesting one with the properties that determine which report to show for which record:

(Click image to enlarge)

Display as Hyperlink

There is a new property called "Display as Hyperlink" that allows you to format the columns you put macros behind to look like links, so users know they can drill through them. Again, this is set through a property on the control from the Design View.

You can select to display only actual hyperlinks as a link (this is the legacy behavior and the default for the property). Alternately you can force non-hyperlinks to show as hyperlinks either all the time (both screen and print) or for the screen only. Formatting for the screen only allows you to show users what can be drilled through without having the hyperlink formatting appear on the printed reports.

Filter and Find

In addition to the drill-through functionality illustrated above, users can filter and use Find functions on reports in Report View as well. Filters work just like they did in the Layout View. As we saw before, the quickest way to apply a filter is right-click on the column. Like in Layout View, we support a rich set of date filters:

(Click image to enlarge)

Users can also apply filters from the Filter button on the ribbon:

And again, the filter is applied to whichever column is selected in the report. In this case, the user has selected a the status column and gets standard text filter functionality, with the ability to choose from the existing values or to click on "Text Filters" and create filters with clauses like Contains, Not Contains, and so on.

Find simply launches the standard Find dialog, and allows the user to search for text in the report.

Next Time

The next post will be on AutoFormats in Access 2007, which have been updated in a big way. There is a range of much more subtle and more contemporary formats to choose from to quickly give your applications a polished look and feel. In addition, now's the time to start running through all the SharePoint functionality, so I'm working up a post on that as well. One of the Access PM's is back at TechEd showing Access 2007 features and covering working with SharePoint in detail. If you're at TechEd, I'd recommend Suraj's session. If not, I'll try to post a link to the video if I can find one.

Overview of Access 12

Erik Rucker — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 13:43:00 GMT

I've had a series of posts talking about the guts of Access 12, but haven't really talked about the gestalt of the product yet. It’s time to fix that.

There are 3 key goals for Access 12. First, dramatically expand the number of people who are successful using Access by making it much easier to build databases from scratch and by including a range ready to go solutions in the box that can be used as they are or modified as required. Second, make existing Access developers more efficient by improving the design tools without losing any of the power that Access provides today. Third, enable a whole new class of collaborative database applications around Windows SharePoint Services.

New User Experience

Access 12 has a completely new user interface than any previous version. It uses the new Office “ribbon” UI to surface commands, but most of the other UI has changed as well. Even the “getting started” experience is completely different:

In the image above, you can see:

Tracking Applications – Access 12 will ship with a range of well-designed database applications that can be used out of the box. The user need not customize anything to get going, but of course everything is customizable. These apps are simpler than our current templates, allowing more users to customize them successfully. In addition, they’re compatible with SharePoint, so users who want to build collaborative apps on SharePoint with them can do so easily.
Start from Blank - users no longer need to define their table schema before they start entering data. They can simply start typing into a datasheet and Access will select appropriate data types. Or they can paste an entire range in from Excel and Access will create the required columns.

In the image above, you can see:

Office Ribbon UI - the new ribbon replaces the command bars and is more context sensitive. This works great for Access, because we’ve always switched UI as the user moves between object types. You can read more about the new ribbon at Jensen Harris' blog.
Single document interface (SDI) - new forms and reports are opened in tabs, with simple navigation between them.
Navigation pane – new pane is docked on the left and supports new ways of pivoting on your document. Users can view database contents by object type, tables & views, or through a customized view.

There are a number of other cool new features not shown above we’ll go into move depth on them in the future. Some examples include:

Data collection via email - send an email to co-workers as an InfoPath or HTML form. The person fills out the form and sends it back. The data is automatically updated in the database.
Import specifications - record all import and export operations into one specification. Use an Outlook task to re-execute the spec (did I mention export to PDF!).
Help System improvements - we think Access 12 fixes many of the complaints people have had about help.
Sandbox mode - new mode runs database in sandbox mode. Confusing dialogs are replaced by less obtrusive Office trust bar.
Managed task panes and add-in model - it is now much easier to tie into web services and middle tier objects.

New Authoring Tools

Access 12 has a new set of WYSIWYG authoring tools that speed up form and report authoring. Authors can see the final format of the report when authoring it, and will find it much faster to get column widths right or appropriate grouping. Of course the old designers are still available as well for users who wish to work that way.

In the image above, you can see:

WYSIWYG report authoring – the new form & report authoring tools provide a view of what the result will look like, with data, at design time. Users no longer have to take a control & region look at their design, or repeatedly switch between design and preview modes to see the results.
Grouping – the new grouping UI is also available at design time, making it much faster and simpler to get the results you want.
Create new fields – a new task pane allows users to drag and drop to create new fields in design view. Users can even select from fields not in the existing query or table, and Access will either do the join automatically or will prompt the user through setting it up.

There is a huge range or other work on Form & Report authoring that we’ll cover in future posts. Here’s a quick overview:

Export to PDF - fully integrated with OutputTo and SendObject.
Report browse mode - reports now support ad-hoc filters, copy/paste, find, events, etc.
Filtering and sorting - new Autofilter menu makes adhoc filters much easier. Developers will appreciate how much easier it is to create new queries.
Quick create - one-click operations to create new tables, queries, forms, and reports.
Improved AutoFormats - some of you might be heart broken that the Access 2.0 themes have finally changed!
Modern image support - use png, gif, jpg, etc without database bloat and maintain transparency.
Gridlines in reports - much easier to create reports with vertical gridlines.
Alternate row color - available everywhere at a store near you.
Datasheet totals row - great feature when combined with alternate row color.
Native rich text data - type and control - yep—it breaks across report pages correctly and users don’t have to install an ActiveX control.
Date picker - available for all date data types.
Add existing fields - new field list exposes relates tables and other tables. During authoring user is prompted for join information.
Attachment data-type - stores multiple attachments with a record.
Append only property for a memo - makes it easy to create a history log of comments for memo fields.
Control anchoring - controls now support properties that allow them to be anchored in the frame.
Split form view - new view on a form that displays the datasheet and form in the same view.
Improved mouse wheel behavior
Value list dialog - new dialog allows end users to add items to a value list.
Not in list - new drill-through behavior properties for handling drill through when user types in a value in a combo box that doesn’t exist.
Macros as properties - embedded macros are stored as properties on a control. Name fix-up now works on this new model.
Bound image control - bind the image control to a UNC path for linked images.
Save as query - create new queries via the new filtering and field list. Save those ad-hoc queries as new queries.
Datasheet is fully MSAA accessible - this will be the most accessible release of Access yet.

Collaborative Database Apps on SharePoint

Office 12 has continued its strong bet on SharePoint, and Access brings the power of a real database the reach of SharePoint. This enables 2 key things. First SharePoint provides a great place to put Access data – data can either live in SharePoint lists linked back to the Access UI, or the entire Access file can simply be stored in SharePoint. In either case, IT can find, manage, and back up the data, and so gains a lot more control over corporate data. Second, Access applications can now take advantage of the reach and collaborative workflow provided by SharePoint. SharePoint can even provide a hub to coordinate the power of Access, FrontPage, and InfoPath.

In the image above, you can see:

Upsize data to SharePoint – Access 12 make it very simple to move the data from local tables to linked-in SharePoint lists. The Access front-end is then saved to the same site, and when users open the database, a new copy of all the forms & reports is downloaded each time, making front-end deployment much easier.

In addition, we’ve added the following support for databases on SharePoint:

SharePoint workflow support – SharePoint provides workflow support using Windows Workflow Services, and Access 12 can use that workflow in its applications. This enables rich collaborative scenarios such as routing or approval that would have taken vast amounts of code before.
Full support for SharePoint schema – in an earlier post I mentioned Access 12’s complex data support. That support means we have 1:1 mapping for all SharePoint items, making it simple to work with SharePoint data in Access.
Offline SharePoint lists - take lists offline with one simple step. Conflict UI handles any potential conflicts with the server changes.
Advertise Access views on SharePoint - access forms and reports can now show up in the SharePoint list of views for a list.
Site manager for SharePoint - easily link to SharePoint lists. Sites you have visited are remembered for each database.
Linking to SharePoint - improved performance and better support for linking to SharePoint lists.

Security followup

Erik Rucker — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 23:24:00 GMT

This is a consolidated post covering the main things that came up about security. Again sorry for the delay on getting this out. Also note the post has links to the pictures rather than in-place thumbnails. I'll get them moved to a better home where I can reference them directly tomorrow.

I took away 4 main issues from the comments on the security model:

What is “disabled mode” and how does it work?
What are “safe macros” and why would anyone ever use them?
How can I tailor my app’s UI to specific users without using User Level Security?
How do ADP’s fit into the new security story?

Disabled Mode:

The Automation security property will still be honored and will continue to function the way it always did. This property as you already know is valid and useful in developer scenarios where Access is launched using startup scripts and applications.

Disabled mode and the Office Trust Center are designed to make it easier for a user to make trust decisions in scenarios where scripts that launch Access do not come into play.

There are scenarios, where developers of a solution want to ensure that code in Access (startup form/ macro or otherwise) always executes. In such cases the recommended approach is to ensure that one or more of the following conditions are met:

The database is signed with a trusted certificate.
The database is installed in a trusted location.

By meeting these conditions, the code within the solution will always be enabled. In scenarios where neither of these conditions can be guaranteed, Access can be made to revert to its legacy behavior of a modal startup trust prompt, that will launch and execute code in the database or not open the file at all. To revert to this legacy behavior set the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Access\Security\

Value: ModalTrustDecisionOnly = 1 (DWORD)

Safe Macros:

Safe Macros aren’t meant to replace code, and as noted there is no way all VBA in Access apps today could be replaced by macros. However, they can still serve a very useful purpose, and there is an interesting set of applications that can be created with no VBA at all. The Access team is building over 25 out of the box applications that use only macros. By not using code, we can ensure that these apps are fully functional without signing and without being trusted – they can be mailed around and will work great. In order to make that work, we’ve extended the macro language in some key areas and rethought about the way we build apps.

Even applications that use VBA may still want to use macros for some functionality, like creating simple navigation that will still work when the application is running in disabled mode. Examples include:

Enable navigation and other safe actions that will be available to the user even in disabled mode.
A combination of safe macros and code, provide an alternatives like an alert requesting the user to enable the database to unleash its full potential in disabled mode, where as using code to fulfill complex business logic requirements in enabled mode. For example: Let's say a button is supposed to execute an update query, which would be disabled if the database is not trusted, in this case using a macro that looks like the following can provide a usable experience:

{missing picture 1 is available at http://groups.msn.com/AccessBlogPics/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1}

Custom navigation using the navigation tools:

Access 12 developers will be able to customize the “navigation pane” (new nav metaphor, more on that very soon) to show users only those objects they need to see. This is the key thing that Access developers did with the ULS, but done in the context of personalization rather than security.

Let's consider a simple scenario where the database has the following objects:

Tables:

Issues

Contacts

Forms:

Contacts

Issues List

Issue Details

Reports:

Active Issues

Issues by Assigned To

Macros:

Autoexec

As the creator of the solution let's say I wanted to create the following navigation model:

A set of my users see all the objects and are able to design them.
A set of my users can see and use some forms and reports but not design them.
A set of my users can only see and use the forms and reports based on Issues, not Contacts.

To go about doing this I can use the concepts of the navigation pane along with certain macros and even code.

The first step is for me to create the navigation pane categories and groups that would allow me to divide up these objects in a way that makes sense. Based on my requirements, I'd need three categories, with the following groups and object shortcuts:

· All Objects

· Tables:

· Issues

· Contacts

· Forms

· Contacts

· Issues List

· Issue Details

· Reports

· Active Issues

· Issues by Assigned To

· Macros

· Autoexec

· Issues and Contacts

· Forms

· Contacts

· Issues List

· Reports

· Active Issues

· Issues by Assigned To

· Issues

· Forms

· Issues List

· Reports

· Active Issues

· Issues by Assigned To

For object shortcuts in the "Issues and Contacts" category and the "Issues" category, I'd disable design UI (using the shortcut properties option in the context menu for each shortcut). The property on the shortcut will disable all UI entry points into design for that object.

{{missing picture 2 is available at http://groups.msn.com/AccessBlogPics/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2}}

Now with my categories ready I can create the logic that sets the navigation pane category based on the user. To identify the user I can use code to get the current windows user ID and map that ID to a given category or any other logic (like a custom login prompt) I prefer.

Let's say I'm using code to identify the user and assign him a category (in a function called GetUseCategory()), then the startup macro would look like:

{missing picture 3 is available at http://groups.msn.com/AccessBlogPics/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=3}

A brief introduction to Navigation pane macros:

SetDisplayedCategories:

This macro allows the user to specify the categories displayed in the navigation pane. It takes two arguments:

Show (Yes/No): Specifies whether to hide or show specified category.

Category (Enum): Allows the user to specify an existing category. If blank macros operates on all categories.

LockNavigationPane:

This macro allows the user to lock the navigation pane, disabling any further customization via the UI. It takes one argument: Lock (Yes/No).

NavigateTo:

This macro allows the user to navigate to a specific category and sub group. It takes two arguments:

Category (Enum): Specifies the name of an existing category. If blank default to first available category.

Group (Enum): Specifies the name of the group within the category.

ADP’s and Access 12 Security:

The ADP architecture is conceptually unchanged between Access 2003 and Access12, which means that the features continue to work in essentially the same way they did. We continue to believe that SQL Server makes a great store for Access data and that building the UI either through linked tables or ADPs will continue to work well.