Clint Covington: Software design, Microsoft Office Access

The team is considering some refinements to the navigation pane . What do you like about the changes? How would you like to see it improved? If we added an OM would you use it? Do you use the new tables and views mode? I have a feeling there will be...

I'm happy to announce the runtime is finally done and for the first time ever--available as a free download! Microsoft Office Access Developer Extensions 2007 Microsoft Office Access Runtime 2007 Once again, sorry for the delay and the problems...

I'm truly sorry that this is dragging on longer than I ever expected. Am I frustrated? Yes. Just before the runtime was to be released a critical bug in setup was found that caused setup to not install on random machines. Multiple attempts to fix the...

There is more information coming shortly.Unfortunately, I'm on jury duty for the next three weeks and will not be able to provide updates. FWIW - I haven't worked on the runtime project, so my jury duty won't effect availability. The Access blog will...

Quick update on the runtime ship date--the test team found a recall class bug in setup that will cause us to slip the schedule by a couple weeks. I will let you know if I hear anything different. Sorry for the delay.

Today’s guest writer is Access Program Manager Ric Lewis. Ric spent the last couple years with the Indigo team and just took an Access PM job. He is looking for some customer feedback on interesting web services scenarios. To start the conversation—he...

I'm interested in what limitations you have experienced in trying to make your Access application look more modern. What are the limitations of Access forms and reports that keep you from creating applications that look like Web 2.0 apps? Some of the...

Thanks for your continued patience. The runtime download is available again. Microsoft Office Access Runtime 2007 There is a known bug where reports don't work in ADPs. We are working on a QFE for the issue. I will let you know when more information...

I know, I know--most of you are still trying to get the hang of Access 2007 and now I'm talking about the next version! Last week I sat in on 8 hours of outstanding ideas about the next version of Access by the development team—lots of cool ideas in the...

Alan Cossey recently sent me a overview of how Cool As Ice is using Office Live and Access to track process information. He has found a couple bugs we will fix in SP 1 but overall it is working nicely for them. I thought some of you might appreciate seeing...

I noticed the Access Junkie just posted a few links to KB articles that describe hot fixes for some blocking issues. Here are the highlights (or um, low lights): ADP Perf When you try to run a Microsoft Access project (.adp) in Access 2007, the project...

The user assistance team has put together a new blog that will highlight articles. Anyone interested in learning more about Access 2007 should find this useful. To subscribe to the Access feeds, see the article Get our RSS Feeds for Microsoft Office...

This morning we are announcing that the developer extensions and runtime will be available for FREE ! In the past, Access developers had to purchase the Visual Studio Tools for Microsoft Office System in order to build and deploy runtime solutions. The...

I'm from a family of six. At one point, my parents had 5 kids living at home going to college. Money was tight and everyone needed to drive a car to work and school (we lived in the sticks). My dad bought a fleet of Chevy Sprints and kept us all in wheels...

Recently a MCS consultant asked the following question on an internal Access Discussion alais: My customer is looking for either a document on 'general best practices when using Access 2003' and/or a document on 'best practices for coding in Access...

Access 2007 and Macros One feature that might be surprising to many experienced developers is the re-invigoration of macros in Access 2007. We have done a bunch of work in this area that we think benefits end users and developers in some scenarios. If...

There are a couple new chapters published on Office Online. 6 Key Considerations When Creating Access 2007 Databases (excerpt from Step by Step: Microsoft Office Access 2007 ) Design Great Looking Forms Using Access 2007 (excerpt from Plain &...

I expect many readers of this blog frequently work with IWs that want to learn more about Access. Here is a new help topic designed to ramp up people on the following core Access: Understand the basics of an Access database See details about the objects...

Allen Browne has put together a nice resource page on Access 2007. I'm not sure I completely agree with the statement about too buggy for serious use--guess that depends on your definition of serious use. As with any major release there are some bugs...

I keep getting pinged on this topic--so let me share what information I can. There will be a Access 2007 runtime. The team is finishing up the work right now. It will support creating a runtime setup, saving a db to a template ACCDT, and SourceSafe integration...

I recently stumbled across some interesting work done by our Office Online team. They allow YOU to submit non-code Word, Excel, and PowerPoint templates to Office Online. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/FX100595491033.aspx?pid=CL100632981033...

The first project I worked on at Microsoft was Data Access Pages. I started off owning the Access/IE 5 relationship and working closely with the IE developers to make Trident a good platform for designing web apps. In Office XP I was responsible for all...

Here is a link to a free 60 day trial download of Office 2007 programs. http://us1.trymicrosoftoffice.com/default.aspx?culture=en-US As you know, Access is in the professional version. For those of you outside the US , you need to use the following...

In January 1998, I joined Microsoft as the ship PM for Access 97 SP1. My career has gone on to include working on Access and 2002 data access pages, SharePoint extensibility and the Web Part Framework, and most recently, Access 2007. IMHO Access 2007...

Today's Guest Writer: Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP I have a complex report with 5 grouping levels, subtotals, and three subreports for additional details of totals. There are also lots of calculated fields on the report with embedded control names...