Access 2000 VBA Handbook

Rating:
Summary: lots of information - but horribly presented
Review: This book has frustrated me to no end. It jumps from subject to subject with no warning. For example the book explains a little bit of the architecture, then says that an "Access Project" has a different architecture. I thought I was working on an Access Project, oops, much later that I discovered that, an Access Application is not the same thing as an Access Project. Thanks for telling me. And for a good portion of the book, there is no sample code. You learn things by chance, and heaven help you if you try to find something in the index (for example, "subform" is not in the index). Did I learn? Yes. But only because I was taking over a project that had already been written, so the book supplemented the code I was deciphering. Admittedly, part of the problem is in Access itself - too much behind the scenes processing which requires no code. Access also has a number of different interfaces ... I had hoped this book would explain when to use which one and why. No such luck.

Rating:
Summary: lots of information - but horribly presented
Review: This book has frustrated me to no end. It jumps from subject to subject with no warning. For example the book explains a little bit of the architecture, then says that an "Access Project" has a different architecture. I thought I was working on an Access Project, oops, much later that I discovered that, an Access Application is not the same thing as an Access Project. Thanks for telling me. And for a good portion of the book, there is no sample code. You learn things by chance, and heaven help you if you try to find something in the index (for example, "subform" is not in the index). Did I learn? Yes. But only because I was taking over a project that had already been written, so the book supplemented the code I was deciphering. Admittedly, part of the problem is in Access itself - too much behind the scenes processing which requires no code. Access also has a number of different interfaces ... I had hoped this book would explain when to use which one and why. No such luck.

Rating:
Summary: lots of information - but horribly presented
Review: This book has frustrated me to no end. It jumps from subject to subject with no warning. For example the book explains a little bit of the architecture, then says that an "Access Project" has a different architecture. I thought I was working on an Access Project, oops, much later that I discovered that, an Access Application is not the same thing as an Access Project. Thanks for telling me. And for a good portion of the book, there is no sample code. You learn things by chance, and heaven help you if you try to find something in the index (for example, "subform" is not in the index). Did I learn? Yes. But only because I was taking over a project that had already been written, so the book supplemented the code I was deciphering. Admittedly, part of the problem is in Access itself - too much behind the scenes processing which requires no code. Access also has a number of different interfaces ... I had hoped this book would explain when to use which one and why. No such luck.

Rating:
Summary: Using Access with VBA, not Access
Review: This book is intended for VBA beginners, not Access beginners. Make sure you are comfortable using Access (User level suggested Intermediate/Advanced) before thinking about this book. When you want to take your Access databases to the next level with some programming (for example, automating the process of running 4 update queries with all alerts turned off), then it's time to grab this book. Readers with some programming background will find this book much easier than those without, but if you have patience and time anyone can learn from this book. If you have VB/VBA knowledge already, including some ADO/DAO basics, you might find this book too boring or easy. Jump up to Access 2000 Developer's Handbook Set, ISBN 0782123716.

Rating:
Summary: Using Access with VBA, not Access
Review: This book is intended for VBA beginners, not Access beginners. Make sure you are comfortable using Access (User level suggested Intermediate/Advanced) before thinking about this book. When you want to take your Access databases to the next level with some programming (for example, automating the process of running 4 update queries with all alerts turned off), then it's time to grab this book. Readers with some programming background will find this book much easier than those without, but if you have patience and time anyone can learn from this book. If you have VB/VBA knowledge already, including some ADO/DAO basics, you might find this book too boring or easy. Jump up to Access 2000 Developer's Handbook Set, ISBN 0782123716.

Rating:
Summary: Thank goodness for Susan Norvalis
Review: This book really stands out from the crowd. Most VBA texts are written by great programmers who are terrible teachers. Not in this case - Using VBA to unlock the power of MS Access is thoroughly and clearly explained - from concepts such as database design and objects to JET, DAO/ADO and beyond. The author shows how to do everything that you can do with Macros, how to do many things that you can't do without VB and then how to most efficiently do all of them! Most useful is the clear way in which the book shows how to perform tasks efficiently in interactive (Forms) and automated (DAO/ADO Recordset manipulation) ways and when to choose each- this book will remain an invaluable tool in my library and be referenced often.

Rating:
Summary: Thank goodness for Susan Norvalis
Review: This book really stands out from the crowd. Most VBA texts are written by great programmers who are terrible teachers. Not in this case - Using VBA to unlock the power of MS Access is thoroughly and clearly explained - from concepts such as database design and objects to JET, DAO/ADO and beyond. The author shows how to do everything that you can do with Macros, how to do many things that you can't do without VB and then how to most efficiently do all of them! Most useful is the clear way in which the book shows how to perform tasks efficiently in interactive (Forms) and automated (DAO/ADO Recordset manipulation) ways and when to choose each- this book will remain an invaluable tool in my library and be referenced often.