System(s) Upgrade (1 Viewer)

NauticalGent · Dec 21, 2017

Ciao Access Warriors,

My IT department just informed us that in January we are upgrading(?) from Win7 to Win10, AC2010 to AC2013, and SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2013.

I know already that not many members on this forum are familiar with SP, so I don’t expect too many responses there.

Which leaves the OS and Access. Does anyone know of any precations I should take or if there are any features in 2010 that are not available in 2013?

Appreciate any feedback...

jleach · Dec 21, 2017

Hi NG - only one that I'm aware of is Web Databases (replaced with now-defunct AWAs in 2013). For the most part, if your apps stick to the "normal stuff" you shouldn't have much issue (as far as core desktop changes from 2010 to 2016, there really isn't much: ADPs were deprecated at some point, Pivots as well, but I think you're clear other than that).

I'd be much more concerned about whether they're upgrading to 64bit Office, in which case you may have your work cut out for you (a few common ActiveX controls broken, a lot of API changes required).

Do you do any heavy Office integration/automation? (Outlook, Excel, etc)

Win 7 to 10 should be a non-issue, not much to worry about there on the app development end of things.

Lots of changes to SP between '07 and '13. That said, I don't use it much at all, so I'll leave that to someone who knows better.

Cheers

isladogs · Dec 21, 2017

Sorry to disagree with Jack but quite a lot was removed/changed including:
- Pivot Charts & Tables were deprecated in A2013
- DBase support removed (restored in Office 365 version of Access 2016
- Changes to web databases

AFAIK very little was added.
IMHO, A2010 & A2016 are both better than A2013

For a full list of changes, see https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Discontinued-features-and-modified-functionality-in-Access-2013-BC006FC3-5B48-499E-8C7D-9A2DFEF68E2F

Agree with Jack re 64-bit & Win10. No idea re SP2013

NauticalGent · Dec 21, 2017

Thanks for the info/feedback guys. Once I realized 2016 discontinued pivots, i stoped using them and used Linked excel spreadsheets to get it done.

Also, as far as SP goes, I only used the lists as back-end tables so I am not too concerned.

The 64 bit is a wild card and i had not thought of it. That being said, I will ask that question tomorrow and IF they come back with a “yes”, then at least I have time to prepare.

Thanks again!

NauticalGent · Dec 21, 2017

BTW Jleach, I read your articles regarding OOP and how to make a decision as to when to use them. Very informative and useful.

isladogs · Dec 21, 2017

The 64 bit is a wild card and i had not thought of it. That being said, I will ask that question tomorrow and IF they come back with a “yes”, then at least I have time to prepare.

These days, I routinely make all my databases compatible with 64-bit.
If you avoid Active X controls and never use Win APIs, there are no issues

I do use Win APIs but mostly in modules that are reused in different databases so I just reuse the code with conditional compiling.
I also tend to 'cheat' but my method works perfectly so I've stuck with it.

If you need to convert for 64-bit, this is an excellent article explaining how to do it properly:
http://codekabinett.com/rdumps.php?Lang=2&targetDoc=windows-api-declaration-vba-64-bit

jdraw · Dec 21, 2017

I think 10 days notice that your "organization" is changing OS and Office (and who knows what else) is not showing much concern for existing databases, procedures and applications. Seems they might get a failing grade re communications???

NauticalGent · Dec 21, 2017

jdraw said:
Seems they might get a failing grade re communications???

That is the US government for you!

NauticalGent · Dec 21, 2017

Thanks for the link Colin, it will be a gold mine if they convert to 64 bit.

Pat Hartman · Dec 21, 2017

Wow! you're moving all the way to O2013

Microsoft must be getting ready to issue a new release.

Don't forget about themes. They changed from 10 to 13 I think (unless it was 7 - 10). So, things may look different.

NauticalGent · Dec 21, 2017

Thanks Pat, what makes me scratch me bald head is, why not go with the latest and greatest, i.e. O2016?

Our last upgrade was from O2003 to O2010, totally bypassing 2007, which is how the DoD usually does business. I anticipated migrating to 2016 which is WHY I did away with all pivots and charts with the Access applications we use.

Story of my life, when I zig, they zag...

Pat Hartman · Dec 21, 2017

Lots of companies never went to O2007 and even if they did, they didn't do A2007. That version of Office got a lot of bad press with the complete replacement for the GUI. Not every company appreciates having to completely retrain their staff to perform even basic functions because MS decides they need a change. That was probably much of the reason for going to a software as a service model. It FORCES companies to update or at least pay for the new version even if they don't want it. So, it's all YOUR fault

The_Doc_Man · Dec 21, 2017

I'll say this, NG. Win10 is a brass-plated son-of-a-booger when it comes to anything that is security-related. Your site's domain admins are going to just LOVE Win10. I'm watching many articles and also seeing stuff happen on my wife's Win10 machines (2). MS has flat out decided to NOT let go of security. If you want to declare something other than Edge as your default browser, then watch out. The first time you get a browser exception, Win10 RESETS to Edge - and you can't de-install it. Typical Microsoft baloney.

Not only that... if they get a patch in, they WILL install it even if you are not ready to stop what you are doing. There is a dialog that suggests to the O/S when to apply the patches - but it LIES LIKE A FRICKIN' RUG! They will override registry settings even on a private machine where there IS no domain policy.

Further, every so often Cortana pops up (usually after patches, which is when that other skullduggery happens) and you have to tell HER to go away.

Can you guess that wifey complained recently about her machine and I had to go back and find those settings again? I was an experienced system admin with the Dept. of the Navy before I retired. I understand registry settings. I understand the way user profiles are maintained. And Win10 DISHONORS its own rules!

Trust me, if I had enough clout in the government to make it stick, I would tell Microsoft to stop being ham-handed or else watch us replace everything with some flavor of UNIX.

Sorry to have jumped on the soap box, but after a while I get tired of reinventing wheels.

NauticalGent · Dec 22, 2017

Thanks Doc, you always know how to deliver that “silver lining” speech!

The_Doc_Man · Dec 22, 2017

Some days you get the lining. Some days you get the cloud. And SOME days, you get the cloudburst!

jleach · Dec 22, 2017

Earlier in the week I was archiving another year's worth of collected crap from my machine and came across this gem:

View attachment Office2010Win32API_PtrSafe.zip

16 thousand lines of VBA7/64bit compatible API calls and all of their required types. I'm not sure which libraries it covers (skimming through I saw MIDI and menuitem, dde.h, all sorts). In any case, it's probably the biggest collection of VBA7 API references I've ever seen.

While it may not be a drop-in replacement for all existing API code (only because sometimes we can declare things slightly differently for slightly different behaviors), it'd probably be a great place to start if you do need to do that conversion.

I have no idea the original source. It's provided by Microsoft, but I don't how I wound up with a copy.

Also I'll doubly recommend the article Colin linked to by Phil S. Most resources on the topic end up leaving out a few minor (but important) details - Phil's is the first one that gets it complete and completely right.

NauticalGent · Dec 22, 2017

Couldn’t agree more about the quality of Philips work. His Better VBA series has really helped me pick up some cool tips.

I am hoping to meet him in Vienna next year at Access Dev Con.

isladogs · Jan 4, 2018

Very delayed response but in case you aren't aware, Phillip Stiefel is one of the speakers at DevCon this year

NauticalGent · Jan 4, 2018

Hi there Colin, as a matter of fact, I WAS aware - one of the reasons I will absolutely be there this year.

Planning on attending?

isladogs · Jan 4, 2018

I'd like to but the cost looks too much for a poor sole developer to justify ...
Sob...!

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