Choosing an Access VBA Book

durdle

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Hey,

Anyone know a good access vba book for beginner's?
Note: I am new to vba.

Thanks
________
jugalettes
 
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the dummies programming book series is pretty good
 
Depending on which version of Access you are programming in: anything by F.Scott Barker I have found to be very good. My favorite is Access 97 Power Programming. I think he has 1 for each version. He really goes into detail about why you do things certain ways in VBA.
 
Dgar007, I have that book. I think he does a great job explaining things, but I don't think it would provide quite as much hand holding as the Dummies book would (which I have not seen). If durdle is committed to learning and ambitious, then Mr. Barker's book could be just the ticket. I used that book when I was learning and it inspired me to delve deeper.

Durdle, you just need to make sure that the book you buy is appropriate to your version of Access. There are two data access technologies (DAO and ADO) that are used in concert with VBA to control Access programatically. I don't think any book covers both (because it would be too fat). DAO was the "preferred" technology (according to Microsoft through version 97 of Access), after that, ADO became preferred. DAO will still work with all later versions of Access, except that, from what I hear, ADO is generally easier to use with ADP files.
 
Best to go with ADO if you plan to scale up to SQL Server. From what I gather DAO was designed to connect Access objects to Jet databases. Whereas DAO was designed to connect Access objects with just about anything.
 
I think VBAhole22 meant "ADO" in that last sentence. ADO was meant to be a universal data solution connecting everything to everything else. DAO is optimized to worked with just mdb files.
 
Ooops, you're correct

darn acronyms. What will the next model be DOA?
 
You mean going from Access XP to Access DOA? Sometimes it feels that way....:D
 
Book recommendations

Access Database Design & Programming(3rd edition) by Steven Roman, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc, $34.95. This book covers normalized table design, Access SQL and programming with ADO.

Access Cookbook by Ken Getz, Paul Litwin & Andy Baron, O’Reilly & Associates, Inc., $49.95 with CD. Solutions to practical user interface and programming problems. - This is my favorite VBA book. It is not a language reference in that it does not lay out all the elements of VBA but it shows you practical uses of code.

A Visual Introduction to SQL (2nd edition) by David Chappell & J. Harvey Trimble Jr., John Wiley & Sons, Inc. $44.99

Troubleshooting Access Databases by Virginia Andersen. Microsoft $19.99. Solves many of the problems you’ll run into.

Microsoft Jet Database Engine Programmer’s Guide by Dan Haught and Jim Ferguson, Microsoft Press $39.95 w/CD. Be sure to get the latest version. This book is updated for each new version of Jet. Covers the complete object hierarchy, working with collections, security, optimization, and how Jet interfaces with the ODBC drivers. I actually just bought a new copy of this book. The latest edition seems to be for Jet 3.5. The book is out of print but I found a new copy for only $5 by searching the Borders site.
 
Thank you all for your replies.

Pat,

Just one quick one, to a novice like myself, what is ADO and DAO?

Note:I have Access 97 at work but I have XP home, I think I will downgrade to 97 @ home because we will not be upgrading at work.


durdle
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website design
 
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DAO = Data Access Objects -
From Help -
"DAO enables you to use a programming language to access and manipulate data in local or remote databases, and to manage databases, their objects, and their structure."

ADO = ActiveX Data Objects -
From Help -
"Microsoft® ActiveX® Data Objects (ADO) enable your client applications to access and manipulate data from a database server through an OLE DB provider."

ADO was introduced with A2K. The two access methods perform almost identical functions. Search the knowledge base for articles on converting DAO to ADO for more explaination.
 
Hey,

If I decide to go with ADO will I miss anything regarding DAO?

Durdle
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chrysler uk
 
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Durdle,

Sources I've read say DAO performs better than ADO in an all Jet environment (you are using Jet when your Access file has an MDE or MDB extension). Also, there is more functionality (you can do more stuff) programming Access/Jet security with DAO rather than ADO.

Most sources also agree, however, that ADO (evolved to ADO.NET in other Microsoft products like ASP.NET and VB.NET) is Microsoft's choice for the long-run, vaguely speaking, and that while DAO will be supported for the foreseeable future (about two weeks? two years? people are still writing batch files with DOS commands so who knows?) it will not be further developed.

Regards,
Tim
 
Guys, can you even use ADO with Access 97? I think so depending on what software is installed on your PC (like if you have Access 97 and 2000 installed on the same PC), but I've never tried it.
 
I haven't tried it but I would guess yes. ADO is contained within its own library as is DAO. You would need to include a reference to the ADO library and you would need to decide which (DAO or ADO) library to place highest in the reference lib list. Having both library references would cause the same problems in A97 as it does in A2K since the libraries have common method and property names. Just be careful to qualify your ADO and DAO code to avoid confusion.
 
Since you are using Access 97, and especially if you're just working with MDB files, you can stick with DAO. The book in the link deals with DAO. It was written specifically for Access 97 which was shipped with DAO.
 
Hey Everyone,

I have changed my mind with regards to DAO & ADO. I am going to purchase a book that deals with ADO. Since I have Access XP at home I will purchase a Novice/Beginner VBA book dealing with ADO, anyone have any ideas?

I was think about the book Pat recommended "Access Database Design & Programming(3rd edition) by Steven Roman" but I read in one of the reviews it uses DAO.

Sorry for all the trouble
________
honda cb500
 
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