F1 SQL help in Access XP

[naughtyme2000]

Hi all,

The IT department have finally given in and upgraded my Office 97 to Office XP.

My big problem is that in Access 97 if you were writing a SQL statement you could put the cursor over a SQL statement, press F1 and hey presto a reminder of the how to use the statement popped up. XP does not seem to do this, or have I missed something. Even if I type something as mundane as "mid" into the help box it does not even come up with a suggestion.

Can anyone shed any light please - have IT installed the whole deal?

many thanks in advance.

 

[naughtyme2000]

I guess....

I guess no one else has had this problem then?

 

[Pat Hartman]

In their infinite wisdom, MS split help in Access A2K and also in AXP. With those versions, you get different help depending on whether you ask in the database window or in the VBA code window. Unfortunately, the SQL help seems to be in the database window side rather than in the VBA window side. You can still look up help for SQL but you CANNOT use F1 or the Answer Wizard or the Index. You need to open help from the database window and in the Contents tab, you'll find near the bottom of the list an item named - Microsoft Jet SQL Reference. You'll find what you need there.

I have sent several complaints to Microsoft regarding the problems with help in the newer versions of Access but so far it hasn't been fixed. I think that not enough people have complained.

 

[naughtyme2000]

Thanks Pat.

It is a pity. That F1 help was oh so useful to those of us who use SQL on an on-off basis.

Well at least the help is still there, just a pain to get at it.

Thanks

 

[araskas]

I am facing the same problem. After reading this post at least I know where to look for. But still I can only browse a help topic like 'Microsoft Jet SQL Reference'. I would like to be able to search on any keyword in the help topics.
I am going to install Office '97 just for the documentation.

Thank you Microsoft Access 2000/XP project team! You have screwed up a perfectly working Accees Help.

 

[Pat Hartman]

All the help files are separate so what I have done is placed shortcuts on my desktop to get to the ones that I need the most often such as JetSQL, DAO, and ADO.

To find these help files on your system, look for jet*.chm, dao*.chm, and ado*.chm. I suggest using the asterisk so you will find whatever version you have installed. On my system the file names are JETSQL40.CHM, ADO210.CHM, AND DAO360.CHM. When you use these help files directly, you can search for the various language elements and find the appropriate help entry.

There are many other interesting help files such as HTMLREF.CHM. Search for *.chm or *.hlp (old help files) and open the ones whose names interest you.