Customer Reviews

Access VBA Programming For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))

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Some years ago Microsoft created a specialized programming language to allow extensions to be made to the normal modes of operation allowed in their Office suite. The language was fairly well thought out to be applicable to applications as different as word processing, spreadsheets or data bases. They called it Visual Basic for Applications shortened to VBA. It has worked remarkable well. Down theough the years there have been relatively few changes to VBA.

This book is on VBA as specifically oriented to the Microsoft Access database program. But if you learn Access VBA, you are not far from knowing how to use VBA on any of the other Office components. ==While this is an Access book, it is specifically on VBA, it assumes that you already know about how to build a table, and about rows and columns. It also assumes that you have some familiarty with other Access features such as building queries.

Access goes to a great deal of effort to avoid having to use the underlying SQL language. There are a couple of chapters on SQL for the total beginner. In the long run, you will probably want to know more.

You can't design one book to do everything in about 400 pages. This "dummies" book concentrates on VBA. That's enough for one book. It does a good job on VBA. You may want to fill out your bookshelf with Access for Dummies and SQL for Dummies.

"Access VBA Programming for Dummies" definitely helped me in breaking into the world of Access VBA programming. The first half is especially good at explaning things in such a way that most anyone with a basic level of understanding of Access could benefit. I did run into some problems with some of the code which I used as templates for my database project, however. The solution I found suggested that the book should be using the '&' sign for combinations rather than the '+' sign, which appears to cause problems in some situations. Thus, it seems to have some mistakes in it.

This book has lots of code snippets, but so many of them are out of context of actual usage (within class and standard modules) that the beginner is really left to READING about things rather than trying them. This is a mistake on the part of the Dummy editors. The authors need to give the beginning Dummy the ability to play with the code. It does no good to explain controls and then not provide the code to create the form or even provide the form for the reader to play with and practice. There are some sample files included, but they are far from useful and don't even follow the book. For example, the Chapter 6 Sales Tax form isn't included. I'd look for a book that gave you more examples for practice. Failing that, it's not a BAD book; it may take another book or two used along with this book which really defeats the concept of a Dummy book. Dummys need practice, not reading material.

The book is an easy read. It can be used as a starting guide for beginners or even a reference book for a little more experienced users. It can be read in full or in pieces, it is a great reference to have on hand while beginning and continuing projects. No complaints. I only wish there were some exercises in the book to go through.

I love the Dummies books. They're clear, fun, and make great reference books. This one is no exception. If you're trying to learn VBA, I highly recommend this book.

Have used Excel for a number of years but never knew how to do a macro. Then started an application where a program might make the job easier. Had done Fortran programming years ago and hoped Excel macros could do the same thing. Well it can - arrays, "do" loops, if/then, subrutines etc. This book required careful reading and review. It takes time to get thru the material so that you feel you can really write a program (macro). But thru examples and entering programs yourself, you slowly get the hang of it. There remain times when I wish I could ask a real question. Lacking that, trial and error and Excel help let you muscle thru the process. I would recommend this book to anyone with a bit of a programming background and a real desire to get something programmed. You begin to write macros very early in the reading process. It just takes time to get to the point where you've learned enough to apply it to your particular problem. Good news, in the end, you will learn a good deal about macro programming. Once you've done one, the door is opened for more.

Seemed ok at first, nice and easy, but quickly turned into just an introduction. The forms chapter was at the end of the book and very short. Forms are what access is all about. I was disappointed.

dan