Denver Area Access Users Group

After board member elections, Sue Mathison will talk about functions and how they work inside Access databases. We will cover a good variety of built-in functions as well as how to create your own custom VBA functions. We’ll also look at how functions can be used in all types of Access objects.

Discover the little known RegisterDatabase() function within Microsoft Access. This function allows you to create ODBC connections without the need to write an installation script. It makes it so easy, even your application users will be able to create ODBC connections and they won't even know they did it. The presentation will describe the RegisterDatabase() function and then show you how to combine it with global variables and compiler arguments to create a flexible application that can automatically select the right data source for the environment it is placed in.

There are myriad ways to accept and present Access data on your screen through creative form design using Microsoft Access’ powerful form builder. DAAUG president, Jim Pilcher, will guide you through the common form types, some uncommon implementations, and a number of important form events that macro and VBA programmers need to understand. We may even discuss Access reports and ReportView, which is a special case of an Access form. At the end of this presentation, you will be loaded with new and creative form ideas for your own projects and those of your clients.

ShoWorks is the leading fair management software in North America, with a 75% market share. Mike Hnatt developed the application in 1996 with Access skills and industry knowledge, and has grown his company and software into a market leader now generating $1 million in annual sales. Still a classic Access desktop application at its core, ShoWorks now additionally supports iPad and web browser access. Please see a video demo of ShoWorks here: www.fairsoftware.com

Mike will be joining us to talk about his experience making an Access application into an industry-leading software program. We’ll hear about how he developed the software, some of its great features, how he marketed and grew his business, and his thoughts about Access going forward. There will be plenty of time for questions, as well.

Please join us for this very special presentation and discussion!

Come see what your fellow members have been up to with Access! Join us for an evening of folks sharing cool features of their Access applications. We'll have four or five 20-minute presentations, with Q&A.

Due to our July 5th meeting falling at the tail end of the long July 4th weekend, and because July is usually a lightly-attended DAAUG meeting, we have cancelled the July meeting this year. Please join us for our July 15th Access Fridays III meetup -- Web Database Development if you are looking for some good database camaraderie during July!

Microsoft PowerApps has just gone into public preview. Join us as we introduce this new platform and walk through creating a couple of data-driven apps that run on iOS and Windows, as well as the web, from an Access developer's perspective.

PowerApps is a service for creating, managing and using custom business apps across platforms. PowerApps connects to your existing systems and data sources securely, allows you to build apps, forms, and workflows without writing code, and lets you publish apps instantly for web and mobile.

George first encountered Microsoft Access when using the thirty-plus floppy disk versions of Office to teach Statistics and MIS in the early 1990’s. It’s been true love ever since. George has worked as a software developer for the past twenty years, including twelve at Microsoft (in just about every group other than Office). He is currently an independent consultant living at 7000 feet in Larkspur, Colorado, working primarily on .NET applications. George still has a commercial site or two that is driven by an Access database sitting in the server file system.

Download the presentation materials

In this talk, C# and Visual Basic author Rod Stephens will walk through a group discussion leading to the design of some practical databases. He’ll first discuss three general approaches to database design: existing data centered, UI centered, and database centered.

Then Rod will lead the group in several attempts to design several databases from scratch. As a group, we’ll think of database scenarios and develop robust and flexible designs to handle them. We’ll normalize (and denormalize) them as necessary to prevent data anomalies as the databases are used and modified over time.

Rod Stephens started out as a mathematician, but while studying at MIT, discovered how much fun programming is and has been programming professionally ever since. During his career, he has worked on an eclectic assortment of applications in such fields as telephone switching, billing, repair dispatching, tax processing, wastewater treatment, concert ticket sales, cartography, and training for professional football players.

Rod has been a Microsoft Visual Basic Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for more than 12 years and has taught introductory programming. He has written 30 books that have been translated into languages from all over the world, and more than 250 magazine articles mostly covering Visual Basic, C#, Visual Basic for Applications, Delphi, and Java.

Rod’s popular VB Helper web site (http://www.vb-helper.com) receives several million hits per month and contains thousands of pages of tips, tricks, and example programs for Visual Basic programmers, as well as example code for this book. His C# Helper web site (http://www.csharphelper.com) contains similar material for C# programmers.

You can contact Rod at Rod Stephens at C# Helper or Rod Stephens at VB Helper.

Access developers can leverage all the power of the Internet from the comfort and convenience of their familiar VBA code modules. We will review a real life application that processes credit cards in Access with no storage of credit card data… so it is PCI Compliant. You will see how 9 web calls to Authorize.net work together with Access. See how XMLHTTP and XML are used to tie Access to the web.

Paul Schnitzler if a full time Access & SQL Server developer serving a wide variety of business. He has over 16 year of experience with Access and SQL Server. Visit his web site at www.gearitservices.com.

DAAUG recently took ownership of the Access Report Writer, donated to the group by Mike Hnatt of Gladstone, Inc. This Access add-in automates the generating of custom reports within your Access application. Dax Sapien will walk us through downloading and installing the add-in, and using it in an Access application.

Dax is a Telecom industry professional with 17 years experience. He is currently working with Ecova Inc. as a TEM Engineer developing solutions to automate the telecom expense management processes with MS Access.

Time permitting, George Young will give a quick overview of using the Access Table Analyzer to quickly create a set of related tables from a single flat file.

No Main Presentation - It's the Annual Christmas Holiday Party! The majority of the meeting is for members and visitors to meet, eat well, relax, and chat.