http://www.access-freak.com Blog posts of Access-freak.com including IT news (Access, Java...related) or things of personal interest. Technology Software How-To en Copyright 2007 webmasters@access-freak.com (Oli-S (freakazeud)) webmasters@access-freak.com Sat, 26 Apr 2008 09:40:00 GMT Sat, 02 Feb 2008 10:08:19 GMT RSS DreamFeeder v 2.1.0 This is the fourth cake my wife put together. Earlier ones included a Thomas, pirate and a birthday package cake. This cake pictures a barn yard/farm theme with a silo, barn and a bunch of farm animals. This is the fourth cake my wife put together. Earlier ones included a Thomas, pirate and a birthday package cake. This cake pictures a barn yard/farm theme with a silo, barn and a bunch of farm animals. http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryApril200802 Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:24:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml I will post pictures and comments at the following site. Check it out if you are interested: I will post pictures and comments at the following site. Check it out if you are interested: http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryApril200801 Mon, 04 Apr 2008 12:24:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml The Access 2007 Runtime updates files to correct some specific Access 2007 runtime issues that were not previously documented in a Microsoft Knowledge Base article:... The Access 2007 Runtime updates files to correct some specific Access 2007 runtime issues that were not previously documented in a Microsoft Knowledge Base article:... http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryMarch200803 Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:24:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml Get your custom Access MVP gear for the 2008 global summit. Stand out in the crowd with any of these t-shirts, polos... Keep in mind that you can change/customize color/size/style of any of the shown templates. I cannot guarantee the quality/look of these since I didn't purchase each for myself... Get your custom Access MVP gear for the 2008 global summit. Stand out in the crowd with any of these t-shirts, polos... Keep in mind that you can change/customize color/size/style of any of the shown templates. I cannot guarantee the quality/look of these since I didn't purchase each for myself... http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryMarch200802 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:24:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml Are you having an issue in Access 2007 where the backcolor of your combobox changes to the backcolor of the form section the combobox is housed in when removing focus from the control? For clarity this is shown in the below image: ... Are you having an issue in Access 2007 where the backcolor of your combobox changes to the backcolor of the form section the combobox is housed in when removing focus from the control? For clarity this is shown in the below image: ... http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryMarch200801 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:40:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml With the recent development in the brawl of HD-DVD vs. Blue-Ray it seems as if Sony will at least win one of its many format battles it fought over the years. Sony must have learned something in the defeats of Betamax, MiniDisc...and seems to come out on top with their support of the Blue-Ray next generation movie format. After almost all the major Hollywood studios supported the format, other influential companies followed including retailers like WalMart and BestBuy as well as service providers like Blockbuster and Netflix. It even seems that one of the strongest supporters of the HD-DVD format, Toshiba has given up... With the recent development in the brawl of HD-DVD vs. Blue-Ray it seems as if Sony will at least win one of its many format battles it fought over the years. Sony must have learned something in the defeats of Betamax, MiniDisc...and seems to come out on top with their support of the Blue-Ray next generation movie format. After almost all the major Hollywood studios supported the format, other influential companies followed including retailers like WalMart and BestBuy as well as service providers like Blockbuster and Netflix. It even seems that one of the strongest supporters of the HD-DVD format, Toshiba has given up... http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryFebruary200805 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:51:19 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml So what’s up with shuffle algorithms? I’ve recognized that the Zune (80GB) doesn’t do such a good job of shuffling all its songs. With more then 5000 songs, it keeps coming up with the same artists and if it does play new albums then it is almost always the hits from those albums. It seems as if a star rating influences the queue that is created when using the “shuffle all” feature. I tried to get some feedback on this from the few existing Microsoft Zune MVPs but no luck... So what’s up with shuffle algorithms? I’ve recognized that the Zune (80GB) doesn’t do such a good job of shuffling all its songs. With more then 5000 songs, it keeps coming up with the same artists and if it does play new albums then it is almost always the hits from those albums. It seems as if a star rating influences the queue that is created when using the “shuffle all” feature. I tried to get some feedback on this from the few existing Microsoft Zune MVPs but no luck... http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryFebruary200804 Fri, 14 Feb 2008 23:24:19 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml Were you ever in the situation of supporting an application for several different screen resolution environments? Normally you had a few options you could use to make the application as visually appealing as possible. Some of these are either to just develop in the lowest common denominator (sometimes still a 800x600 resolution) to ensure that everything will fit on screen but also waste a lot of screen real estate for clients with larger screens. Another option would be to use a lot of code or third party implementations that detect the current screen size and adjust the control/object sizes and positions, which mostly costs a lot of unnecessary overhead. Yet a further option would be to create and deploy different frontends with different size adjustments to the specific clients, which results in a lot of development and future update time on your part... Were you ever in the situation of supporting an application for several different screen resolution environments? Normally you had a few options you could use to make the application as visually appealing as possible. Some of these are either to just develop in the lowest common denominator (sometimes still a 800x600 resolution) to ensure that everything will fit on screen but also waste a lot of screen real estate for clients with larger screens. Another option would be to use a lot of code or third party implementations that detect the current screen size and adjust the control/object sizes and positions, which mostly costs a lot of unnecessary overhead. Yet a further option would be to create and deploy different frontends with different size adjustments to the specific clients, which results in a lot of development and future update time on your part... http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryFebruary200803 Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:08:19 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml A lot of people have been wondering lately why it is not possible in Access 2007 to export a report to the Excel format anymore. The Analyze with Excel feature has been completely removed. If you manually try to export a report to the Excel format you will find that the Excel button in the Export group of the External Data Ribbon tab gets disabled. If you try to do this through code e.g. with the OutputTo method you will receive a 2282 runtime error: 'The format in which you are attempting to output the current object is not available.'... A lot of people have been wondering lately why it is not possible in Access 2007 to export a report to the Excel format anymore. The Analyze with Excel feature has been completely removed. If you manually try to export a report to the Excel format you will find that the Excel button in the Export group of the External Data Ribbon tab gets disabled. If you try to do this through code e.g. with the OutputTo method you will receive a 2282 runtime error: 'The format in which you are attempting to output the current object is not available.'... http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryFebruary200802 Mon, 11 Feb 2008 09:06:19 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml I recently built a somewhat simple but yet powerful budget tracking application. The goal was a personal tracking application which can be easily used and navigated by computer unsavy users. I opted to utilize the Ribbon in Access 2007 for this. It eliminates the need for a separate switchboard like form. The tabbed document feature additionally keeps everything on the same screen without having to switch back and forth between dialogs. I think the main goal has been accomplished and I wanted to share the resulting look and feel of the application with you. As mentioned it is nothing fancy but sometimes less is more: I recently built a somewhat simple but yet powerful budget tracking application. The goal was a personal tracking application which can be easily used and navigated by computer unsavy users. I opted to utilize the Ribbon in Access 2007 for this. It eliminates the need for a separate switchboard like form. The tabbed document feature additionally keeps everything on the same screen without having to switch back and forth between dialogs. I think the main goal has been accomplished and I wanted to share the resulting look and feel of the application with you. As mentioned it is nothing fancy but sometimes less is more: http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryFebruary200801 Sat, 02 Feb 2008 10:08:19 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml Have you ever tried to apply some of the cool AutoFormats that are available in Access 2007 and they just didn't seem to stick correctly? Here are a couple of hints that might help you: Have you ever tried to apply some of the cool AutoFormats that are available in Access 2007 and they just didn't seem to stick correctly? Here are a couple of hints that might help you: http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryJanuary200807 Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:41:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml This question recently came up on UtterAccess forums. The OP had recognized the weird behavior that the default compact and repair feature utilized in a custom Ribbon is removed when the ACCDB extension gets renamed to ACCDR. I've tested this and came to the same conclusion. So how are you supposed to compact an application when it is distributed to clients who use the 2007 Runtime edition? The OP wanted to give the client flexibility to execute the process themselves. The conclusion I came to was to utilize the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) instead of a custom Ribbon command... This question recently came up on UtterAccess forums. The OP had recognized the weird behavior that the default compact and repair feature utilized in a custom Ribbon is removed when the ACCDB extension gets renamed to ACCDR. I've tested this and came to the same conclusion. So how are you supposed to compact an application when it is distributed to clients who use the 2007 Runtime edition? The OP wanted to give the client flexibility to execute the process themselves. The conclusion I came to was to utilize the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) instead of a custom Ribbon command... http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryJanuary200806 Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:59:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml *09/16/1919 - +01/16/2008 Nana will be missed by everyone. *09/16/1919 - +01/16/2008 Nana will be missed by everyone. http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryJanuary200805 Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:44:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml There have been several rumors lately that VBA will not be supported in future versions of Office. This is obviously not true and there are now several official releases from MS side trying to clear things up: ------quote:------ As someone who is working everyday on Office 14, I can assure you that VBA is not disappearing in the next release of Office. VBA will continue to be a valuable option for developers to customize Office solutions to meet their business requirements. I can’t talk more about Office 14 but we are doing our best to make it a great release for developers. ------end qyote---- and ------quote:------ While it’s true that VBA isn't supported in the latest version of Office for the Mac and the VBA licensing program did close to new customers last year, we have no plans to remove VBA from future versions of Office for Windows. We understand that VBA is a critical capability for large numbers of our customers; accordingly, there is no plan to remove VBA from future versions of Excel. ----End Quote---- Hopefully these news will clear up some confusion and spread just as fast as the initial false releases. There have been several rumors lately that VBA will not be supported in future versions of Office. This is obviously not true and there are now several official releases from MS side trying to clear things up: ------quote:------ As someone who is working everyday on Office 14, I can assure you that VBA is not disappearing in the next release of Office. VBA will continue to be a valuable option for developers to customize Office solutions to meet their business requirements. I can’t talk more about Office 14 but we are doing our best to make it a great release for developers. ------end qyote---- and ------quote:------ While it’s true that VBA isn't supported in the latest version of Office for the Mac and the VBA licensing program did close to new customers last year, we have no plans to remove VBA from future versions of Office for Windows. We understand that VBA is a critical capability for large numbers of our customers; accordingly, there is no plan to remove VBA from future versions of Excel. ----End Quote---- Hopefully these news will clear up some confusion and spread just as fast as the initial false releases. http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryJanuary200804 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:02:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml This time my wife wanted to go the elegant route when designing/building the birthday cake. Even though it was lacking a fun theme like the earlier Thomas or pirate cake it turned out to be the best one yet. The cake also allowed her to experiment with new techniques including airbrushing with food colors. As usual everything is edible including the large red bow made out of gum paste. The actual cake is red velvet with cream cheese icing. This time my wife wanted to go the elegant route when designing/building the birthday cake. Even though it was lacking a fun theme like the earlier Thomas or pirate cake it turned out to be the best one yet. The cake also allowed her to experiment with new techniques including airbrushing with food colors. As usual everything is edible including the large red bow made out of gum paste. The actual cake is red velvet with cream cheese icing. http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryJanuary200803 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:45:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml Today this website reached a milestone with 10,000+ visitors since its official launch date on July 8, 2007. In case anyone cares I picked out some interesting statistical data collected from visitors: Today this website reached a milestone with 10,000+ visitors since its official launch date on July 8, 2007. In case anyone cares I picked out some interesting statistical data collected from visitors: http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryJanuary200802 Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:50:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml I just received the good news that I have been re-awarded for yet another year as Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional). If you are not familiar with the MVP program you might find this website interesting. It is a great honor to be associated with so many great minds. I personally want to thank all the Access MVPs for their great support and help through the past year. In particular I want to thank Rob (MS), Micheal (MS), Ken, Teresa, Ken, Robert (for giving me the opportunity to work with the best), Crystal for her everlasting kindness and friendship...Eric for his exceptional support as an MVP lead, Clint and Zac for their hard and dedicated work on awesome products and for pushing me to get done with school that much sooner ;). Last but not least special thanks to each member of UtterAccess forums. I would have not been able to do any of this without them. I just received the good news that I have been re-awarded for yet another year as Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional). If you are not familiar with the MVP program you might find this website interesting. It is a great honor to be associated with so many great minds. I personally want to thank all the Access MVPs for their great support and help through the past year. In particular I want to thank Rob (MS), Micheal (MS), Ken, Teresa, Ken, Robert (for giving me the opportunity to work with the best), Crystal for her everlasting kindness and friendship...Eric for his exceptional support as an MVP lead, Clint and Zac for their hard and dedicated work on awesome products and for pushing me to get done with school that much sooner ;). Last but not least special thanks to each member of UtterAccess forums. I would have not been able to do any of this without them. http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryJanuary200801 Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:44:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml As mentioned earlier this year I had the oustanding chance to work with Robert Martin, Ken Puls and Teresa Hennig on a new book that mainly focuses on Ribbon customization in Office 2007. The book has been released to the general public and is available and the usual bookstores (Amazon, BN, Borders...). As pointed out before, if you want to get the most of the 2007 edition or want to start tackling XML and advanced customization techniques, then this might be a book for you. Here is a short description from Amazon As mentioned earlier this year I had the oustanding chance to work with Robert Martin, Ken Puls and Teresa Hennig on a new book that mainly focuses on Ribbon customization in Office 2007. The book has been released to the general public and is available and the usual bookstores (Amazon, BN, Borders...). As pointed out before, if you want to get the most of the 2007 edition or want to start tackling XML and advanced customization techniques, then this might be a book for you. Here is a short description from Amazon http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryDecember200702 Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:23:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml t specific fixes within the SP can be read in MSKB article 936982. t specific fixes within the SP can be read in MSKB article 936982. http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryDecember200701 Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:21:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, Wie treu sind deine Blaetter... Traditionally each advent season we buy one new addition to the Department 56 collection and bring the Christmas village to life. Over time the village has grown to a full sized town with suburbs, which leads to problems like traffic congestion, arsonists (which the fire department has to deal with), drunken homeless... ;) You can see it in the below pictures. O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, Wie treu sind deine Blaetter... Traditionally each advent season we buy one new addition to the Department 56 collection and bring the Christmas village to life. Over time the village has grown to a full sized town with suburbs, which leads to problems like traffic congestion, arsonists (which the fire department has to deal with), drunken homeless... ;) You can see it in the below pictures. http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryNovember200704 Sun, 25 Nov 2007 17:34:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml Ahoy! Me buxom beauty made me an awesome cake this birthday voyage. Arrrrrr...as ye can be seein' th' boat includes a sea dog figure, kraken, booty chest, jolly roger... It tookst th' lass' three days t' complete all on th' lass' own. This be th' lass' second cake after th' Thomas th' Tank engine one earlier this voyage. Enjoy th' pictures. Ahoy! Me buxom beauty made me an awesome cake this birthday voyage. Arrrrrr...as ye can be seein' th' boat includes a sea dog figure, kraken, booty chest, jolly roger... It tookst th' lass' three days t' complete all on th' lass' own. This be th' lass' second cake after th' Thomas th' Tank engine one earlier this voyage. Enjoy th' pictures. http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryNovember200703 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:20:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml A couple weeks ago I've finished contributions to RibbonX: Customizing the Office 2007 Ribbon. The book will be published by Wiley in January 2008. The authors are Robert Martin, Ken Puls and Teresa Hennig and it was an honor and pleasure to have worked with them. The book covers Ribbon customization as well as other topics relevant to the new Office 2007 release mainly demonstrated with Word, Excel and Access. So if you want to get the most of the 2007 edition or want to start tackling XML and advanced customization techniques, then this might be a book for you. Here is a short description from Amazon: A couple weeks ago I've finished contributions to RibbonX: Customizing the Office 2007 Ribbon. The book will be published by Wiley in January 2008. The authors are Robert Martin, Ken Puls and Teresa Hennig and it was an honor and pleasure to have worked with them. The book covers Ribbon customization as well as other topics relevant to the new Office 2007 release mainly demonstrated with Word, Excel and Access. So if you want to get the most of the 2007 edition or want to start tackling XML and advanced customization techniques, then this might be a book for you. Here is a short description from Amazon: http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryNovember200702 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:49:00 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml Rob Cooper's and Michael Tucker's Expert Access 2007 Programming book has been released. I had the honor of being one of the tech editors for the book and it really came together to a great piece of work. If you are an intermediate Access programmer and want to learn more about common developer practices as well as new features of Microsoft Access 2007 and Windows Vista then this might be a great book for you. Here is a description from Amazon... Rob Cooper's and Michael Tucker's Expert Access 2007 Programming book has been released. I had the honor of being one of the tech editors for the book and it really came together to a great piece of work. If you are an intermediate Access programmer and want to learn more about common developer practices as well as new features of Microsoft Access 2007 and Windows Vista then this might be a great book for you. Here is a description from Amazon... http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryNovember200701 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:38:10 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml This recently came up on UtterAccess. A member wanted to know how to actually retrieve the file size of an attachment stored in the new attachment data type. As with other examples before we can use DAO to achieve this. Here is some sample code that was tested using a form which is based on a table housing an attachment field. This recently came up on UtterAccess. A member wanted to know how to actually retrieve the file size of an attachment stored in the new attachment data type. As with other examples before we can use DAO to achieve this. Here is some sample code that was tested using a form which is based on a table housing an attachment field. http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryOctober200702 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:56:18 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:27352940917713224:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml Despite several failed attempts to preserve the dog’s dignity by not dressing him up in a weird Halloween costume my wife decided that he will be Dobby the lobster this year. The result of our pumpkin carving can be seen below, too. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! Despite several failed attempts to preserve the dog’s dignity by not dressing him up in a weird Halloween costume my wife decided that he will be Dobby the lobster this year. The result of our pumpkin carving can be seen below, too. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! http://www.access-freak.com/blog.html#BlogEntryOctober200703 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:55:27 GMT Oli-S (freakazeud) manual:1193950630140:4531028474797557:http://www.access-freak.com/rssFeed.xml