Overview

Macros are very useful for automating simple tasks, such as carrying out an action when the user clicks a command button. You don’t need to know how to program to use macros.

However, macros in Access are quite different from those in Excel and Word. For a start, Access doesn’t have a macro recorder so you can’t record a sequence of actions as you can in Excel and Word.

Access doesn’t save a macro as VBA code in the way that Excel and Word do, so the only way to edit an existing macro is to reopen it and change the selections you previously made or the values you entered.

Another problem with Access macros is they don’t always let you do what you want to do. You can overcome both these possible problems by using VBA code. One more disadvantage of macros is that they run more slowly than the equivalent VBA code.

Want to integrate features from Word or Excel with your database? Want to have your database present a professional forms-based face to users? Want to do background processing of your data?

Want to have one form serve many purposes? Want to modify combobox list contents?

If the answer to any of these is “yes”, you need VBA. If you want to take full advantage of everything that Access has to offer, YOU NEED VBA!!

The aim of the presentation is, through practical examples and discussion, to give you an understanding and overview of macros and VBA in Access, the advantages and disadvantages of each and when to use one method over the other.

Date and Time

11 November 2004, 19:30 – 21:30 GMT

Presenter

Mike Thomas