Downloads, Sample Code and Tools for Purchase

I have used the code/tools below in many projects in various versions of Access over the years. These help me to create solutions in record time and save debugging (I worked the bugs out long ago). They also help to give my applications a uniform look and feel, so I can re-use a lot of help files as well!

Some code/tools are free while others are available for purchase.

Auto Field Captions (Free Code Snippet)

It is best practice to name fields without spaces but with capitalisaion to make them more readable - e.g. CustomerTelNo.

This is simple routine completes the caption property for all fields in a table automatically inserting spaces (so labels and query results are more easily readable).

Form Resizing Tool Ensure your app looks great at any resolution/ratio!

You want your MS Access forms to fill the screen and look great but what resolution should you design your forms for? And should you design for widescreen or normal ratio?

Worry no more, the Form Resizing Too is the solution! Unlike other solutions, this tool does not zoom in on your form or modify fontsize but dynamically moves and resizes controls according to preferences you set as the form is resized to any resolution/aspect ratio!

Generic Error Handler (Free code snippet!)

In a professional Access application the user should never see an inbuilt Access error message. The inbuilt messages are hard for users to understand ('duplicate primary key or index...') and often make them think that the application has failed resulting in dissatisfaction with the application and unnecessary support calls. Add this simple error handler routine to convert 99.9% of all common error messages into English a user can understand!

Generic Report Filter Allow your users to create complex report filters with no extra development!

Tired of having to create forms with filtering options for your reports? With this tool you never have to bother creating a report selection/filtering form ever again! Simply specify the reports you want to appear on the form and give them a descriptive name and this form will: Allow the user to select the report; allow the user specify any field (or combination of fields) in the underlying query; present the user with operators suitable for the selected field; present the user with sample values from the database for that field!

Generic Search Form Let your users apply complex filters and sorts to find the record they're looking for!

This is a 'main form/sub form' solution. Enter your criteria into the header and see all the matching records in the the subform. The subform is filtered as you type so that you can immediately see the results of your search.

Reusable Code

I like to re-use as much code as possible between projects - there is no sense in recreating the wheel!

If a piece of code or form looks like it will be useful in the future it is best to 'package it' (often as a class) making it as generic possible so it can be re-used time and again.

There is an upfront time-cost adding more functionality than you may need for the current project, but the future time saved in both developing and testing makes up for this many times over.