Access Day Presenters
Friday March 15, 2024
Armen Stein
Powerful Customer Communication
You’re a professional developer and you know how to design and build great database applications. But what’s the best way to communicate with your customer (either inside or outside your company) before, during and after the project? How can you make sure everyone clearly understands what to expect with regard to features, timeline, and cost? Armen will show you the communication methods that J Street uses with every project, including:
- Setting up the first conversation, and getting the most value from it
- Delivering clear project plans
- Keeping your customer up to date with Informative status reports
- What to do if the scope increases (hint – it’s actually when, not if)
- How to bring the project to successful completion
- Supporting the system after deployment
Armen Stein is the founder and president of J Street Technology, a Microsoft Partner located near Seattle. J Street is a team of developers with expertise in custom Access desktop and ASP.NET web applications. Armen is a Microsoft Certified Professional and an Access MVP, and has spoken at many user groups and conferences, including Microsoft TechEd, Office DevCon in Australia, the PAUG Conference, and the UK Access User Group in London. Armen is co-author of Access 2007 VBA Programmer’s Reference (Wrox). His other interests include travel, photography, backgammon, movies, and driving his 1969 Ford Bronco in the sun.
Mike Wolfe
The Access Developer's Guide to Version Control
Join us for a deep dive into the wonderful world of version control in Microsoft Access development, where we will showcase practical strategies for maintaining robust, version-controlled Access applications. Whether you’re dealing with complex changes or collaborating across teams, this talk will equip you with the knowledge to master version control in your Access projects. Key takeaways will include:
• The compelling reasons to integrate version control into your Access development workflow
• Git vs. Mercurial: why Mike recommends Mercurial with TortoiseHg for Access developers
• msaccess-vcs-addin: the game-changing open-source tool that simplifies version control for Access
• Step-by-step guidance on exporting your database to a source control system
• Using a free Helix TeamHub account to host Mercurial repositories on the web
• How to build an .accdb front-end file from your source code
By the end of this session, you’ll not only understand the importance of version control in Access but also be armed with the tools and techniques to implement it seamlessly in your projects. Get ready to transform your Access development process and embrace a more organized, collaborative, and error-resistant workflow.
Mike Wolfe has been an Access MVP since 2021. He runs Grandjean & Braverman, Inc., specializing in Microsoft Access and SQL Server software solutions for government, banking, and insurance clients. He writes daily articles about advanced Access and VBA topics at nolongerset.com, where he’s published over 1,2000 articles since 2020.
Maria Barnes
Tips and Tricks for Taking Your Back-End to Azure SQL
This will cover what changes your application is most likely to need to work well and connect to a SQL Azure back end instead of a local Access back end. It will touch on data migration and connection setup, but focus on what changes are needed to:
– Make your datasets updateable
– Get identity fields to be seen in Access on new record creation
– Keep form speed reasonable
Maria Barnes is a 6-time Microsoft Office Apps & Services MVP specializing in Microsoft Access. She has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics & Computer Science and a minor in Business from the University of Illinois. Maria has been developing custom software since 1984 and founded Barnes Consulting in 1999, which then became Barnes Business Solutions, Inc. in 2005. She is the chapter president of the Access Lunchtime user group and has published over 50 videos on the Access Lunchtime playlist of the AccessUserGroups.org YouTube site.
George Young
Dawson Butte Software, MVP Access and Azure
Using Web APIs in Access
Kick off Spring with some new ideas for your applications as we take a look at using Web (REST) APIs in Access. With just a bit of VBA and a couple of great libraries, you can make use of any Internet data source in your applications. We’ll give an overview of APIs, implement in Access reading and displaying data from a publicly-available API, and, time permitting, create our own Web API from a SQL backend.
George is a Microsoft MVP for Access and Azure Storage. 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-five years, half of that time at Microsoft (in just about every group other than Office). He is the founder and president of Dawson Butte Software, working primarily on .NET applications (often with Access somewhere in the mix). George still has a commercial site or two that is driven by an Access database sitting in the server file system.
Luke Chung
Data Analytics Tips and Techniques
Capture the value of your data by learning basic to advanced ways to structure and analyze your data. Examples will be provided for normalizing data in tables, advanced queries including crosstabs, forms with graphs, and reports. Some basic VBA will also be included to help you maximize the value of your data and share it with others.
Luke founded FMS in 1986. He is the primary author of many FMS tools including Total Access Analyzer/Detective/Emailer/Statistics. He has also personally provided consulting services to a wide range of clients. Luke is a Microsoft Access MVP. He is a graduate of Harvard University with a Bachelor degree in Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a Master in Physical Oceanography.
Kevin Bell
Dynamic Entity Relationship Diagram
Dynamic Entity Relationship Diagram
The adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” aptly captures the essence of an Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD). Similar to this metaphor, an ERD provides a visual depiction of the intricate relationships among entities within a database. If you’ve ever crafted an ERD in Access or SQL Server, you might agree that a significant portion of those “thousand words” might lean towards the concise, four-letter variety. In this session, we’ll delve into a user-friendly, free database management tool that empowers you to effortlessly generate ERDs as well as scripts to edit objects and data for a variety of databases.
Kevin embarked on his professional journey with Access with version 1.0. Over a span of 15 years, he led a thriving consulting firm in Colorado, specializing in crafting bespoke data-driven applications using Access and SQL Server. In 2008, Kevin transitioned to the Microsoft Access Team as a test engineer for the Access 2010, 2013, and 2016 releases. Presently, he lends his expertise to a prominent consulting firm, where he focuses on constructing equity compensation systems tailored for major tech enterprises.
Beyond his professional pursuits, Kevin finds joy in cycling, playing baseball, and globetrotting in search of the ultimate pint of ale.
Microsoft Access Team
Linda Cannon - Product Manager
Dale Rector - Principal Engineering Manager
Shane Groff - Software Design Engineer
And more...