Description
This book, for advanced Access users or keen intermediate users, details the primary object model used for manipulating Access data, with code samples to use in VBA and/or VBScript. It will be the reference guide VB developers reach for when working with data in Access tables or when manipulating data from other Office applications.
Full Description
Each iteration of Windows has meant a corresponding improvement in the techniques used for transferring data among its applications. Today's leading technique is called Automation. It allows you to work directly with objects in an application's interface using their object models. But if you want to write code in a programming language, such as Visual Basic, in order to work with the apps that support Automation, you must understand the inner workings of an application's object model--or in the case of Microsoft's Access, its *two* object models.
Microsoft Access is the bestselling stand-alone relational database program for Windows offering both power and ease of use. And in many respects, Microsoft has made Automation the centerpiece of its vision for application development. DAO Object Model: The Definitive Reference will guide you through the Access object models, allowing you, with the support of Automation, to reference the application components you want to manipulate. An understanding of the object models is essential for developers who work with data in Access tables, or who want to manipulate components of the Access interface from other Office apps. The Data Access Objects (DAO) model is used to write and read data in Access tables. The Access object model is used to manipulate forms, reports, queries, macros, and other components of the Access interface, including most of the commands by means of the DoCmd object.
This book will include an introduction and a brief description of the differences between VBA (used in most Office applications) and VBScript (used in Outlook). This chapter will also cover Office utilities and add-ons helpful in writing and debugging code, such as the Object Browser, the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for VBA and the Interactive Debugger for VBScript. The book will then be divided into two parts; one covering the Access Object Model and the other, the Data Access Objects. Each section will have a description of what the object represents; listings of properties, events, and methods; and one or more code samples illustrating its use in VBA and/or VBScript code. Each property, event, or method section will have an explanation of the language element, and many will have code samples (either VBA or VBScript) as well.
This book will detail, to an advanced user or keen intermediate user, the Access object models and how they are used. It will be *the* reference guide VB developers reach for when working with data in Access tables, or for manipulating components of the Access interface from other Office applications.
Colophon
Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of DAO Object Model: The Definitive Reference is a sparrow hawk (Accipiter nisus). "Sparrow hawk" is the common name for several smaller members of the hawk genus. The American kestrel is also commonly called a sparrow hawk, but the kestrel is a falcon that has little in common with the true sparrow hawk except for its small size. The true sparrow hawk is colored a bluish-gray, with brown and white markings. It has a long tail and short wings. The male grows to a length of approximately 11 inches, and the female to 15 inches.
The sparrow hawk is widely distributed throughout Eurasia and North Africa, from Ireland to Japan. As its name implies, this bird of prey feeds on other birds, from the small sparrow to the medium-sized wood pigeon. It will occasionally eat small rodents, but birds make up the majority of its diet. Its preferred habitat is a somewhat open woodland, with plenty of areas of cover from which it can launch surprise attacks on its prey. Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary was the production editor and the copyeditor for DAO Object Model: The Definitive Reference. Maureen Dempsey, Jeff Holcomb, and Nicole Arigo provided quality control. Bruce Tracy wrote the index.
Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Kathleen Wilson produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 3.32 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.
Alicia Cech designed the interior layout based on a series design by Nancy Priest. Mike Sierra implemented the design in FrameMaker 5.5. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Rhon Porter using Macromedia FreeHand 8 and Adobe Photoshop 5. Kathleen Wilson designed the CD-ROM label. This colophon was written by Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary.
