Access™ 2007 VBA Programmer's Reference

Chapter 21. Using the ADE Tools

The Access Developer Extensions (ADE) is a combination of tools designed to aid in the development of Access applications. If you've used the ADE tools in the past, you'll be glad to hear that there are some new features for Access 2007. This chapter examines the ADE tools, shows you how to use them, and discusses how using the ADE can improve Access applications. The ADE package contains several tools for application development and deployment, including the following:

• The Access Redistributable Runtime: The Access Runtime allows database applications to run on Windows machines, even when Access itself is not installed. The redistributable license allows developers to freely distribute the Access Runtime, in unlimited quantity, without infringing on any Microsoft licensing requirements. Although the Runtime does not allow customers to use the Access program itself, distributing the Access Runtime with your database application will reduce the cost impact for customers who do not already have Access 2007 installed.

• The Package Solution Wizard: The Package Solution Wizard is an Access add-in that allows developers to quickly and easily build a setup package for production database applications. The wizard bundles the database, any user specified files, and a few other optional files (such as the Access Runtime) into a single package to be used for deployment on the client machines. The resulting package file is a standard Microsoft Windows Installer ...