Microsoft Access 2021 Advanced: Creating a Dynamic Reporting Tool

Name: Microsoft Access 2021 Advanced: Creating a Dynamic Reporting Tool
Author: John Varan

Learn how to code in Visual Basic for Applications and create dynamic reports

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Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is John Varon, and in these lessons, you will learn about VBA and Dynamic Reports. In this lesson, I will show you an introduction to VBA. VBA stands for Visual Basic for Applications, and it is a programming language that is used for customizing many Microsoft programs, including Microsoft Access 2021. VBA is a subset of a larger programming language known as Visual Basic. VBA can't do everything that Visual Basic can, but it is also custom -tailored to make it easier to work with specific Microsoft products. VBA can be used for a variety of tasks in Microsoft Access 2021. You can write your own custom functions, which behave and can be used just like the built -in functions that come with Microsoft Access. You can also use VBA to automate many tasks or to do things automatically under certain circumstances, such as when you open the database, click a button, or open a form. Sometimes, using VBA in this way is known as a macro. Let's look at where we go in Access in order to write VBA code. Go to the Database Tools menu, and then click on Visual Basic. This opens a new window, almost like a whole new program actually, called Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications. All VBA coding is done in here. On the left side here, we have the Project View. This shows all of the VBA modules in your database. A VBA module is just a grouping of VBA code. There are three types of modules. Forms and reports in your database are automatically listed here as modules because they can have custom VBA code attached to them. The third type of module, which is a blank or general module, is listed below in the Module section. These are modules that are not automatically generated from anything, but start from a blank file so that you can write whatever you want. Right now, we're looking at the sample Northwind database, so there is a lot of code already written. Below the Project View is the Properties window. There are various properties that can be set here for the different modules. This is very similar in function to the properties from Microsoft Access database objects. The main part of the screen is on the right. This is the editor where you actually write the code. You can double -click modules in the Project View in order to open them up in the editor. You can have multiple modules open at the same time if you want. One other important window, which is not open by default, is called the Immediate window. In order to open the Immediate window, you can go to the View menu and click on Immediate window. That's the window down here. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl G. The Immediate window is where you can write short snippets of VBA code, and it will run them without the code being part of any of the modules. The code in the Immediate window will not be saved in your database and will have no effect on any of the other VBA code that is in your database. It is useful for testing different pieces of code and for practicing while learning VBA. It can also be useful when troubleshooting. Before you close the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window, make sure all of your open code windows are saved. Once you close the window, all the changes you saved will also be saved into your main Microsoft Access database file. This way, you don't have to worry about keeping track of different code files in addition to your main database file. Thanks for watching. Stay tuned for the next lesson where I will show you the first part of how to write VBA code.

Advanced Provider : John Varan 5 Lessons · 34m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

Visual Basic for Applications, or VBA, is the most powerful tool Microsoft Access 2021 has for helping you customize your database application. VBA is a programming language that can help add functionality that simply cannot be done in any other way, which is why this course will explain the basics of VBA, how it was developed, and how to use it. To understand when to use dynamic reports, we will explain what dynamic reports are and how they are different from normal reports.

In this course, you will learn what Visual Basic for Applications, or VBA, is and what it can be used for. We will explore the basics of programming with Visual Basic for Applications, covering all the basic syntax and keywords. We will also explain what dynamic reports are and what differentiates them from normal reports. By the end of this course, you will know how to create a dynamic report using a combination of normal reports, a customized navigation form, queries, and special code written in VBA.

What You'll Learn

Understand what dynamic reports are and how they differ from normal reports
Use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to add functionality to a Microsoft Access 2021 database
Write VBA code using its basic syntax and keywords
Create a dynamic report by combining normal reports, a customized navigation form, queries, and VBA code
Explain the importance of VBA and how it is used for dynamic reports

Key Takeaways

VBA is the most powerful tool Microsoft Access 2021 offers for customizing a database application.
VBA is a programming language that can add functionality that cannot be achieved in any other way in Access.
The course covers the basics of VBA, including how it was developed and how to use it.
Dynamic reports differ from normal reports, and the course explains what they are and when to use them.
A dynamic report is built using a combination of normal reports, a customized navigation form, queries, and special VBA code.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I be able to do by the end of this course?

By the end of the course, you will know how to create a dynamic report using a combination of normal reports, a customized navigation form, queries, and special code written in VBA.

What is VBA and why is it covered in this course?

VBA, or Visual Basic for Applications, is a programming language and the most powerful tool Microsoft Access 2021 has for customizing a database application. It can add functionality that cannot be done in any other way, so the course explains the basics of VBA, how it was developed, and how to use it.

What topics does this course cover?

The course covers what VBA is and what it can be used for, the basics of programming with VBA including its syntax and keywords, what dynamic reports are and how they differ from normal reports, and how to create a dynamic report.

What lessons are included in this course?

The course includes the lessons: Introduction to VBA; How to Write VBA Code (Part 1); How to Write VBA Code (Part 2); What is Dynamic Reporting?; and Creating a Dynamic Report.