Microsoft Access and VBA

October 2, 2011 11:43 AM

I want to learn Visual Basic and Microsoft Access. Where do I start, what resources and special tricks can you recommend and how do i learn it quickly and efficiently?
posted by freddymetz to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

Best thing to do is jump into a project. If you don't have a specific need then there's not much point right?
Here's how I learned MS Access and eventually VBA:
1. Have a need to perform certain specific tasks.
2. Try to implement each requirement.
3. Realize I don't know how, use Google to find out how others did it, steal their code.
4. Use Google further to learn how to sculpt the code to make it do my bidding.
5. When I get really stuck, go on AskMe and/or Stack Overflow for specific answers.
posted by bleep at 12:02 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

Microsoft offers free training on their website.

Here is their Office 2010 Developer Training course.

Here is their Office 2010 Virtual Labs page.
posted by jsturgill at 12:21 PM on October 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

Got to agree with jsturgill here. You can work through all of the examples you want, but until you get into the dirty details of a real-world project, you don't know what you're getting into.

Here's an example: library database. You probably have books around your house. Consider how these could be represented. (Authors? What if there's more than one? Multiple editions? Paper vs electronic?) See, a database is an attempt to model the real world, and the real world is "messy." And it is at this point, when your model meets the real world, that you begin to understand the complexities of using these tools.
posted by SPrintF at 1:14 PM on October 2, 2011

I also want to mention that there's a whole lot you can do with Access's built in macros and functions before you have to dive into VBA. I would master Access first before going into custom code.
posted by bleep at 2:50 PM on October 2, 2011

I agree with bleep about the google-cutnpaste-google-rework-google-rinse routine. But also, Allen Browne's website is really good.
posted by Acheman at 3:27 PM on October 2, 2011

Just to help with your searching, remember that Visual Basic, Visual Basic for Applications and Access are three separate things.

Knowing regular VB will help with VBA, and vice versa, but there are differences.

Sorry, I don't have any good resources. Most of the sites and tutorials I've seen aren't that good. I'll be watching this thread myself for new ones.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 5:52 PM on October 2, 2011

I agree. Allen Browne's website is great. Get Crystal's Access Tutorials, to start with and go from there.
posted by jack.tinker at 7:48 PM on October 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

are you trying to do stuff in access that required vba?
Do you have some experience with Excel and vba.. some database stuff can be done in excel much easier albeit inefficiently.

If you do realize that excel is not the right fit, then try learning access first. Access has a lot of features that may not make it necessary to learn vba.

Allen browne tip is definitely helpful @jack.tinker.
posted by radsqd at 8:56 AM on October 3, 2011