Goodies in 2003?

[Deb]

The conversion of my department's 12 machines has gone really well and
I have had no big problems with any of it. Now for another question --

Are there any new "goodies" in Access 2003 that are really helpful.
And I guess that I could say in 2002 as well as I started with 2000

[Allen Browne]

Re: Goodies in 2003?

For reports, the Printer object, and OpenArgs for OpenReport.

2003 also offers you the ability to trace dependencies. But because this
requires Name AutoCorrect to be turned on, I've not found that usable.

The themed controls look pretty on Windows XP, but have problems such as tab
controls that don't respect their Transparent property, check boxes that
don't visually distinguish 3 states, and the flickering described in this
article:

http://allenbrowne.com/ser-46.html

--
Allen Browne - Microsoft MVP. Perth, Western Australia.
Tips for Access users - http://allenbrowne.com/tips.html
Reply to group, rather than allenbrowne at mvps dot org.

"Deb" <koplend@swbell .net> wrote in message
news:1134917283 .999843.118480@ g49g2000cwa.goo glegroups.com.. .[color=blue]
> The conversion of my department's 12 machines has gone really well and
> I have had no big problems with any of it. Now for another question --
>
> Are there any new "goodies" in Access 2003 that are really helpful.
> And I guess that I could say in 2002 as well as I started with 2000[/color]

[Albert D. Kallal]

Re: Goodies in 2003?

Here is a re-post of some new featuers:
[color=blue]
>
> Also, here is a fabulous post by MVP John Viescas on this
> very subject late last year. Incidentally, he has a book out on
> Access 2003 so he really knows what he is talking about.
> (This was comparing Access 2003 to 2002).
>
> Here it is:
>
>
> They didn't make any major changes. Here's a summary:
>
> View information on object dependencies
>
> In Microsoft Office Access 2003, you can view information
> on dependencies between database objects. Viewing a list
> of objects that use a specific object helps maintain a
> database over time and avoid errors related to missing
> record sources. For example, the Quarterly Orders query in
> the Sales database is no longer needed, but before
> deleting it, you might want to find out which other
> objects in the database use the query. Then, you could
> either change the record source of the dependent objects,
> or delete them, before deleting the Quarterly Orders
> query. Viewing a complete list of dependent objects helps
> you save time and minimize errors.
>
> In addition to viewing the list of objects that are bound
> to a selected object, you can also view the objects that
> are being used by the selected object.
>
> Macros, modules, and data access pages are not searched
> for dependencies. Access projects do not support this
> feature.
>
> Error checking in forms and reports
>
> In Microsoft Office Access 2003, you can enable automatic
> error checking for common errors in forms and reports.
> Error checking points out errors, such as two controls
> using the same keyboard shortcut, and the width of a report
> being greater than the page it will be printed on.
> Enabling error checking helps you identify errors and
> correct them.
>
> Propagating field properties
>
> In previous versions of Microsoft Access, whenever you
> modified a field's inherited property, you had to manually
> modify the property of the corresponding control in each
> of the forms and reports. Now, when you modify an
> inherited field property in Table design view, Access
> displays an option to update the property of all or some
> controls that are bound to the field.
>
> Smart tags
>
> In Microsoft Office Access 2003, you can use the SmartTags
> property to add a smart tag to any field in a table,
> query, form, report, or data access page in a database.
>
> Back up a database or project
>
> You can back up the current database or project before
> making major changes to it. The backup will be saved in
> the default backup location, or in the current folder.
>
> To restore a database, go to the location of the backup,
> rename the file, and open it in Access.
>
> Windows XP theme support
>
> The Microsoft Windows XP operating system offers you
> several themes. If you have chosen a theme other than the
> default, Access will apply the chosen theme to views,
> dialog boxes, and controls. You can prevent form controls
> from inheriting themes from the operating system by
> setting an option on the database or project.
>
> Improved sorting in controls
>
> You can now specify the ascending or descending sort order
> of up to four fields in the List Box and Combo Box Wizards
> in forms and reports, and the Lookup Wizard in an Access
> database. The sort page added to these wizards looks and
> behaves like the sort page in the Report Wizard.
>
> Autocorrect options
>
> In Microsoft Office Access 2003, you have more control
> over the behavior of the AutoCorrect feature. The
> AutoCorrect Options button appears near text that was
> automatically corrected. If you find on occasion that you
> don't want text to be corrected, you can undo a correction
> or turn AutoCorrect options on or off by clicking the
> button and making a selection.
>
> Enhanced font capabilities in SQL views
>
> In the SQL and query Design views of a query in both a
> Microsoft Access database and Microsoft Access project,
> you can now change the font and font size of the text by
> using the Query design font option added to the
> Tables/Queries tab of the Options dialog box under the
> Tools menu. These settings apply to all databases and work
> with the high-contrast and other accessibility settings of
> your computer.
>
> Context-based Help in SQL view
>
> In the SQL view of a query in a Microsoft Access database,
> you can now get help specific to Jet SQL keywords, VBA
> functions, and Access functions. Simply press F1 to bring
> up the help that corresponds to the text near the cursor.
> You can also search the Jet SQL and VBA function reference
> topics.
>
> Importing, exporting, and linking
>
> Importing, exporting, and linking to a Microsoft Windows
> SharePoint Services list from Access
>
> You can perform the following operations with a Windows
> SharePoint Services list:
>
> ?Export the contents of a table or a query to a list.
>
> ?Import the contents of a list into a table.
>
> ?Link a table to a list.
>
> Exporting and linking to Access data from Windows
> SharePoint Services
>
> You can now export a list in its Datasheet view from
> Windows SharePoint Services to a static table or to a
> linked table in Access. When you export to a static table,
> you create a table in Access. You can then view and make
> changes to the table independent of the original list in
> Windows SharePoint Services. Similarly, you can change the
> list in Windows SharePoint Services, and that will not
> affect the table in Access.
>
> When you export to a linked table, you create a table in
> Access and establish a dynamic link between the table and
> the list such that changes to the table are reflected in
> the list, and changes to the list are reflected in the
> table as well.
>
> Make a local table from a linked table
>
> In Microsoft Office Access 2003, you can make a local copy
> of the structure or data and structure contained in a
> linked table.
>
> XML support
>
> With the enhanced XML support in Microsoft Office Access
> 2003, you can specify a transform file when you import
> data from or export data to XML. The transform is then
> applied automatically. When you import XML data, the
> transform is applied to the data as soon as the data is
> imported, before any new table is created or an existing
> one is appended to. When you export data to XML, the
> transform is applied following the export operation.
>
> Often times a database contains lookup values that are
> stored in another database. You can now include these
> related tables when exporting. You can also include any
> predefined filter or sort order for an object when
> exporting the object.
>
> Security enhancements
>
> Macro Security Microsoft Office Access 2003 allows you to
> protect against potentially unsafe Visual Basic for
> Applications (VBA) code by setting the macro security
> level. You can set the security level so that you are
> prompted every time that you open a database containing
> VBA code, or you can automatically block databases that
> are from unknown sources.
>
> Additionally, Access uses Microsoft Authenticode
> technology to enable you to digitally sign a macro project
> by using a digital certificate. The certificate used to
> create this signature confirms that the macro originated
> from the signer, and the signature confirms that it has
> not been altered. When you set the macro security level,
> you can run macros based on whether they are digitally
> signed by a developer on your list of trusted sources.
>
> Block Potentially Unsafe Functions Access utilizes the
> Microsoft Jet Expression Service enhanced sandbox mode to
> block potentially unsafe functions from being used in
> expressions.
>
> ------
> The last one is a real pain. You need to install JET SP8
> from Windows Update (not included with Office 2003) to get
> this to work properly. I suspect most folks will change
> their macro security setting to Low to avoid the security
> prompts.
>
> HTH...[/color]
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