Microsoft Access Help, Resources and Services from FMS

As the world's leading provider of software solutions for Microsoft Access, we've generated a wide range of material to help the Microsoft Access community over the years. To make it easier for Access enthusiasts to find, we've created this overview of what's available across our web site and at FMS.

History of Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access is the most popular database in the world. Originally launched in the fall of 1992, Microsoft Access took over the Windows desktop database market and empowered the masses.

Microsoft Access provided a database platform that let end users create Windows database solutions on their own for the first time, yet provided enough depth to allow professional developers to create powerful solutions.

Over time, Access became more and more powerful. It became part of the Microsoft Office Professional product, it added tight integration with SQL Server to extend its power beyond the Jet database limitations, and it continues to thrive with the latest enhancements in Microsoft Access 2007 and lots of new features to create Access solutions that were not possible before. With Microsoft's ongoing significant investment in Microsoft Access, Access databases will be around for a long time.

FMS and Microsoft Access

FMS was involved with Microsoft Access from the beginning and have grown with the Access community.

We were there when it launched. Here's an interesting story Microsoft wrote about FMS President Luke Chung's experience when he was honored as an 'Access Hero'
We wrote portions of the original user manual
We wrote Microsoft Jet Database Engine Programmer's Guide (Microsoft Press)
We've written numerous articles and given many presentations at conferences around the world
We are the world's leading creator of commercial products for the Microsoft Access community with support for Access 2007, 2003, 2002, 2000, and 97
We've created many custom solutions with Access and other technologies for our customers

We've made many friends in the Access community over the years from around the world, and we're always happy to help people maximize their investment in Access and take advantage of all its potential.

FMS Resources for Microsoft Access

FMS Blog and Email Newsletter

Visit our blog to see the latest information and subscribe to RSS feeds so you get the latest information from FMS instantly.

FMS offers free monthly newsletter keeping you informed of the latest news at FMS including new tips, product information, beta invitations, and more. View our email newsletter page to read past newsletters and sign up for new ones.

Microsoft Access Technical Papers

There is a lot of confusion over where Microsoft Access fits within an organization. Here's a paper written by FMS President Luke Chung that describes the issues, challenges, and where and how Access can best work within your organization:

Database Evolution: Microsoft Access within an Organization's Database Strategy
Published in journals and presented at several conferences, it's an interesting, non-technical overview of:

How Access databases evolve

How that causes problems if organizations are not prepared

How with some basic planning, the strengths of Access give organizations a competitive advantage

It comes down to differentiating between tactical versus strategic needs. MS Access is not appropriate in all case, but if it can be done in Access, it's often the most cost competitive option.

We've also written a variety of other detailed papers to help you better create Access applications and write VBA code. Discover them on our Technical Papers page where you'll find resource like:

Microsoft Access Tips and Techniques

In addition to detailed technical papers, FMS also offers Tips and Suggestions for using and developing Access applications and related technologies. These tips and techniques are fairly brief and generally cover a workaround for an annoying situation, or a brief concept or "trick". For instance:

Our Total Access Analyzer program examines Access databases to pinpoint a wide range of issues. Here's the list of Microsoft Access Best Practices revealed by Total Access Analyzer. As we learn more, we try to incorporate them into Total Access Analyzer to automated their detection.

Microsoft Access to SQL Server Upsizing Center

Over time, some of your Access databases may exceed the limitations of Access. If you're considering upsizing your Access applications to Microsoft SQL Server, read our whitepapers on when and how to do this. We wrote some of the articles for the SQL Server team, who published it on MSDN. See them in our Microsoft Access to SQL Upsizing Center where you'll also find a video from our participation on a panel at the Microsoft TechEd conference.

FMS Product and User Category Matrix

FMS offers a wide range of sophisticated, commercial off the shelf (COTS) products to maximize your investment in Microsoft Access. As the world's leading provider of 3rd party products for Access, we have extensive experience meeting the needs of the MS Access community. In fact, most of our products were inspired by the challenges we encountered ourselves.

We hope our products find a place in your toolbox so that you can operate at peak efficiency. Click here for a summary list and description of all the FMS Products for Microsoft Access.

Our products have many features, so it's difficult to describe them with a few words and pick how it's best for you. We hope you'll use this summary to identify products that are relevant to you, and dig deeper to discover why so many Access professionals use our solutions.

The boxes in Yellow are particularly appropriate for that product and user category.

		User Category
Product Name	Primary Feature	End User	Power User	Developer	Quality Assurance	Database Administrator
Total Access Analyzer	Analyze your databases for improvements. #1 Access add-in of all time!	Fix errors, learn and apply Best Practices	Learn and apply Access Best Practices	Find and fix problems before shipping	Find problems as part of testing	Helpful for taking over existing databases
Total Access Admin	Monitor who is in your database	maybe	for multi-user environments	Troubleshooting database corruption		See who's currently locking a database
Total Access Components	Enhance your user interface	Add cool features without coding	Dazzle your users; add a professional touch	The only collection of ActiveX controls for Access
Total Access Detective	Find differences between databases and objects	For data differences between tables	If you lost track of what you modified	Know exactly what changed between two databases or objects	Know what changed between versions
Total Access Emailer	Personalized email blaster can sends data & reports	Easily email everyone on your list	Email Access data and reports	Add and deploy email blasts in your applications
Total Access Memo	Rich text memo fields to forms and reports	Write and store formatted memos		Give your users the rich text memo fields they expect
Total Access Speller	Spell checker	Fix typos on report labels		Find and fix typos for your user interface	Find typos before shipping
Total Access Startup	Launch the right version of Access and your database		if building databases for others	Easily deploy new builds		Centrally manage DBs across a network
Total Access Statistics	Statistically analyze your data	Extend the power of Access queries	Add statistical values to your reports	Amaze your users with your number crunching ability
Total Visual Agent	Compact, backup, run macros, etc. on an automated schedule			If you're responsible for databases, you want this to run nightly	Schedule tasks	Make sure databases are kept healthy
Total Visual SourceBook	Royalty free source code library		great way to learn how to code	Why write code we've already written and tested?
Total Visual CodeTools	Code writing, cleanup, and delivery tools. Apply error handling and variable naming conventions.			Code builders and helpers you'll use continuously	Add line numbers to trap exactly where a crash occurs	Make sure your team uses this for consistent styles and error handling. Cleans up existing code
Total Zip Code Database	USPS zip codes for city & state lookup and fill	Enter a zip code and never type a city name again	Save time and eliminate typos	Deliver magic by auto filling city and state when users enter a zip code	Improve quality during data entry
Suites	Multi-product bundles		maybe	Absolutely!

Category Definitions

End User
Uses Access interactively for data collection, querying, reporting, etc. Does not program or write macros.
Power User
Uses Access interactively and able to create automated solutions with macros and rudimentary VBA.
Developer
Creates databases for use by others. Experienced with writing VBA modules. Creates multi-user solutions across a network and/or deployed to other sites. Concerned about quality, maintainability, ease of deployment, and on going support. Interested in adopting best practices and providing features without always coding it from scratch.
Quality Assurance
Tests applications. Benefits from tools that assist with improving quality, reliability, and consistency. Burdened with proving mistakes and crashes are real and reproducible.
Database Administrator
Ensures that applications are properly maintained, backed up, compacted, etc. after they are deployed. Also concerned that best practices are used when new users and developers are added, and when old ones leave.

Microsoft Access Consulting Services from FMS

As the world's leading provider of Microsoft Access related solutions, we have extensive experience creating great Microsoft Access applications. From single user to multi-user, desktop to SQL Server, and beyond, FMS can help you with the services you need to maximize your investment in Microsoft Access. Whether you're a beginner or expert, supplement your skills and your organization's needs with our services.

If you need an experienced Microsoft Access programmer to enhance your existing database or create a new one, learn more about our Professional Solutions Group and all our software development services including: