Independent Product Reviews

Over the years, FMS products have been reviewed in many industry publications. Discover what so many industry gurus think about FMS products.

Some of the items in the list are linked directly to the reviews. Due to copyright issues, we are not allowed to show all the reviews. Please contact us if there is a review you would like to see that's not available here.

Microsoft Access Products

Alison Balter, a renowned author, trainer, writer and conference speaker in the Microsoft Access community is a big fan of our products and has personally used them for many years. In her book, Mastering Office Access 2003, she wrote about many of our products in her chapter, Third-Party Tools that Can Help You Get Your Job Done Effectively, which you can read online. She covered these products from FMS:

Total Access Admin

"The FMS Total Access Admin helps you perform tasks such as fixing database corruption and logging off idle users in order to perform maintenance." - Advisor Zone

Access Administration Tool Eases Maintenance, Corruption Tracking December 2002

Total Access Analyzer

"Suffice it to say that this remains one of the most essential add-ins on the market for the serious Access developer." Mike Gunderloy, Microsoft Online Certified Professional Magazine

	Review Total Access Analyzer April 2002, Smart Access eXTRA, Issue 3.4
	Review Total Access Analyzer April 2002, Microsoft Online Certified Professional Magazine
	Review Total Access Analyzer January 2002, Database Journal
	FMS Total Access Analyzer November 2001, Smart Access, pp. 13-14,22.
	FMS Ships Total Access Analyzer October 2000, MS Office and VBA Developer, pp. 8.
	Total Access Analyzer August 1998, EPCUG.TXT, pp. 5,9.
	Total Access Analyzer: Database Analysis You Can Trust January 1998, MS Office and VBA Developer, pp. 73-75.
	Access Databases Revealed! January 1998, Access/VB Advisor, pp. 20-23.
	Documentation and Total Access Analyzer November 1997, Smart Access, pp. 13-17.
	Takes Care of Drudge Work September 8, 1997, PCWeek.
	Documenting Microsoft Access Databases March 25, 1997, PC Magazine, pp.382-383.
	Total Access Analyzer: Access Add-in Assists in Documentation and Analysis January 17, 1997, Visual Programming++.
	Total Access Analyzer Straightens Out Access Apps July 1995, DataBased Advisor, pp. 74-80.
	Total Access Analyzer Gets to App's Nitty-Gritty April 24, 1995, PC Week, page 85.
	Get a Handle on Your Microsoft Access Applications Feb/Mar 1995, Access Advisor, pp. 66-67.
	Total Access 1.0: Missing Utility Aug/Sep 1993, Access Advisor, pp. 26-27.
	Total Documentation of Access Databases September 1993, Smart Access, pp. 10-12.

Total Access Components

"Total Access Components 2000 is a quick and inexpensive solution to many UI problems that can plague an Access project." - Thomas Wagner, MS Office Pro

	Total Access Components May 2001, Take Control of Your Access Projects.
Denver Access Users Group	Total Access Components July 1998, Denver Area Access Users Group Newsletter.
	Create Custom Buttons, Toolbars, and Tabs November 1997, Access Advisor, pp. 22-25.

Total Access Detective

"This awesome development tool lets you track differences between database versions" - Thomas Wagner, Access/VB Advisor

	Total Access Detective March 1999, Denver Area Access Users Group Newsletter.
	Total Access Detective Keeps Up with Changes January 1997, Access Advisor, pp. 14-19.
	Comparing Access Databases January 21, 1997, PC Magazine, page 240.
	Total Access Detective March 1996, Smart Access, pp. 7-8.

Total Access Emailer

"Email jobs are saved so they can be edited and reused. You also get statistics and reporting after a blast has gone out. There's even a programmatic interface in case you'd like to add emailing capabilities to your own Access applications. All in all, a nice piece of work." - Mike Gunderloy, Developer Central 32

Developer Central 32	Total Access Emailer August 2003, Developer Central 32
	Total Access Emailer July 2003

Total Access Speller

"Total Access Speller is ideal for both users and developers...Total Access Speller is a solid product. If you need spell checking in your applications, you should get Total Access Speller." - Paul Litwin, Smart Access

	Hand On Total Access Speller August 2002, Microsoft Office Solutions Magazine, page 37-38.
	Total Access Speller August 2002, Advisor Magazine, page 38.
	Total Access Speller March 2002, Smart Access
	Total Access Speller January 2002, Smart Access eXTRA, Issue 3.1.
	Spell Check Your Access Data May 1995, Access/VB Advisor, pp. 90-91.
	Spell-Checking for Microsoft Access March 28, 1995, PC Magazine, page 314.
	Total Access Speller December 1994, Smart Access, pp. 14-16.

Total Access Statistics

"With an intuitive, easy-to-use Wizard interface and the Access Basic (or VBA) interface, Total Access Statistics makes it easy for users or programmers to perform statistical analysis. It generates the analysis you need with output in a useful format: tables. If you need to perform advanced numerical analysis, consider Total Access Statistics." - Pam Hazelrigg, Access/VB Advisor

	Review Total Access Statistics February 2002, Microsoft Online Certified Professional Magazine
	Analyze Your Data with FMS Total Access Statistics May 2001, Access/VB/SQL Advisor, pp. 43.
	Statistics That Don't Lie July 1997, Access/VB Advisor, pp. 10-11.
	Total Access Statistics March 1996, Access/VB Advisor, pp. 64-69.

Total Access Startup

"Total Access Startup eases Access deployment. Use the tool to launch a database with the appropriate version of Access every time." - Advisor Zone

Total Access Startup July 2003

Total Access Developer Suite

"The Total Access Developer Suite is aimed at making the life of any Access developer a breeze..." - WinPlanet Review

4½ out of five stars!

Total Access Developer Suite April 1999, WinPlanet Online Review.

Total Access Suite Pro April 1997, Visual Basic Programmer's Journal, page 73.

Total Visual Agent

"It's not very often that one runs into a product that is useful to so many members of an IS team. A network administrator can use it, because data backup is typically something assigned to this person; a corporate developer or DBA can use it to maintain Jet databases in their optimal state; and a consultant can use its e-mail notification capabilities. It's so easy to run that, in a pinch, even a power user can use it. Total Visual Agent is a real find, a rare combination of ease of use, and "bang for the buck." In the end, no other competitor even comes close!"-Thomas Wagner, MS Office and VBA Developer

	Review Total Visual Agent January 2002, Microsoft Online Certified Professional Magazine
	Database Maintenance Relief January 2001, Access/VB Advisor, pp. 10.
	Total Visual Agent FMS' Database Maintenance Tool May 2000, MS Office & VBA Developer, pp. 58-59.
	Total Access Agent Is Better than Backup March 1997, Access/VB Advisor, pp. 12-14.
	A Couple of Gems from FMS: TA Agent and TA CodeTools September 1996, Smart Access, pp. 6-9.
	Total Access Agent July 1996, Visual Programming++.
	Tool for Database Upkeep is Administrator's Dream April 15, 1996, PC Week, page 75.

Total Visual CodeTools

"Total Visual CodeTools, produced by FMS, Inc., is by far my favorite third-party product"
- Alison Balter, Mastering Office Access, page 1203

"I was certainly surprised how much the product had changed over the years. You can still "scramble" a project and obfuscate the code, but today CodeTools is much richer."  - Thomas Wagner of MS Office Deployment and Development

	Total Visual CodeTools September 2002, Builder.com
	Total Visual CodeTools August 2002, Smart Access, page 17-18.
	Define Enterprise-Wide Coding Standards April 2002, MSDN, page 11
	Total Visual CodeTools for 2002 February 2001, Smart Access eXTRA, Issue 3.2.
	Total Visual Developer Suite March 2001

"Finally! Someone has come up with a tool that actually helps you write code for your Access applications!" - Craig Bobchin, Access/VB Advisor

	Access Coding Made Easy October 1998, MS Office and VB for Applications Developer, pp. 56-59.
	Put Clean, Consistent Code in your Access Toolbox May 1998, Access/VB Advisor, pp. 18-23.
	The Best Help for Writing Code February 1997, Access/VB Advisor, pp. 14-19.
	A Couple of Gems from FMS: TA Agent and TA CodeTools September 1996, Smart Access, pp. 6-9.

Total Visual SourceBook

"Total Visual SourceBook can give you an edge when it comes to that specific time frame. It allows you to be more productive in the same amount of time, therefore more profitable. How can it do that? SourceBook consists of thousands of lines of VB/VBA code - tested and debugged - ready to use in your project. Just plug it in and watch it go. You may not need all the code that ships with SourceBook right away, but the time you save when you do need it will recoup the costs for the product in short order." - Thomas Wagner of MS Office Deployment and Development

	Total Visual SourceBook February 2003
Helping Hands UK	Total Visual SourceBook February 2002
	Total Visual Developer Suite March 2001

"A programmers dream!...all code in the SourceBook is completely reusable, with royalty-free distribution rights. And its perfectly commented too - just the right information for beginners and advanced developers alike...Smart, innovative and easy-to-use - this product is full of real-world solutions that you can't find anywhere else...an invaluable addition to anyone's development toolkit.  A must-have!" - WinPlanet Review

	Total VB SourceBook   Sept/Oct 1999, Visual Developer, page 40.
	VB SourceBook Buyers Guide, Spring 1999 , VBPJ, page 68.
4½ out of five stars!	VB SourceBook January 1999, WinPlanet Online Review.
	Borrow Code from the Library November 1998, VBPJ, page 15.
	Total VB SourceBook 5.0.1 for Microsoft Visual Basic August 14, 1998, Visual Programming++.

"If only all software was this well-written, well-documented, and provided this much value" - Diane Winger, Access/VB Advisor

	Total Access SourceBook: FMS Inc.'s VBA Library September 1998, MS Office and VB for Applications Developer, pp. 58-60.
	Getting it Straight from the Source October 1997, Access/VB Advisor, pp. 26-27.
	Total Access SourceBook July 18, 1997, Visual Programming++.
	Speeding Access Development December 2, 1996, PC Week, page 99.

Total Visual Developer Suite

"Every time I look at the package with the little blue-and-green tag reading "What's your time worth?" I think about the thousands of lines of ready-to-use code that come with it. I must say that on more than one occasion Total Visual SourceBook has made the difference between a marginally profitable project and a soundly profitable one. I cannot imagine any VB programmer who could live without this excellent tool." - Thomas Wagner of MS Office Deployment and Development

Total Visual Developer Suite March 2001

Total SQL Analyzer PRO

Total SQL Analyzer Gets 5 Stars 
"Total SQL Analyzer is a unique tool with a great price...Building on 15 years of experience, FMS continues to deliver outstanding bang-for-the-buck development tools. I highly recommend this product." - Thomas Wagner, asp.netPRO Magazine 

Database Developers Group	Total SQL Analyzer PRO May, 2002, Database Developers Group
	Tremendous Bang for the Buck May, 2002, asp.netPRO Magazine
	Document SQL Server Databases March, 2002, Visual Studio Magazine
	Total SQL Analyzer December, 2001, SQL Server Central.com
	Performance Check November, 2001, DNJ
	Total SQL Analyzer October 10, 2001, SQL Server Central.com
	Total SQL Analyzer July 31, 2001, AngryCoder.com

Total SQL Statistics

"Total SQL Statistics can help your VB application deliver data quickly from your database to your consumers without having to re-enter or transform it." - John Pearson, Visual Studio Magazine

Total SQL Statistics November, 2002, Visual Studio Magazine, page 17.

Total .NET Analyzer

"...It's a great way to pick up some of the best practices in .NET coding" - Rick Wayne, Software Development

"FMS has a long track record of delivering excellent value to Microsoft Access and VB developers. It looks like they'll be keeping this up with .NET developers." - Mike Gunderloy, MCPmag.com

	Total .NET Analyzer December, 2003,  Visual Studio.NET
	Analyze Your Code August, 2003, Visual Studio Magazine, page 11.
ZDNet Australia	Improve Code Confidence May, 2003, ZDNet.com.au
	Code Critic December, 2002, Software Development, page 20.
	Analyzer That November, 2002, MCP, Mag.com

Total .NET SourceBook

"The mother of all Visual Studio code libraries...they're going beyond code, the first round of downloads included some hints for working effectively with VS .NET and a white paper on macros." - Mike Gunderloy, MCPmag.com

	Total .NET SourceBook July, 2003, DevCity.NET
	Leverage a Coding Cheat Sheet July, 2003, Visual Studio Magazine
	The Mother of all Visual Studio Code Libraries January, 2003, MCP, Mag.com
	One Place for Everything December, 2002, MCP, Mag.com

Total .NET XRef

"The end result is a tool that you can just use, as if it had been built in all along. And after a while you'll wonder how you did without it." - Mike Gunderloy, MCPmag.com

	Understand Your Variables November, 2003, Visual Studio Magazine.
	Total .NET XRef October, 2002, Visual Studio Magazine, page 19.
	Total .NET XRef August, 2002, Advisor Magazine, page 38.
	Total .NET XRef May 1, 2002, MCP Mag.com

Total .NET Developer Suite

"The Total .NET Developer Suite looks and feels very much like it is OEM and not a third-party add-in." - Sanders Kaufman, Builder.com

Total VB Statistics

"If you are looking for a small but powerful statistical calculation engine, Total VB Statistics can help. It is flexible and easy to use, and best of all, it writes the code for you." - VBPJ Review

Perform Statistical Analysis   May 1999, Visual Basic Programmer's Journal, pp. 19-20.