Recent News from FMS

Visit our Blog and Facebook page for our latest news.

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December Newsletter

If you don't get our newsletter emailed to you, here it is:

FMS December 2015 Newsletter

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Total Access Detective Ships for Microsoft Access 2016 and 2013

December 18, 2015

We are delighted to announce the release of Total Access Detective for Microsoft Access 2016 and 2013. Total Access Detective lets you quickly find differences between any two databases or two objects in your current database. Know exactly what changed at the table, field, property, control, macro line and VBA module code level. You can even compare tables for data differences.

The latest version offers many enhancements from the previous versions:

• Support for the 32 and 64-bit versions of Access 2016 and 2013
• Module and Text Comparison Option to Ignore Line Numbers
• Search Bar to Filter Objects and Properties by Name
• See and Filter Tables based on Whether it’s Linked
• Procedures with Differences List
• New Manual and Help File

For more information on the enhancements, visit: Total Access Detective 2016 and 2013

Existing Total Access Detective customers can upgrade for a discounted price.

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Total Access Analyzer 2016 Ships

December 2015

Total Access Analyzer, the most popular Microsoft Access add-in, is now shipping for Microsoft Access 2016. Total Access Analyzer offers comprehensive documentation and analysis of your MS Access databases so you can better understand individual objects, cross-references between objects, procedure and data flow diagrams, VBA module analysis, and much more. Detecting over 300 ways to fix and improve your databases, Total Access Analyzer improves the quality of your work, teaches you best practices, and increases your productivity.

Total Access Analyzer 2016 includes many new features to help Microsoft Access developers create better solutions:

• Support for Microsoft Access 2016, 32 and 64 bit versions
• New Suggestion: Incorrect Link to Subforms
• New Suggestion: Relationship Field Cross-Reference and Field Type Comparison
• Enhanced Cross-Reference of Aliased Tables in Queries
• Pass-Through Queries are Not Cross-Referenced
• Windows 10 Support
• New Manual and Context Sensitive Help

For additional details, visit New Features in Total Access Analyzer 2016. Existing customers can upgrade at a discounted price. A demo version is available.

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Total Access Speller 2016 Ships

December 2015

Total Access Speller helps you avoid typos on the screens your users see. Spell check labels, captions, validation text, status bar, navigation bar, and other properties to avoid embarrassing mistakes. It is now available for Microsoft Access 2016. A free trial is also available.

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Help Wanted: Visual Studio .NET Developer

November 2015

We're looking for ONE talented .NET developer to join our core team to help build web sites for our clients and internal needs.

These opportunities don't arise very often as most of our team has been with us for 10+ years. This is a career position at our Tysons Corner, Virginia office.

For more information, visit: Help Wanted: Visual Studio .NET Developer

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Microsoft Access 2016 and Invisible Picture Images

October 21, 2015

Microsoft Office 2016 was recently released. For the most part, Microsoft Access 2016 didn't change much. Unfortunately, it includes a serious bug that makes it challenging to adopt it.

Picture images on forms and reports (which work in MS Access 2013 and earlier) appear blank in the 32-bit version of MS Access 2016.

Learn more about the issues and solutions in this blog post: Microsoft Access 2016 and Invisible Picture Images

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New Web Site Design

October 10, 2015

We've redesigned our website with a new home page, menu system, search, and other features to make our site more appealing, more functional, and easier to navigate.

It's now hosted by the Microsoft Azure cloud with a SQL Azure database.

We hope you like the new design.

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Updates for Total Access Analyzer 2010, 2007 and 2003 Ship

August 2015

In conjunction with the release of Total Access Analyzer for Microsoft Access 2013, we've created updates for earlier versions of MS Access:

• Version 14.5 for Access 2010
• Version 12.95 for Access 2007
• Version 11.95 for Access 2003

Click on the links for detailed information on the new features. Customers on an annual support contract receive the new versions for free. Other customers can purchase an upgrade.

Blog

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Technical Expert on FOX Business News

July 29, 2015, Neil Cavuto's Coast-to-Coast Show

For technical details about the security and privacy differences between emails and text messages, read Luke's blog post: Appearance on FOX Business News for Tom Brady’s Destroyed Text Messages

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Total Access Analyzer 2013 Ships

July 6, 2015

The most popular Microsoft Access add-in of all time, Total Access Analyzer provides detailed documentation and analysis of MS Access databases to help you better understand how your objects work together and 300+ ways to detect errors, find unused objects and VBA code, improve performance, and conform to best practices.

Total Access Analyzer is now available for Microsoft Access 2013 with many new features:

• Supports Microsoft Access 2013, 32 and 64-bit versions
• New documentation of Conditional Formatting
• Documentation of Navigation Control and Buttons
• Documentation of Web Controls
• New Control Type Reports
• Support Procedure Calls to Libraries
• 3 New Module VBA Coding Suggestions
• Enhanced VBA Module Parser for Compiler Conditionals
• New Search Bar for Selecting Objects
• Improved Open Documentation Form
• Report Filter Shows Count of Issues
• New Treeview with 64-bit support
• Updated user manual and help file
• and more!

Here's a complete list of new features.

Blog

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Update of Total Access Admin 2003 Ships

June 1, 2015

With all the new features added to Total Access Admin 2013 in April, an updated version 11.6 for Access 2003 was released.

The primary difference between the 2003 and 2013 version is that the 2003 version doesn't require installing Access 2007 or later on the machine in order to support the ACCDB database format. It supports Access databases in MDB formats and does not require Access to be installed on the PC.

The new version replaces version 11.5 and includes many new features:

• Translates obscure computer names to a more understandable user name from a list you maintain.
• Enhances the activity log database to include user names.
• Increases the maximum number of databases that can be simultaneously monitored from 50 to 100.
• Supports specifying a time for the program to quit (exit).
• Adds new command line parameters to specify the hours and seconds to wait before quitting.
• Adds setup options to install for the current user or machine to support User Access Control rights as established by your Windows login.
• Includes a new user manual and help file.

Visit our New Features page for details.

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Total Access Admin 2013 Ships

April 22, 2015

Total Access Admin lets you monitor users going in and out of your databases in real-time. See who's currently in your database and who recently exited, create a log of connections and disconnects, compact the database after everyone exits, etc. Monitor all the databases across your network from one installation of Total Access Admin.

Total Access Admin 2013 includes many new features. You can now maintain a list to translate computer names to more friendly user names, manage up to 100 database in one screen (up from 50), specify a time to close the program, more command line parameters, new forms to view the activity log, and more. Read our New Features page for details.

Download the free, fully-functional Trial Version to see how helpful Total Access Admin can be for you. Total Access Admin 2013 supports ACCDB databases created in Microsoft Access 2013, 2010 and 2007, plus MDB databases created in any version of Access. Existing customers can upgrade at a discounted price.

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Total Access Detective Review

Microsoft MVP Daniel Pineault wrote a nice review of our Total Access Detective product to find differences between his Microsoft Access databases:

Final Verdict

"I am once again quite confident in putting my stamp of approval on this tool. If you are in a situation in which you quickly need to identify all the differences between multiple databases, FMS' Total Access Detective will make short work of the job at hand! ...

A very nice, easy to use and most importantly, effective and thorough tool!"

To learn more about what Daniel discovered and his experience, read his article: Total Access Detective – Review

Blog

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Microsoft MVP Open Days

March 26-28, 2015, Malvern, PA

Microsoft held their first US MVP Summit outside of Redmond at their offices outside of Philadelphia. FMS President Luke Chung participated and met with fellow Microsoft Access MVPs and MVPs with other specialties.

Access MVPs: Andy Tabisz, Jack Leach, Dirk Goldgar, Luke Chung, and Scott Diamond

All the MVPs

Doug Ware, former Access MVP and current SharePoint MVP

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New Microsoft Access to SQL Server Upsizing Resource Center

We've completely revamped our Microsoft Access to SQL Server Upsizing Resource Center with links to all our related whitepapers and Microsoft resources to help with the whole upsizing process and use of SQL Server Express. We have several new and updated resources:

• Microsoft SQL Server Express: Version Comparison Matrix and Free Downloads
  For the first time, all the different versions of SQL Server Express from 2005 to 2014 are shown, compared, and referenced with download links. This content required extensive research to document the details of which operating system each SQL Server version supports. Just because Microsoft web pages list the versions they support doesn't necessarily mean it works when you actually try to install it.
• Automating the Backup of Your Microsoft SQL Server Express Databases
  If you're using SQL Server Express, you still need to create backups of the database. Here's how to automate it.
• When and How to Upsize Microsoft Access Databases to SQL Server
  The original version of this was written for Microsoft when they selected us for a joint national campaign a decade ago to promote Microsoft Access to SQL Server Upsizing. We've updated it to better explain why and why not people should upsize their Access databases and an overview of what the options are and what to do.

Blog

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Total Visual SourceBook 2013 Ships

November 5, 2014

We are delighted to announce the release of Total Visual SourceBook 2013. Total Visual SourceBook is our royalty-free source code library for Microsoft Access/Office VBA developers and Visual Basic 6 (VB6) developers.

The new 2013 version is an upgrade to our Total Visual SourceBook 2007 version. The new version is especially designed for the new features introduced in Microsoft Access/Office/VBA 2013 and 2010. It can also run in Access/Office 2007 and older versions through Access/Office 2000.

New Features

Total Visual SourceBook 2013 includes 35 new modules, 25,000+ more lines of code, enhancements to existing modules including VBA code that’s compatible with 32 and 64-bit versions of Office.

The user code database can now be upsized to SQL Server to simplify sharing code among your developer team. The new version also includes many enhancements to the code browser to simplify your experience in viewing, searching, adding, editing, and applying different error handlers to the source code.

For a complete list of enhancements, visit our New Features page.

Additional Resources

• Overview and Screenshots
• Summary of Code Categories
• Module and Class List
• Two Page PDF Product Flier
• Sample Code
• Awards and Reviews

Blog Announcement

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New Blog Post on Designing a Data Entry System Properly

September 23, 2014

FMS President Luke Chung was quoted in today's New York Times article HealthCare.gov Is Given an Overhaul. Robert Pear asked Luke about the overhaul that the Healthcare.gov web site needs. He quoted Luke with:

“Instead of being user-friendly, the original website was user-hostile”

In response to the quote, Luke wrote a new blog post covering some of the issues the original designers of the Healthcare.gov site missed, and how a data entry application should be designed. It's not that difficult if you know what you're doing and have done it before:

Designing a Data Entry System Properly; Overhauling the Healthcare.gov Web Site

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Free Updates for Total Access Analyzer 2010 and 2007

August 18, 2014

Total Access Analyzer is the most popular Microsoft Access database documentation program. In our pursuit of excellence, we have released free updates of Total Access Analyzer 2007 and 2010.

Two updates were released:

• For Microsoft Access 2010, Version 14.01.0007
• For Microsoft Access 2007, Version 12.91.0007

The updates include the following fixes and enhancements:

• Module Cross-Reference incorrectly listing procedures that didn't exist when they existed
• Improved SQL query parsing to better cross-reference table and field names passed as function parameters
• For secure databases, document queries even when logged in without admin rights
• Support documenting library references of long DLL file names and paths
• Setup issues resolved for certain machines and motherboards
• For Microsoft Access 2010, 64-bit version, support Windows 8

Click on the links above for more details. Existing customers should have received email notification to download an update. If your email address changed, contact us to update your information.

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New Microsoft Outlook Tips and Techniques Center

Visit our new Microsoft Outlook Tips and Techniques site where we've consolidated our white papers on using Microsoft Outlook more effectively:

• Add a delay to your messages so you can catch mistakes
• The difference of the impact of time zones on smartphones versus computers

And more!

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New York City Microsoft Access User Group Meeting

Evening of September 8, 2014, Microsoft Headquarters

FMS President Luke Chung is the featured guest speaker for the Microsoft Access User Group meeting in New York City.

Luke will discuss and demonstrate FMS products for Microsoft Access, and answer any questions about his experiences with technology, media, and business.

Join him at this free event. More details to follow on our Upcoming Events page.

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Updated Microsoft Access White Papers and Resources

We've updated several white papers:

• Microsoft Access Database Compact and Repair to Minimize Corruption and Avoid Bloat (by Access Version)
• Creating an Annual 12 Month Summary Report without VBA Code by Creatively Using a Microsoft Access Crosstab Query
• How to Rename a File or Folder (Directory) from VBA, Visual Basic 6, Microsoft Office/Access/Excel
• From Microsoft: Free eBook: Microsoft Access Keyboard Shortcuts

Visit the main Microsoft Access Developer and VBA Programming Help Center site for more resources.

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Total Access Statistics Ships for Microsoft Access 2013

July 31, 2014

Total Access Statistics is the most advanced data analysis program for Microsoft Access. It extends the power of Microsoft Access queries with a wide range of statistical calculations including percentiles, frequency distributions, correlations, regressions, rankings, running totals, financial cash flow analysis, data normalization, crosstabs with Chi-Square, t-Tests, ANOVA, non-parametrics, probabilities, and more.

Total Access Statistics is now available for Microsoft Access 2013. Total Access Statistics 2013 includes many enhancements since the prior release of Total Access Statistics 2010:

• Support for the 32 and 64 bit versions of Access 2013 with separate add-ins for each
• New redistributable runtime libraries to support Access 2013, 2010, 2007, and 2003
• Support for Windows 8 (and all Windows versions supported by Access)
• Improved performance when analyzing large data sets
• For Percentiles, when assigning percentile values to a field in your table, you can specify calculations such as quartiles, quintiles, octiles, deciles, etc. rather than just percentile
• Field format is set to Percent for percentage fields in the Frequency, Crosstab (when percentages are in columns), and Chi-Square details tables
• When tables are generated from the add-in, the field column widths are resized to show the entire field name and data
• Updated user manual and help file

Here's a complete list of new features.

Download the free trial version and send your own personalized emails from Microsoft Access.

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New Paper: Microsoft Access Class Not Registered Run-time Error -2147221164 (80040154)

You've created a Microsoft Access database solution and have successfully distributed it to many people. Everyone is running it properly but one machine is triggering this error. The error message makes no sense and everything you try fails to resolve the problem. What's going on?

Read our new paper Microsoft Access "Class Not Registered" Run-time Error '-2147221164 (80040154)' to learn more about why this occurs and how to resolve it.

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Lost Emails at the IRS

How did the IRS not have backups and lose Lois Lerner's emails and other files? Who came up with their backup and disaster recovery plan? Wrong policies, incorrect execution? Incompetence or intentional?

Hannity TV Show on June 19, 2014

A 3.5 minute live interview with Sean Hannity in New York with Luke at their Washington, DC studio.

Sean Hannity Radio Show, June 20, 2014

A more in-depth 14 minute discussion with David Kennedy on the radio show. Luke starts at about 2:30 after the introduction.

Additional appearances on the Sean Hannity TV and Radio Shows, Other Shows

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Free Trial Offers for Office365 and Dynamics

Have you been curious about Microsoft cloud offering of Office365? No longer interested in hosting your own Exchange Server? Want to have your infrastructure in a secure data center with high reliability and resilience?

If so, we have Free Trials for Office365. We also have trial links to Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Test it out and see if you like it.

We switched to Office365 over a year ago starting with our Exchange Server. We already had our email hosted offsite, but moving it to Office365 was relatively smooth and made it easier and cheaper to support different mobile devices. We then migrated our SharePoint platform to Office365. That was a bit more challenging with the changes between SharePoint versions.

Now with our hosted SharePoint site, we're experimenting with Access 2013 Web Apps that are integrated directly with SQL Azure databases for our internal and external users. Since it's hosted on SQL Azure, you can also link to the tables directly from your Access desktop databases.

Try it out for free and see what you think.

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New Resource: Microsoft Access Version Releases, Service Packs, Hotfixes, and Updates History

FMS has worked with Microsoft Access since it debuted in 1992. There have been many Access versions since then with multiple service packs, hot fixes and updates. This paper offers a list of what and when it was released, feature differences between versions and additional details for the more recent versions.

To help us remember all the versions and changes, we've written a new article summarizing the evolution of Microsoft Access: Microsoft Access Version Releases, Service Packs, Hotfixes, and Updates History.

Here's a related article we introduced in the last newsletter that is updated with a link to the new Microsoft Access 2013 SP1 Runtime download: Microsoft Access Runtime Distribution and Free Downloads

Visit our Microsoft Access Developer Help Center for additional articles with tips for creating great solutions.

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Total Access Emailer Ships for Microsoft Access 2013

June 5, 2014

Total Access Emailer is the most popular email automation program for Microsoft Access. It simplifies the sending of personalized emails with Access data and reports to everyone on your list.

Total Access Emailer is now available for Microsoft Access 2013. Total Access Emailer 2013 includes many enhancements since the prior release of Total Access Emailer 2010 and the Version x.6 for pre-Access 2010 versions:

• Enhanced setup for Windows 8 and 64-bit installations
• Support differences in VBA code between Microsoft Access 2013 and 2010
• Improved support for linked tables in SQL Server and Access databases including situations when connections are lost
• User interface improvements to better manage editing and duplicating email blast specifications
• Professional Version VBA library detects if the user's machine has not run the runtime distribution EXE
• Improved display of record counts for repeating multiple email blast broadcasts
• Improved error handing and reporting
• Updated user manual and help file

Here's a complete list of new features.

Download the free trial version and send your own personalized emails from Microsoft Access.

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Microsoft Access Error 3045 (Could Not Use Database; File Already in Use) May Not be Due to an Exclusive Lock

Read our new paper Microsoft Access Error 3045 Could Not Use Database; File Already in Use May Not be Due to an Exclusive Lock to learn how different workgroup security files may trigger this error.

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Avoid Using Decimal Fields in Microsoft Access Tables

Read our updated paper on why you should Avoid Using Decimal Fields in Microsoft Access Tables

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Rebooting a Remote Desktop Computer to Restart It

Remote Desktop lets you connect to a computer located elsewhere and run it as if you were there. Unfortunately, the remote computer’s Start menu only shows options to "Log Off" and "Disconnect". It does not offer the standard "Shut Down" options: Log off, Shut down, Restart, Stand by, Hibernate. If you attempt to use Ctrl+Alt+Del, the command is captured by the local machine and not the remote one.

Read our paper on Rebooting a Remote Desktop Computer to Restart It on how to get around this problem.

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Microsoft Access 2013 Runtime Version Released

The Microsoft Access 2013 Runtime, Service Pack 1 was just released. Get the free download if you want it. Keep in mind that many features which exist in Microsoft Access 2010 no longer exist in Access 2013, so if you need them, you may be better off staying with the Access 2010 runtime which is also free. Visit our Microsoft Access Runtime Download page for more details and free download links for the different Microsoft Access versions.

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Microsoft Access Videos from the SharePoint Conference

Microsoft Access program managers gave four presentations at the recent SharePoint conference in Las Vegas. Their presentations covered how Access 2013 Web Apps can be created on SharePoint 2013 and automatically uses a SQL Server database (hosted in SQL Azure).

Links to the four videos are here: Microsoft Access Videos from the SharePoint Conference

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March 2014 Email Newsletter

March 2014 Email Newsletter

Sign up if you don't already have it delivered to your Inbox.

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Total Visual Agent 2013 Ships with Support for Microsoft Access 2013, 2010, and 2007

March 21, 2014

Total Visual Agent 2013 with support for Microsoft Access 2013, 2010, and 2007 is now shipping. The 2013 version includes many new features from the 2007 version:

• Support for Microsoft Access 2010 and 2013
• Support for 64 bit Operating Systems
• Simplified Startup and Easier Management of Multiple Microsoft Access Versions
• Import Settings from Multiple Versions of Total Visual Agent
• Test All Actions for an Event, Database, Directory or Task Group
• Create Events that Run Every X Minutes
• Create Events that are Limited to Periods Spanning Midnight
• Process Directories with Managed Databases
• Data Extract Tables are Keyed
• Run Macros for Database Password Protected Databases
• Pause for a Fractional Minute
• Compressed Archive File Names Support Multiple Extensions
• More Detailed Activity History Log with Deletions
• More Detailed Database Statistics with Deletions
• Add Your Comments to Events, Directories, and Actions
• Simplified Addition of New Actions
• More Modern and Improved User Interface
• New User Manual and Help File
• And More...

A fully-functional, free trial is available. Existing owners of Total Access Agent can order an upgrade at a discounted price.

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Total Access Speller 2013 and 2010 Ships for Microsoft Access 2013 and 2010

February 19, 2014

Two new versions of Total Access Speller are shipping for Microsoft Access 2013 and 2010. Many new features were added since the 2007 version:

• Support for Microsoft Access 2010 and 2013, with 32 and 64-bit support
• Machine and User Installation Options
• Improved Spell Checking of Macros
• New Option to Ignore Invisible Controls
• Property List Shows Built-In Status
• Enhanced user manual and help file

A free trial is available. Existing owners of Total Access Speller can order an upgrade at a discounted price.

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FMS President Luke Chung Quoted in The New York Times

Creators Still in Demand on Health Care Website

February 11, 2014

Robert Pear of The New York Times called Luke and quoted him in this article: Creators Still in Demand on Health Care Website

The contract for the Healthcare.gov site has moved from CGI Federal to Accenture, but Accenture doesn’t really have a better team to put in place. In the typical large government contractor world, the winner of a contract simply hires the existing team and moves them to their payroll. The people who do the work remain and change their business cards. Do we really expect significant improvements from a team that created the original site and thought it was ready for the public?

"This appears to be a typical government contract shuffle,” Luke Chung, the president of FMS, a software development company in Vienna, Va., said of the handoff. “A new company wins the contract and hires many of the old people. It happens all the time in government."

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Technical Assessment of the Revised Healthcare.gov Web Site

December 15, 2013

FMS President Luke Chung provides a detailed technical assessment of the new Healthcare.gov web site in this new blog post

Who Thinks the Relaunched Healthcare.gov Performance Metrics are Acceptable?

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FMS President Appears on Fox, NBC, CNN and MSNBC News Broadcasts in One Busy Week

Thanksgiving Week 2013

A crazy week of media. Before leaving town, FMS President Luke Chung was interviewed in Washington DC. Then while visiting family for Thanksgiving, the national media sent news crews and booked studio time in Sarasota, Florida to get his comments about the soon to be updated Healthcare.gov web site.

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On the Record with Kimberly Guilfoyle

November 26, 2013

Will HealthCare.gov be in good health by Nov. 30?

Greta van Susteren is on vacation, so Luke chatted with Kimberly who was in New York City while he was on Greta's studio in Washington, DC. They discussed how these contractors are "Too Big to Fire"

"Over time, I'm beginning to see that these government contractors who took over this project have essentially made every decision that favors them as much as possible – to maximize the cost to taxpayers, to maximize their profits."

Related article by Greg Richter based on the broadcast: Software Developer: ACA Website Designers Just Lining Own Pockets

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November 27: Quoted in the New York Times

FMS President Luke Chung has been a technical resource for Robert Pear of the New York Times since he originally quoted him in an article that kicked off all this media attention on October 8th. Yesterday they chatted about how a web site needs to be built to support maximum volume which will come on the deadline date. Quite a challenge since they can't even support the early volume.

His article appears on the front page: A Plea to Avoid Crush of Users at Health Site

Luke Chung, the president of FMS, a database company in Virginia, said building the website to handle 50,000 simultaneous users was “not unreasonable.” But he said the government must be prepared to handle much larger numbers at peak times like Dec. 23, just as the Internal Revenue Services does at the tax filing deadline in April.

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November 27: CNN by Leigh Ann Caldwell

White House: Enroll in Obamacare, but not too fast

After confirming he wasn't involved with the Healthcare.gov project, Luke was interviewed by Leigh Ann Caldwell about the new rollout while trying to board to flight at the airport:

Luke Chung, president and founder of Virginia-based software development company FMS Inc., said success for the website would be determined by both the number of users as well as how long they are in the system. He compared it to a highway, noting that 50,000 people traveling 60 miles per hour is smooth traffic while the same number going 10 miles per hour is a jam...Chung cited December 23 as the most significant deadline, noting that demand would be "huge" because people by nature wait until the last minute to act.

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November 29: NBC Evening News with Kristin Welker

Deadline hours away for Obamacare website fixes

The Obama administration has just one day to get its Healthcare.gov website running more efficiently, but officials are already trying to limit expectations once again.

This was the lead story of the evening news. Starting at 0:45, Luke makes a few comments in response to Secretary Sebelius' comments that people should use the new Healthcare.gov web site during off-peak hours:

"It tells me the system isn't full baked. This system should be able to accommodate as many people who want to get on as possible."..cut to President Obama..."50,000 is not a number that's unheard of for websites to be able to support at one time. So I think the challenge is not just the number of users, but whether there are still bugs in the system that will prevent the process from running smoothly."

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November 30 Today Show with Kristin Welker

Crucial Weekend for Healthcare Web Site

A portion of Luke's taped interview from yesterday was also included in the following morning's Today Show at 1:06:

"The system either works or it doesn't work....the 50,000 number that they've put out is a little ambiguous because what one wants to know is how many people per hour can get through the system."

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November 30: CNN with Tory Dunnan

Tory Dunnan had a Skype call with Luke to better understand the capacity of the relaunched Healthcare.gov site. This interview was cut into multiple stories that aired all day long. Here's one of them appearing at 1:30:

"So the challenge isn't how many lanes do you have on the highway, but it's how fast the cars can go down the highway. Because if there's any breakdown, you can have a big traffic jam and pile up behind you."

More details: Deadline Day: Obama administration 'on track' for website goal, agency says

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November 30: Fox & Friends Live Interview with Clayton Morris

ObamaCare: Mistake or moneymaker?

A one-on-one interview with Clayton Morris for four minutes discussing how large government contractors profit from delivering systems that don't work:

"If we follow the money, we'll see the stink in the system...Too Big to Fire"

Featuring Sarasota Bay behind him.

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December 2: MSNBC News Nation with Tamron Hall

Luke appeared on a panel with three others for a live interview discussing the relaunched Healthcare.gov web site.

His appearance is available and summarized by Noah Rothman in this article: Tamron Hall Interrogates Tech Expert After He Criticized Supposed ‘Improvements’ to ACA Site

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FMS President Appears on CNN Situation Room with Brianna Keilar and Wolf Blitzer

November 22, 2013, Seattle, WA

While attending the Microsoft MVP summit and Microsoft Access Day, CNN tracked down FMS President Luke Chung to interview him for the evening show.

He taped a segment from the Seattle studio which provided a nice Seattle Space Needle backdrop. Former Microsoft Access Program Manager, Tim Getsch, who is now the owner of Check Out My Cards (comc.com) joined him for the shoot.

Luke was asked to comment on the need for anonymous shopping on the Healthcare.gov website. He appears at 1:50 for a short quote in this 4:30 story:

"This is something people expect when they visit any web site to not disclose any personal information until they're at a point where they want to make a commitment to buy."

Watch the video: Where's the anonymous shopping perk?

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Microsoft Access Day

November 21, 2013,Bellevue, WA

FMS President Luke Chung joined several other Microsoft Access MVP speakers at this one day event for Microsoft Access developers. In addition to Luke, speakers included the organizer Armen Stein of J Street Technology, George Hepworth, Tom van Stiphout, Andrew Couch from the UK, and Kevin Bell from Microsoft.

Luke discussed upsizing Microsoft Access databases to SQL Server and SQL Azure.

Visit the Access Day web site for more information.

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Testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee

November 13, 2013, Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC

FMS President Luke Chung testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security about the Healthcare.gov website. This committee is responsible for all security issues on .GOV web sites. The hearing was entitled: Hearing: Cyber Side-Effects: How Secure is the Personal Information Entered into the Flawed Healthcare.gov? Luke is on the second of two panels.

Click on the blog post link for video of his five minute prepared testimony and responses to Chairman Michael McCaul. His written testimony is also available. Under oath, he will make a 5 minute statement then respond to questions from all the members of the committee: Invited by the House Committee on Homeland Security to Testify about Healthcare.gov

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Changing the National Discourse on Healthcare.gov

FMS President Luke Chung continues to influence the national discourse on Healthcare.gov. The technically flawed website even led to President Obama talking about web site design. As someone who identified serious problems from the day it debuted (see earlier blog posts), Luke has been on numerous national TV and radio programs discussing the issues beyond too many users. He also wrote a new blog post on how to redesign the site:

Creating a Healthcare.gov Web Site that Works

	November 7: Tech Expert: Scrap the Obamacare Site and Start Over in The Fiscal Times. November 13: No Hope Left for Obamacare’s Website, Techies Say
	November 6: Greta van Susteren's On The Record Show on Fox News
	October 18 and 23; November 5 and 14: Sean Hannity's TV and Radio Shows
	October 24: MSNBC Chris Jansing October 25: Commentary on Luke's interview from NewsBusters: Software Expert Slams Healthcare.Gov On MSNBC: ‘This Really Shouldn’t Be That Difficult’
	October 18: CNN Situation Room with Brian Todd and Wolf Blitzer November 14: Official: Hackers tried repeatedly to attack Obamacare website November 22: Where's the Anonymous Shopping Perk?
	October 17: NBC Today Show with Tom Costello October 17: NBC Nightly News with Tom Costello

Blog Post of the national media coverage

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Our Experience with the HealthCare.gov Site on Day 1

Read the blog from FMS President, Luke Chung, about his experience using the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) web site when it debuted on October 1st.

Healthcare.gov is a Technology Disaster

Regardless of the politics, this web site is not ready for prime time. Luke offers his assessment with screenshots of several crashes he experienced. Bad design, bad development, and seemingly no testing for what should be an enterprise quality application.

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As one of the few non-partisan technical reviews of the website, the blog has attracted a lot of media attention and showcased our decades of database development expertise.

Michael Shear of the New York Times interviewed and quoted Luke in this October 8th article: Health Exchange Delays Tied to Software Crash in Early Rush

"It's poorly designed," said Luke Chung, the president of a database company in Virginia who has publicly criticized the site in recent days. "People higher up are given the excuse that there are too many users. That's a convenient excuse for the managers to pass up the chain."

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October 9th: Morning CBS News Broadcast

Luke was included in the national morning broadcast of CBS News. Read the text or watch the video in Obamacare website looks “like nobody tested it,” programmer says

“It wasn’t designed well, it wasn’t implemented well, and it looks like nobody tested it,” said Luke Chung, an online database programmer.

Chung supports the new health care law but said it was not the demand that is crashing the site. He thinks the entire website needs a complete overhaul.

“It’s not even close. It’s not even ready for beta testing for my book. I would be ashamed and embarrassed if my organization delivered something like that,” he said.

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CNN Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer

Luke was featured in an article on CNN entitled Obamacare glitches known ahead of time? Brian Todd came by the office to learn more about the challenges Luke encountered and the web site actually crashed while he was showing it.

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Fox News with Peter Doocy on October 11

ObamaCare website neither fast or easy? Peter stepped through the site and struggled to even get a user name. Then Luke made a few comments around 1:11 and at the end of the segment:

“It’s written as if it were created by people who had never created a database web application before…This can be fixed in a very short period of time, and it wouldn’t necessarily be that expensive”

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Total Access Emailer Customer Shares His Experience

George Moore, an Access developer from Dallas, Texas shared his recent experience implementing Total Access Emailer:

“Bought and configured Total Access Emailer for a client to send out numerous Alert reports to various people in the organization. Works like a champ (which is what I've come to expect from FMS), makes my client contact look like a genius and is helping the organization go through a complete culture change as a result of timely analytical reports.

You guys ROCK!!! Thanks for all you do to help us in the field."

Thanks George for your kind words. We're thrilled your client is able to transform their operations with our product and how easy it was for you to implement! For additional customer testimonials, visit our Total Access Emailer Reviews page.

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Microsoft Access and Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Enhancements and Issues

New Paper on the enhancements and issues related to the recent release of Microsoft Office 2010, Service Pack 2 (SP2).

Includes download instructions, details about the products affected, the list of enhancements for all the products and Microsoft Access, the Access 2010 runtime version, known issues including a confirmed bug between Access 2010 SP2 and SharePoint 2013, and additional Microsoft Office resources.

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New Tip: Do Not Install Microsoft Access Add-ins and Databases in the Program Files Folder

Microsoft Access add-ins and databases should never be installed in the C:\Program Files folder. Learn more about this issue related to User Access Control even if the user has administrative rights.

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New Case Study: Inspection Software for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

To ensure the quality of work performed by their Facilities Management service providers, the National Archives and Records Administration performs both random and targeted inspections of completed work orders.

FMS was selected to create a professional, multiuser system to collect the inspection results electronically and generate a variety of management reports.

Within two months, we deployed our solution which offers data entry screens to replicate a variety of existing forms and many new management reports. An intuitive user interface made it easy for users without requiring extensive training. More importantly, we established a solid database foundation to improve NARA processes both today and into the future.

Read the Case Study: Inspection Software for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

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New Tip: Microsoft Access Inconsistent Compile Error for a Field Reference in a Form

Discover what we learned when we encountered a database that would inconsistently lose its compiled state for some users. The compiler would flag field references to the form's RecordSource as missing fields, but the fields existed. So why was this happening at random times for different users?

It turns out that it's due to programmatically changing the RecordSource of forms, which may not be the form where the compile error is triggered.

Learn more about this on our blog: Microsoft Access Inconsistent Compile Error for a Field Reference in a Form.

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New Technical Support Forum and Ticket Tracking

We are very pleased to announce our new technical support site (http://support.fmsinc.com) to provide forums and the ability to submit technical support tickets.

Our new site lets you submit requests and respond to them via email with our support team. It also lets you visit our site to check the status of your requests and their entire chain of communications. You can login directly or use affiliated logins from Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

You can also read information and ask questions to the community. We hope you'll join us.

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New Paper: Comparison of Microsoft Access, LightSwitch and Visual Studio Platforms for Database Developers

Microsoft Access started at the beginning of the Windows revolution 20+ years ago and became the most popular database of all time. More recently, additional technologies have become significant, so it behooves the Microsoft Access community to be aware of the trends and options. A variety of platforms and options are available with benefits and limitations with each. Meanwhile, Microsoft Access is also evolving with their latest Access 2013 version offering new web based solutions.

Read our new paper entitled Comparison of Microsoft Access, LightSwitch and Visual Studio Platforms for Database Developers on what we're seeing and experiencing.

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Be Careful Making Appointments on Your Smartphone from a Different Time Zone

When travelling in Texas recently, I received an email for a noon lunch appointment the following week. So I added it to Outlook on my Windows Phone as usual.

Unfortunately, I missed the appointment because when I returned home to Eastern time, the appointment appeared on my calendar as 1 PM (noon in Texas). Rude, embarrassing, and bad for business.

Read our new paper on why and how to avoid this: Missing an Appointment Set on a Smartphone while in a Different Time Zone

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Microsoft Access Queries: Sorting on Multiple Date (or Numeric) Fields with Blank Values

Read our new paper: Microsoft Access Query Sorting on Multiple Date (or Numeric) Fields Containing Blank Values

Learn how to sort on multiple date fields when null values exist by using a calculated field. By using the IIf and IsNull functions, you can easily sort to see the most recent (or oldest) records.

Additional information and examples are provided to show why using the NZ function (NullToZero) is not equivalent and returns the wrong results.

This new paper is part of our Microsoft Access Query Help Center.

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Microsoft Access Shortcut Keys for Data Entry and Navigation

Updated paper on Data Entry and Navigation Shortcut Keys for Microsoft Access.

Learn these keystrokes to simplify your use of MS Access as a user or developer.

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Blaming Technology (Microsoft Access) Rather than Developer Incompetence

FMS President, Luke Chung, responds to a Washington Post article which described the experience of a local small business. They ran into trouble with Microsoft Access and were forced to migrate to another system. While there may be legitimate reasons to migrate, Microsoft Access took the blame for a poorly designed system which couldn't even support a trivial multiuser environment. The actual problem wasn't the technology, but the ignorance and incompetence of the developer who built that system.

Read more about it in the blog: Mistakenly Blaming Microsoft Access instead of the Developer

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Portland Oregon Microsoft Access User Conference

May 4-6, 2013, Silver Falls State Park, OR

FMS President Luke Chung is one of the featured speakers at this annual Microsoft Access conference hosted by the Portland Access User Group. This will be his third year speaking at this wonderful event.

Enjoy an amazing, rustic getaway to a beautiful state park with fellow Microsoft Access enthusiasts. Book early so you can stay at the limited number of cabins available at the conference center. The conference fees are amazing low and includes meals.

Luke will participate in various talks on Microsoft Access development, running a business, and creating solutions using Visual Studio LightSwitch. He'll also be staying at the site during the entire conference, so you'll have plenty of opportunity to meet him formally and informally.

For more information, visit the conference site.

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Attending the Microsoft MVP Summit

FMS President, Luke Chung attends his first Microsoft MVP Summit at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, WA. Since the MVP program was created 20 years ago, FMS has had three other MVPs in the group. This was the first year Luke was added to the group. Here are some of his comments about the experience:

Attending the Microsoft MVP Summit in Bellevue/Redmond, WA

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Our Blog has Moved to WordPress

We've migrated our blog to WordPress from our previous BlogEngine.NET platform. We hope you like it.

WordPress has become the most common Blogging format, so we're happy to simplify the process for people to participate in our blog with their existing WordPress login. We also gain considerably more options for designing the layout of our blog.

We could have started our new blog from scratch but since our existing blog existed for many years, we wanted to migrate it with all the comments from our BlogEngine.NET host to WordPress. That turned out to be a challenge that required learning the idiosyncrasies of BlogEngine and WordPress. With the help of Microsoft Access, we created a table with the terms that needed to be translated, read the XML file from BlogEngine, then created a new XML file that WordPress would import.

For details of how we did it, visit:
Migrating BlogEngine.NET Posts to WordPress with Translations Using Microsoft Access

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New Paper on Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch for Microsoft Access, SQL Server, and Visual Studio .NET Database Developers

The Visual Studio team has introduced a development platform called LightSwitch which simplifies the creation of database applications in Visual Studio. This rapid application development environment lets you create solutions that can be easily deployed on Windows or Mac platforms from a public web site or Intranet.

We've been using LightSwitch for the past year and find it to be ideal for a particular class of SQL Server based solutions. Here our first article providing an overview of the benefits and limitations of the LightSwitch platform for the Microsoft Access community.

If you're interested in learning more about our help developing custom solutions based on LightSwitch, visit our LightSwitch Consulting page.

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New York City Microsoft Access User Group Meeting

Join FMS President Luke Chung at the New York Microsoft Access User Group Meeting on September 10, 2012, 6:30PM.

Luke Chung is the featured presenter at this free New York City event hosted at Microsoft Headquarters located at 1290 6th Ave., between 51st and 52nd Streets.

Luke will discuss and demonstrate FMS products for Microsoft Access, Azure cloud computing, plus answer any questions you may have about his experiences.

Join him at this free event.

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Fixing the Microsoft Windows Common Control Library (MSCOMCTL.OCX) Security Update

On August 14, 2012, Microsoft released a security update that included an update to the Windows Common Control MSCOMCTL.OCX.

Unfortunately, this update causes problems with existing Microsoft Access applications that use the common control such as the Treeview and ListBox controls. This includes the Treeview used in the Database Explorer feature of our Total Access Analyzer program (when viewing the database documentation results).

Microsoft provides a workaround for this problem in a Knowledgebase article, but it doesn't always work. We've come up with a solution that addresses this problem reliably. Read our article on Fixing the Microsoft Windows Common Control MSCOMCTL.OCX security update for more details.

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New Version of Total Access Analyzer for Microsoft Access 2007 and 2003

Total Access Analyzer is the most popular Microsoft Access product of all-time! In conjunction with the release of the Microsoft Access 2010 version, we've added many of the new features to the Microsoft Access 2007 and 2003 versions.

In addition to the comprehensive documentation and analysis of your database objects, macros, and VBA module code, Total Access Analyzer version X.9 adds:

• Detection of Additional Errors and Suggestions
  • Timer Interval and Timer Event Mismatch
  • Queries Using Other Queries with Both having GroupBy Clauses
  • Action Queries Opened by OpenQuery Command
  • SQL Server list of reserved words updated for SQL Server 2012
• Displaying Additional Documentation Results
  • ActiveX controls appear as a New Category under General
  • New Table-Fields folder under Tables lets you view field properties across all your tables in one screen
  • Enhanced Opening of Referenced Object in Design Mode (view the documentation and immediately jump to the object to make changes)
• Report Enhancements
  • Preview Multiple Reports at One Time
  • Color Customization for Reports
  • Enhanced Macro Dictionary Report
  • Many New Reports
• New Module VBA Documentation and Options for Microsoft Access 2007
  • Advanced Macro Documentation and Analysis
  • Temporary Variable Documentation and Analysis (TempVars)
• Improved User Experience
  • Support for Windows 7 (in addition to XP and Vista) and Office Themes
  • Installation options for the current user or machine, with support for User Access Control permissions

Existing customers with premium support subscriptions receive the upgrade for free. Other existing customers can upgrade for a nominal fee. Demo available.

Thank you for your support in making Total Access Analyzer such a great success!

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Total Access Analyzer for Microsoft Access 2010 Update and Demo Version

Total Access Analyzer is the most popular Microsoft Access product of all-time! Documenting and analyzing your database objects, macros and VBA module code, Total Access Analyzer helps you understand what's going on. Take control of your MS Access applications and find errors and ways to improve their design and performance. Over 300 issues are pinpointed with 380 presentation quality reports for comprehensive documentation and cross-referencing of your application. Winner of every Best Microsoft Access Add-in award with great reviews, Total Access Analyzer remains the "Must Have" tool for serious Microsoft Access developers and people who inherit existing Access solutions.

What's New

• A demo version of Total Access Analyzer for Microsoft Access 2010 is now available
• An update, 14.01.0004, is available for existing owners with several enhancements

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FMS President Luke Chung is a Microsoft MVP

July 1, 2012

Microsoft has officially recognized FMS President Luke Chung as a Microsoft MVP for his support of the Microsoft Access community.

Since the official launch of Microsoft Access, Luke Chung has been at the forefront of the Microsoft Access community (read his impression on the day Microsoft Access debuted). He has written numerous articles, spoken at conferences around the world, and collaborated with the Microsoft Access development team over the years. His leadership propelled FMS to the world's leading third party vendor of commercial products for Microsoft Access.

Congratulations Luke!

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FMS Guest Blogs on the Microsoft Access Developer Blog

FMS developer Molly Pell is featured as a guest blogger on the Microsoft Access developer blog with two articles:

Using a Combo Box to Search

This post demonstrates a neat trick that you can use to filter a Continuous or Split form while your users are typing in a Combo Box.

Check out the post here: Using a Combo Box to Search as you Type.

For more combo box tips, check out our Top 5 Combo Box Tips for Access.

Microsoft Access Crosstab Queries in Reports

This post demonstrates how to use the Pivot statement to control column names returned by crosstab queries, allowing crosstabs to be used on reports.

Check out the post here: Using crosstab queries in reports

Or read our technical paper with a sample database: Creating an Annual 12 Month Summary Report without VBA Code by Creatively Using a Microsoft Access Crosstab Query

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Microsoft Access Database Architecture: Storing Temporary Data and User Settings

Read our new paper on:

Microsoft Access Database Architecture: Storing Temporary Data and User Settings

There are many things a user does with an application that need to be preserved either during processing, between screens, between sessions, or between application updates/versions. When designing a system, it's important to consider what to keep and where/how to do this. If designed properly, the data should also support multi-user environments.

Problem

Users are commonly annoyed to be forced to re-enter their last specifications when the application should start with that as its default. After all, a computer is supposed to be good at remembering things, right?

Solutions

There are several ways to preserve user information during a session, on a PC, and/or between PCs:

• Keeping Selections in Memory for the Current Session
• Using the Registry to Store User Information Between Sessions
• Using Private Tables to Store Information Between Sessions
• Making Sure Previous Values Remain Valid

Read the Microsoft Access Temporary Data paper for more details and tips.

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New Presentation: Taking Over Legacy Microsoft Access Database Applications

In May, FMS President Luke Chung presented at the three day Microsoft Access conference sponsored by the Portland Oregon Access User Group. Luke participated in a variety of discussions and gave a presentation on Taking Over a Legacy Microsoft Access Database Application. Check out the paper and PowerPoint presentation.

Situated at the beautiful Silver Falls State Park Conference Center, Luke and some fellow participants took a hike through forest and the many waterfalls there:

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Space Shuttle Discovery Flies by Our Offices Three Times

The Space Shuttle Discovery on a 747 with fighter jet escort flies by our offices three times this morning. It banked right in front of our windows to head back to DC.

They eventually flew over us toward the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy National Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport where it will be on permanent display.

See more pictures on our Facebook album.

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Total Access Analyzer for Microsoft Access 2010 Ships

The Microsoft Access 2010 version of Total Access Analyzer is now shipping with support for the 32 and 64 bit versions of MS Access 2010.

We've added many new features to support Access 2010, generate more useful documentation, identify more errors, and suggest more design improvements and best practices. There's advanced validation of macro commands, macro printouts showing indented syntax, temporary variable cross-referencing and verification, improved query performance analysis, etc.

We've also enhanced the user experience with the ability to open a cross-referenced item in design mode while viewing the information, previewing multiple reports at once, and adding color to all reports. Here is a description of the new Access 2010 features. Existing customers can upgrade at a discounted price.

Press Release

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FMS Participates with Virginia Governor's Declaration of 2012 as the Year of the Entrepreneur

FMS President Luke Chung was invited by the governor's office to participate in his proclamation of 2012 as the Year of the Entrepreneur. Luke stood behind Governor Bob McDonnell and Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling during the press conference and participated in a day-long event supporting entrepreneurship, small businesses, and job creation.

Commerce Secretary James Cheng led the events. Participants were able to hear from successful Virginia business founders and learn from each other through a luncheon and Entrepreneurial Town Hall. Examples of agricultural, technology, manufacturing, and craft businesses showed the diversity of Virginia firms offering products and services for in-state, national and international customers. It was also interesting to trace the roots of the founding of Virginia in 1607 as a high-risk entrepreneurial enterprise that eventually led to success after many failures.

See a video on the local NBC news:

For more information, read our Blog.

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Free Preview of Total Access Analyzer for Microsoft Access 2010

The Microsoft Access 2010 version of Total Access Analyzer is close to shipping and we are pleased to offer a FREE preview for you to try it.

We've added many new features to support Access 2010, generate more useful documentation, identify more errors, and suggest more design improvements and best practices. We've also improved the user experience with the ability to open a cross-referenced item in design mode while viewing the information, previewing multiple reports at once, and adding color to all reports. Here is a description of the new Access 2010 features.

Take this opportunity to learn what Total Access Analyzer can do for you. See how it documents your databases and identifies errors and opportunities for improving them at the object and code levels. Discover why so many Access users and professionals rely on the program to deliver and create more robust solutions.

The preview version is available for immediate download and is fully functional. It expires March 15, 2012.

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Portland Oregon Microsoft Access Database Designer Conference

Silver Falls State Park Conference Center
May 5-7, 2012

FMS President Luke Chung will be attending and speaking at the three day Microsoft Access conference sponsored by the Portland Oregon Access User Group. Join him and other guest speakers at the beautiful Silver Falls State Park Conference Center.

Microsoft speakers include Ryan McMinn, Microsoft Access Senior Program Manager Lead, and Kevin Bell test engineer on the MS Access team. Other speakers include industry authors and notables F. Scott Barker, Alison Balter, Juan Soto, and Armen Stein.

Luke will be giving a new presentation on Tips and Techniques for Taking Over and Existing Access Application.

For complete details and registration, visit PAUG Conference Site. See photos from last year's conference on our Facebook page.

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Total Access Detective Ships for Microsoft Access 2010 with Updates for 2007 and 2003

We are pleased to announce the release of Total Access Detective for Microsoft Access 2010 with support for the 32 and 64 bit versions of MS Access 2010. We've also released an X.8 Version update for Microsoft Access 2007 and 2003.

Ever wonder what changed between your database versions or the difference between two similar objects or tables? Total Access Detective is the premier program to detect differences between Microsoft Access databases, objects, code, and data.

Available as a Microsoft Access add-in, Total Access Detective lets you easily find differences between objects in your currently opened database. Easily find changes in your table and field definitions, object properties, controls, report sections, embedded macros, regular macros, modules, and data. The results are available to you in reports and on screen which can be copied or exported.

You can also compare any two databases to easily find exactly how they changed. Your databases can be an ACCDB, MDB or ADP database format. The new version lets you create separate databases for each comparison so you can easily manage multiple databases and changes over time.

We've added many new features to make Total Access Detective more powerful than ever:

• Supports Microsoft Access 2010, 32 and 64-bit versions
• Compares All Database Types Supported by Access 2010
• Compares the new Microsoft Access 2010 enhancements including new object properties, macro syntax, and VBA commands
• Performs Line-by-Line Comparisons of Embedded Macros
• Procedures that Did Not Change are Listed
• New Data Comparison Option to Ignore Case Differences
• When Comparing Modules, Optionally Ignore Blank Lines and Comments (also applies to text block comparisons)
• Exclude Properties from Comparison
• Create and Manage Multiple Database Comparison Results. You are no longer limited to one set of comparison results!
• Command Line Launching of Total Access Detective Can Now Specify Storage Database Name
• Improved User Interface with Office/Access 2010 Theme Support
• New Reports and Improved Selection Screen
• New User Manual and Context Sensitive Help

Manually comparing databases for design and data differences is prone to error. Discover why so many Microsoft Access professionals rely on Total Access Detective to improve their productivity by quickly identifying the changes in their work.

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Total Access Startup for Microsoft Access 2010 is Now Shipping

Total Access Startup 2010 (Version 14.0) lets you centrally manage and guarantee that all your users always launch the right version of Microsoft Access with the right version of your Access database (MDB, ACCDB, or ADP). Simply distribute a shortcut to your users to start your application. When you post an updated database, your users automatically get it installed on their machine the next time they launch your program. They don't need to know the name of the database. You manage all of that in one place and can change it at any time. A runtime version lets you control the Access version launched for users not on your network.

Total Access Startup 2010 supports both 32 and 64 bit versions of Microsoft Access 2010 letting you control which version your application requires. It also supports all legacy versions of Access. Learn more about the new features and try out the free trial version.

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Total Access Analyzer Product Review

Geoff Hollander of Northwest Database Services and the Portland Access User Group wrote a review of our Total Access Analyzer product. He provides a nice discussion of how it finds ways to improve his Access applications:

"I always thought that I was thorough about going through an application and cleaning up loose ends, but Total Access Analyzer proved: I was wrong and I probably won't call another application complete until Total Access Analyzer gives it the OK."

He also suggests how the documentation it generates and its reports are a business opportunity:

"Selling a documentation package generated by Total Access Analyzer for your application is a great way to add a training-free, trouble-free and reasonably priced profit center to the work you are already performing!....Total Access Analyzer is a solid product that any Access developer should have in their toolbox; and one that will pay for itself in short order."

Complete review

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Participating on the Senate Finance Committee's Small Business Roundtable

On September 15th, FMS President Luke Chung was invited by the Senate Finance Committee to share his experiences as a small business owner. As one of 18 participants, Luke was asked about his experience running FMS and how tax policy can hurt and help small businesses thrive and create jobs. In a very bipartisan environment, the staffers of co-chairmen Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) listened to the participants who provided a perspective quite different from the deep pocketed lobbyists they normally experience on Capitol Hill.

Read more about it in Luke's Blog: Participating on the Senate Finance Committee's Small Business Roundtable

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Total Visual CodeTools for Microsoft Access 2010 is Now Shipping

Discover why so many professional developers rely on Total Visual CodeTools to make them more productive.

Integrated directly into the Integrated Development Environment (IDE), Total Visual CodeTools offers a rich set of developer tools to help you create, cleanup, and deliver better solutions. The latest version is enhanced for MS Office/Access 2010 and has many new features.

• Complete list of Total Visual CodeTools 2010 enhancements
• Free Trial Version

Total Visual CodeTools supports all VB6/VBA hosts, including Visual Basic 6.0 (VB6) and Office 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002/XP, and 2000.

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Download the Free Preview of Total Visual CodeTools for Microsoft Office Access 2010 (June 2011)

Download the free preview of Total Visual CodeTools 2010 for Microsoft Office/Access 2010. The Preview Version is fully functional through the end of July. Take advantage of this opportunity to see how Total Visual CodeTools can cleanup the code in your existing projects, let you deliver more robust solutions, and simplify your daily coding chores.

Integrated directly into the Integrated Development Environment (IDE), Total Visual CodeTools gives you a rich set of tools to help you create, cleanup, and deliver better solutions. The latest version is enhanced for MS Office/Access 2010 and has many new features:

• Supports Microsoft Access/Office 2010, 32-bit version
• VBA Code Parsing Supports Access/Office 2010
• Code Cleanup and Code Delivery Allow Immediate Overwrite
• Code Cleanup Error Enabler and Handler Tags are Customizable
• Copy Control Builder Supports Multiple Target Controls
• Long Text/SQL Builder Supports Query Retrieval and Converts Tabs and Spaces
• Select Case Builder Supports Text Blocks and Numeric Ranges
• Recordset Builder Defaults to Current Database and Simplifies Selections
• Three Locations for Total Visual CodeTools on Your Menus
• Tools Available During Debugging
• Default 'Send To' is Remembered
• Screens are Resizable
• Redesigned Storage of Standards for Improved International Support

Visit these pages for:

• Complete list of 2010 enhancements
• Download the Preview Version

Total Visual CodeTools supports all VB/VBA hosts, including Visual Basic 6.0 (VB6) and Office 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002/XP, and 2000.

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Photos from the Portland Access User Group Conference

Check out the photos from the three day Microsoft Access conference sponsored by the Portland Oregon Access User Group. FMS President Luke Chung spoke at the event and had a delightful time in the hills of Silver Falls State Park.

Can't wait to attend next year's event!

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Creating a Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan for Your IT System

Here's an article by FMS President Luke Chung that was recently published on the Entrepreneurs' Organization, Washington DC web site discussing the need of small business owners to Create a Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan for Your IT System. Luke has been a member of EO for over a decade and previously served as the Washington DC chapter president.

The article covers our experiences working with people running small to medium sized organizations, and the challenges they face to address business process continuation issues. An overview of the basic steps are covered.

Full Article

This is related to a recent article: Creating a Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan for Microsoft Access Database Applications

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Published Article: Microsoft Access Is Underrated: Your Hatred Of Microsoft Access Is Largely Unjustified

The Enterprise Features web site highlight's FMS President Luke Chung's discussion about why Microsoft Access is underrated and hated in large enterprise organizations.

He discusses the dynamics of IT departments in large organizations and their natural conflict with the needs and budgets of information worker. He also shows how organizations that understand the strengths and weaknesses of Microsoft Access can leverage its power for competitive advantage, and how to structure service levels to do so.

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Luke Chung Speaking at Portland Access User Group Conference in May 2011

FMS President Luke Chung will be attending and speaking at the three day Microsoft Access conference sponsored by the Portland Oregon Access User Group. Join him and other guest speakers including Alison Balter from InfoTech Services Group Inc., Armen Stein from J Street Technology, and Kevin Bell from Microsoft.

Luke will be speaking on the following topics:

• FMS Products for Microsoft Access Developers and How they Make You Money
• Microsoft Access and Azure: Working in the Cloud
• Microsoft Access Disaster Recovery Plans

For complete details visit PAUG 2011 Database Designer Conference and see you there May 14-16

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Luke Chung Presenting at the Denver Area Access User Group April 5th

FMS President Luke Chung will be the guest presenter at the April 5th meeting of the Denver Access User Group. He'll be discussing Microsoft Access 2010, FMS products for Microsoft Access, and all things Access. See you there!

DAAUG Meeting
April 5, 2011 from 6 to 9PM
Microsoft USA - Rocky Mountain District
Denver, CO 80237

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Total Access Emailer for Microsoft Access 2010 is Now Shipping (March 2011)

Total Access Emailer is the most popular Microsoft Access email program. Running as an add-in, it lets you easily send personalized emails using the information in your database. From using fields in the subject and body of the message, to attaching PDF reports filtered for each recipient, you'll find that Total Access Emailer revolutionizes the way you communicate with your contacts. Any table or query can be the data source for your emails which can be in text or HTML format. We can even automatically include graphics in your HTML emails or let them reference a public site.

We are very pleased to announce Total Access Emailer for Access 2010. Enhancements include support for Access 2010, 32 and 64 bit, compressing all your attached files into one zip file with optional password, international extended character support, a new Code Generator, additional programmatic interfaces, and many more new features. An X.6 upgrade version for Access 2007 and earlier versions also available. Download the Free Trial.

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New Version of Sentinel Visualizer Released

Sentinel Visualizer is our commercial, off-the-shelf product that brings the power of data visualization, link analysis, geospatial, timeline, Social Network Analysis (SNA). We recently released version 4.6 which includes many new features to empower analysts to better understand hidden relationships in their data:

• Integration to Google Earth Version 6 to map entities
• Upgraded Declutter tool – filter by value of Degree, Entity Weight, Entity Value, Relationship Weight, and Relationship Value
• Export subset of link charts into a new window to perform additional analysis
• Send a selected network to a new visualizer window without having to re-create the network
• Improved data-import routines including saving schemes for reuse, avoiding duplication of imported data, and more import options

Learn more about Sentinel Visualizer built on SQL Server.

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Total Access Admin for Microsoft Access 2010 is Now Shipping (Dec 2010)

Total Access Admin lets you monitor your databases to see who's currently in it. It's ideal for understanding who's currently connected, compacting databases after everyone has exited it, and troubleshooting multi-user problems.

The Total Access Admin 2010 supports Access 2010 and 2007. In addition to supporting 2010, it now lets you monitor multiple databases in one screen. You can perform actions across all the databases, watch the activity in real time, and log the users entering and exiting each database. Visit New Features for complete information. Total Access Admin 2003, version 11.5, is also released for Access 2003 and earlier.

Free Trial of Total Access Admin

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Total Access Statistics for Microsoft Access 2010 is Now Shipping (Sept 2010)

Total Access Statistics is the most popular data analysis program for Microsoft Access. It extends the power of Access queries to let you generate a wide range of values such as percentiles, regressions, running totals, correlations, group analysis, etc.

Total Access Statistics is now shipping for Microsoft Access 2010. In addition to supporting the 32 and 64 bit versions of Microsoft Access 2010, version 14 offers new financial cash flow analysis to generate net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), modified IRR (MIRR) for periodic and date dependent investments and receipts. New Features for Access 2010.

A new X.8 version is also available for Access 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000. This is free for customers under a support contract, and is available for a nominal upgrade fee for others.

Free Trial of Total Access Statistics

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FMS Papers Featured on the Microsoft Access Team Blog (August 21, 2010)

Our two papers on Microsoft Access, Windows Azure, and SQL Azure are featured on the Microsoft Access Product Development Team Blog

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Microsoft Access and Cloud Computing with SQL Azure Databases (Linking to SQL Server Tables in the Cloud)

FMS President Luke Chung has written a detailed paper on his expectations of cloud computing and its revolutionary impact on our industry. He considers it the most significant trend since the rise of the Internet in the mid-1990's.

He's written two articles on this topic. The first is a general overview of how he sees cloud computing impacting our industry:

Microsoft Azure and Cloud Computing...What it Means to Me and Information Workers

The second paper is an example of using SQL Azure with Microsoft Access databases. While much of cloud computing and especially Microsoft Azure is focused on the .NET community, there's much to offer to the Microsoft Access community as well. Follow the detailed step-by-step instructions on linking a Microsoft Access 2007 or 2010 database to tables stored in SQL Azure, Microsoft's SQL Server in the cloud.

Microsoft Access and Cloud Computing with SQL Azure Databases (Linking to SQL Server Tables in the Cloud)

Then, think about how the ability to create and host enterprise quality databases can impact what is possible for you.

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Total Access Statistics 2010 Preview Version Extended (June 25, 2010)

We've updated and released a new version of the preview version of Total Access Statistics for Microsoft Access 2010. The original version expired on July 1, but this version is good through September 1. We hope you get a chance to use it and provide feedback on what you discover.

Total Access Statistics 2010 Preview Version Available (May 26, 2010)

We are pleased to announce the availability of the preview version of Total Access Statistics for Microsoft Access 2010. Total Access Statistics is the most popular data analysis program for Microsoft Access. It extends the data analysis capabilities of Access queries to let you perform advanced numerical analysis on your data. Use any Access table, linked table, or query to perform calculations such as percentiles, regressions, frequency distributions, t-Tests, correlations, non-parametrics, rankings, moving averages, etc. It can also perform data normalization and let you select random records. As you would expect in a query, you can specify Group By fields so analysis is performed on each set of records with identical group fields.

Total Access Statistics runs within Access with all output in Access tables. It supports MDB, ACCDB, and ADP databases.

In addition to supporting Access 2010, we've added financial calculations for cash flows. It now calculates net present value (NPV), present value (PV), future value (FV), internal rate of return (IRR), and modified internal rates of return (MIRR).

This FREE preview is available with support for both the 32 and 64 bit versions of Access 2010. It includes both the interactive wizard that runs as an add-in, plus the programmatic VBA library so you can embed statistical analysis in your applications.

The preview version is fully functional through July 1. Download: Total Access 2010 Preview Version

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Luke Chung Appointed to Fairfax County, Virginia's Information Technology Policy Advisory Committee (May 25, 2010)

Approved by the Board of Supervisors, FMS president Luke Chung will serve on the county's Information Technology Policy Advisory Committee (ITPAC) to advise the county's board and CTO on the future direction of information technology investments. Having served several years on a business and community advisory committee for the superintendent of public schools, Luke is representing the school board on this committee. "It's an honor to serve on this board to help our county and it's 1,000,000+ residents maximize the use of technology to improve services, safety, education, and good governances while minimizing overall costs," said Luke Chung. "Over the years, Fairfax County has established itself as a state and national leader through solid business growth and high quality public education. With constrained budgets, I expect we will continue that tradition through the smart application of technology."

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Total Zip Code Database Now Has Geospatial Latitude and Longitude (April 2010)

One of the nicest features to add to an address data entry screen is to automatically fill the city and state fields when a zip code is entered. In conjunction with the US Postal Service, FMS offers the Total Zip Code Database which gives you the entire list of valid zip codes and their corresponding city and state names. Both the primary and secondary city names are provided. Speed up data entry, eliminate typos, and clean up existing data with Total Zip Code Database. We also include the list of common city names the USPS doesn't like with their corresponding corrections. The database is provided on an annual subscription basis with an initial list and 11 monthly updates.

In addition to the information provided by the USPS, the Total Zip Code Database also includes geospatial coordinates (latitude and longitude) for each zip code. We also provide a list of countries and states to simplify lookups, and module code and sample form to add this to your applications. The data is provided in a Microsoft Access MDB and ASCII files.

For more information, visit the Total Zip Code Database page, view the zip code flier, or get the demo.

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New Updates for Total Access Detective (January 22, 2010)

Total Access Detective makes it easy to find differences between any two Microsoft Access databases or objects.

As part of our commitment to quality, we are pleased to release updates of Total Access Detective for our versions for Microsoft Access 2007, 2003, 2003, and 2000.

The updates include performance enhancements, Windows 7 support, improved ADP support, and resolve all known issues since their original release. The updates are available free of charge to registered owners who were emailed download instructions for the update. Please contact us if you are a registered owner and did not receive a notification.

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Calculating Percentiles in Microsoft Access with Total Access Statistics (January 2010)

Total Access Statistics is the world's most popular data analysis program for Microsoft Access. It runs as an Access add-in to let you extend the numerical analysis capabilities of Microsoft Access queries.

A common need among MS Access users and developers is the need to calculate percentiles. We've created a new page providing more details on how to Calculate Percentiles in Microsoft Access with Total Access Statistics. Percentiles can be generated on the data from your table or query, and provided in three ways:

• A new table with each percentile value as a separate field
• A new table with each percentile value as a separate record
• Updating a field in your table with the percentile value corresponding to the data in your record

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Total Access Emailer Programmatic Interface (January 2010)

Total Access Emailer is the world's leading email program for Microsoft Access. It runs as an Access add-in to let you easily create email blasts using your list of email addresses and integrating your data and reports into your messages and attachments. The Professional Version includes a programmatic interface that lets you automate the sending of email blasts through your VBA module code. A simple procedure is provided to let you launch an email blast.

Here's a new page describing how to Send Microsoft Access Email Blasts Programmatically using VBA.

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