Introduction

This book is for database developers who want to use Microsoft Access 2000 to build custom applications. It covers the features that make Access a perennial favorite with developers, as well as the innovations in Access 2000 that you are most likely to use in your programming projects. Numerous programming samples demonstrate the core development techniques and rapid application development tools. The sample designs have been kept simple so you can easily adapt them for your custom applications or apply the techniques in your development work. The book's companion CD contains all the samples in the book as well as many others.

Access is a popular development platform in large measure because it is part of the Microsoft Office suite. Many clients want their Access systems to interoperate with the rest of Office, and they want systems that are transparent and easy to maintain without developer assistance. The techniques described in this book will help you meet these expectations. (For additional support, you can consult two Microsoft World Wide Web sites: www.microsoft.com/office/, which covers Access capabilities in general, and www.microsoft.com/officedev/, which covers the product's developer features.)

This book was written to meet the needs of a variety of readers. Longtime Access developers will find the essential information on the advances introduced in Access 2000. Another target readership is developers who primarily use non-Microsoft technologies, such as dBASE or Paradox. They know all of the development concepts, but they do not necessarily know how to implement those concepts with Access. Finally, this book is for highly motivated power users who want to graduate to developing solutions for others and want to ramp up quickly.

The book's presentation style has the aim of making you productive as a developer, and productive in using the new features in Access 2000. The presentation style is look, see, do! The many code samples throughout the book illustrate concepts that you can readily put to use in your applications. Think of them as recipes for performing specific development tasks. Try them "as is" from the book's CD. Then, modify them to work with your data and in the context of your custom application requirements. The samples are purposefully uncomplicated, easy to understand, and easy to reuse, so that you will be motivated to apply them in your own applications.