Knowing When to Use the Windows API

The hardest thing about using the Windows API is not understanding how to use it but knowing when to use it. A few guidelines:

• Use the Windows API only when you must. If there's a VBA way to do something, don't spend time looking for an API alternative.

• Use the Windows API to manipulate applications other than Access.

• Use the Windows API to retrieve information from Windows itself.

• Use the Windows API to interact with things (such as network messages) that are inaccessible from VBA.

If you get seriously interested in advanced VBA programming, there are several books available that discuss the Windows API in depth. A good starting point is Dan Appleman's Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the Win32API (Sams, 1999).