11.6. Next Steps

The next chapter is a project. In the chapter, I describe an application to you that requests specific features involving both the user interface and integrating Excel and Access. This project is one that you would likely come across on a project web site where people search for someone to complete a short project.

Many times when you deal with project requests like this, the specifications will not be as detailed. However, it is still important to think through the things that the user likely wants so that you can adequately determine the amount of time required to complete the application.

In addition, the planning phase of the project is the most important. I see more projects fail because the requestor and the developer skips the planning phase thinking that they know what they want. Often when you begin to ask questions about the functionality required, additional items come up. If you don't address this up front, you might be in a situation where you want to be paid for an application that meets the specifications requested but doesn't perform the intended task, which is not a situation you want to be in.

Finally, I suggest spending a lot of time with form design in Access. There are a lot of things that can be done there that add a lot of value to the application. In addition, there are several books available from O'Reilly that are helpful when developing Access applications. Access Cookbook and Access Hacks show you how to solve specific programming problems that come up when developing Access applications.