Greetings!

We hope you are staying cool this summer (or warm for our friends Down Under).

With one of the hottest summers on record and experiencing a Derecho for the first time, we're pleased to say we survived. Our office managed to not lose electricity, but many of our neighbors were not so lucky. There was even a run on gasoline as many gas stations had no power or ran out of gas. I actually found myself at a gas station after a long wait, and as I filled half my tank, the station ran out of gas. Luckily it happened on a weekend as we were quickly moving into a Mad Max environment where gasoline and ice became precious commodities.

While the impact was minimal to FMS, the disruption impacted many companies, data centers, and even our 911 emergency call center. It all re-emphasizes the need for disaster recovery planning and business process continuation, which I've written about in the past. If you find yourself responsible for applications, make sure you establish a DRP to ensure they work in these unexpected situations. It takes time to plan it properly and review it periodically. If someone won't give you the time to do so or make that investment, just make sure they tell you so in writing. As a professional, we're responsible for educating and giving decision makers options.

All the best,

Luke Chung
President (and new Microsoft MVP)

P.S. Please our Facebook page to receive the latest information about our product releases, tips, and other news related to helping you be more productive.

Contents

• Total Access Analyzer 2010 Update and Demo Version
• New Version of Total Access Analyzer for Microsoft Access 2007 and 2003
• FMS President Luke Chung is a Microsoft MVP
• Microsoft Access Application Standards
• Creating Solutions with Windows Azure and SQL Azure
• Fairfax County wins an Award for the Most Advanced County for Providing Government Services with Technology

Total Access Analyzer 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 is available for existing owners with several enhancements.

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

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

FMS is pleased to provide a major update to Total Access Analyzer for Microsoft Access 2007 and 2003. Total Access Analyzer is the world's most popular Access product. Total Access Analyzer X.9 builds on its heritage of helping Access enthusiasts create better Access solutions with a wide range of new features. We've added many enhancements based on our experiences, the recommendations of our customers, and in conjunction with our release of the MS Access 2010 version:

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 a premium support subscription receive the upgrade for free. Other existing customers can upgrade for a nominal fee.

FMS President Luke Chung is a Microsoft MVP

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!

Microsoft Access Application Standards

Developers often ask us about the standards that we implement for our Microsoft Access applications. Below is a list of several of the fundamentals for ensuring a solid foundation for professional Access solutions:

1. Establish a backup, compact and repair, and disaster recovery plan. We use our Total Visual Agent program to schedule and automate the daily database chores.
2. Putting in a comprehensive and global VBA error handling structure so crashes are documented with the procedure call stack and we don't have to rely on a user's recollections. As part of the error handling, we also always add line numbers to the code we deliver so we can pinpoint exactly where a crash occurs. We use the Code Delivery feature of Total Visual CodeTools to do this.
3. Split Database Design. Without this, it's nearly impossible to enhance the database while others are changing the data.
4. Cleaning up VBA code. From code indentations to applying our variable naming conventions along with prefixes for global vs. module vs. procedure, and constants vs. parameters vs. regular variable names. We use the Code Cleanup feature of Total Visual CodeTools to do this. Personally, without cleaning it up to our standards, I find it nearly impossible to get any work done while I'm struggling with someone else's convention.
5. Setting up a development, testing and deployment process so changes can be implemented safely and efficiently. Lots of issues around this but having a fast, stable way to manage changes and how people launch the Access application is critical. We use our Total Access Startup program to help with this.
6. After these structures are in place, we're ready to run Total Access Analyzer against the database to address the issues it finds wrong and could be improved in the application.

For additional details, including Luke Chung's PowerPoint presentation at the Portland Access User Group conference in May, read his paper Taking Over Legacy Microsoft Access Database Applications.

Creating Solutions with Windows Azure and SQL Azure

Microsoft continues to enhance Windows Azure with SQL Azure to provide enterprise hosting of websites and SQL Server databases in the cloud. We've created a variety of applications on the Azure platform which has significantly simplified the development and deployment of Visual Studio .NET, SQL Server, and even Access applications connected to SQL Server databases.

Microsoft is currently offering a free 90 day trial for you to check it out. Contact us if you're interested in assistance from our Professional Solutions Group.

Fairfax County wins an Award for the Most Advanced County for Providing Government Services with Technology

FMS President, Luke Chung, serves on the Fairfax County IT Policy Advisory Committee representing the School Board. Fairfax County just won an award for being the most advanced county of its size with using technology to provide government services. Technology offers huge opportunities to improve quality, transparency, education, and save lives while reducing costs. It's a definite competitive edge for county residents and businesses. Read more about it in this article from  Government Technology.

Over the years, we've provided custom software development services for a wide range of government agencies for education, healthcare, humanitarian relief logistics, law enforcement, municipal services like trash pickup and snow removal, and national security.

Thank you for your continued support!

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