Hello from Denmark (1 Viewer)

Tessa

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Hello everyone.

I am 59 years old Dane who has been working as a software developer for more than 35 years. Professionally I have been programming mostly in c, c++ and c#. About 25 years ago I used Access a lot but got fed up with it because of some crashed unrecoverable databases. Now I have started using Access again for some private projects. Except for programming in VBA I now love using it, except for a few minor details. Hopefully somebody here on Access World can help me get rid of these details.
I must say though that I am surprised to see that the VBA environment looks exactly as it did 25 years ago as does the query designer. Not much progress there.
I cannot claim to be a seasoned VBA programmer or an Acces sexpert but hopefully I can learn a lot from you guys and dolls in here.

Chears.
 

pbaldy

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Welcome to AWF! Typo, or...: "an Acces sexpert" :p
 

Tessa

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Your choice:)
My best typo so far. That's why I prefer writing programs.
I guess you had quite a laugh when you read it, I had when I read your reply.
 

The_Doc_Man

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Don't worry, we've ALL had Freudian slips here. And you DO know about experts? If you say it right, you realize that an exspurt is just a former drip under pressure.

As to why Access VBA hasn't changed that much? The A number 1 rule of engineering: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Besides, if you think about upgrade paths, think about how much FUN it would be to try to do an upgrade to a new version of Access only to find that the VBA code no longer works because it got changed to C++A (... for Applications). And remember that ALL of MS Office uses VBA so that any of Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, and Powerpoint can create application objects using the other utilities as data sources and data sinks.
 

Tessa

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I can live with VBA, it's only that I prefer to do OOP. My main complaints about the language VBA is:
  1. I find the use of Nothing, Empty, Is Missing and Null somehow confusing. I have sometimes difficulties remembering which one to use.
  2. I cannot count the number of times where I have forgotten the Set keyword when assigning values to Object variables.
  3. Also I find it annoying that the syntax of calling a function changes when you use the return value (parenthesis and not parenthesis)
Perhaps it is only a question of having written enough VBA code then these issues disappears.

About the Query Editor.
  • If you write a complex query where you have to switch to SQL View because the designer cannot handle the SQL, then when you save the query and reopens it all your new lines and indentations have disappeared.
  • There is no syntax high lightning in SQL View.
  • It is to my knowledge not possible to insert comments in the SQL

About the VBA editor:
  • It would be very very nice if the current line in the Code Window were somehow highlighted. I often have difficulties finding the tiny little blinking cursor.
  • In other programming editors apparently there is a convention that Ctrl-W selects the word under the cursor so it is easy for you to either copy or cut to the clipboard. That would be a nice feature.
  • In other editors Ctrl-X cuts all of the current line to the clipboard for you to insert it somewhere else. I do not know about you but I very often need to move a line of code a few lines up or a few lines down.
These are my main complaints and I really do not understand why Microsoft hasn't implemented any improvements in 25 years. If the features in the editor lists above were implemented it would not break any existing code. To some extent I agree with you: if it works then don't change it.

Enough about complaints. I really love Access. It is very easy to use and it is fairly easy to implement rather complex applications with not much effort. Thumbs up for Microsoft for that.

PS: I have totally eliminated my issues with SQL View in the Query Designer. I have switched to use SQL Server as my back end database and only use Access as my front end. That works smoothly. Not only do I get a much more powerful SQL editor (with, among other things, syntax high lightning and preserving of new lines and indentation in my source code) but I also get a much more powerful SQL Language.
By the way. I have written quite a few SQL Queries in my time. I cannot claim to be an sexpert or a wizard but I do have quite some experience. My message is: If anybody has questions about SQL please feel free to post me a question. Perhaps I can answer it, if not, perhaps I might be able to find the answer, and if I can't then ask a real expert.

PPS: I am considering changing my user name to Sexpert.:)
 

The_Doc_Man

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It would be very very nice if the current line in the Code Window were somehow highlighted.

When single-stepping, it is. At least on my system.

I have used ctrl/X to cut/paste whole lines before. It is a matter of just selecting them first.

However, can't fault you at all for switching to an SQL Server as a BE processor.
 

Tessa

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Congratulations being a grandpa. How old are the kids?
There are some indications that your wife loves you.
My ex wife does not love me, can't blame her though:)

What have you been doing your whole life? Programming or is it just a hobby?
 

Galaxiom

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My great great great grandfather was born in a little village near Haderslev. He left for Australia just before he would have been conscripted into the Prussian army.
 

The_Doc_Man

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Tessa - the grands are 11, 12, and 21. The 11-year is in Florida, the other two are near me in Metairie (suburban New Orleans).

What have you been doing your whole life? Programming or is it just a hobby?

The usual joke is "Have you done this your whole life? Not yet..."

Started formal training as a chemist in 1965, learned elementary programming in 1968 (so yes, 50 years ago), eight years later got a PhD in Analytical Chemistry (instrumentation specialist as opposed to wet-chemistry analysis.) The instrumentation included linking a computer to the experiment to monitor fast reactions in real-time. A job with the oil-and-gas industry got me going into applied methods of computing to monitor processes (still in real-time).

A down-turn in the oil-and-gas industry in south Louisiana plus a family long-term illness made me change directions because all the jobs moved to Houston but I could not follow them. I was my mother's sole care-giver and she wasn't easily mobile. So I became a programmer of advanced navigation software.

When Mom finally died, I was free to move but found a job in New Orleans with a government services contractor and ended up being a U.S. Navy contracted system administrator. The system I managed was THE system that mobilized or demobilized the U.S. Navy Reserve and otherwise did sensitive personnel records management. I retired after 28 1/2 years on that job. Learned a LOT about computer security topics.

Needless to say, between real-time process monitoring and control, navigation software, and systems administration, I had a lot of programming to do. I learned "durability" - the fine art of creating stable software. Many of my Navy programs ran for 25+ years without failure. The systems I managed had uptime ratios in the 99.95% level for 24-by-7 availability. My college programs having to do with plotter device-drivers ran for 10-12 years after I left grad school and died only when the college upgraded the platform to something on which the code wouldn't run. My real-time systems lasted long enough (in several foreign countries) for the host systems to become obsolete badly enough to have to be replaced. Something like 15 years before the technology wore out.

I got into Access because I worked at a Navy Enterprise Data Center and we used a couple of database-oriented apps to track security compliance. When you have something like 80+ projects and 1400+ servers and need to write comprehensive security status reports, nothing beats Access for those quick summaries as well as the ability to generate ad-hoc reports on specific system patch levels. I had done other DBs for the Navy, not always in Access, but the last one was the Magnum Opus, complete with full Office integration for spreadsheets, word documents, and e-mail transmission - sometimes even using secure methods.

Now I'm the one who is worn out. But it was one helluva ride.
 

Tessa

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The usual joke is "Have you done this your whole life? Not yet..."

What is wrong with that? People say all the time all the time.

I will post a longer reply to your fine reply later. I am a little short of time right now.
 

Tessa

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I actually considered studying chemistry way back in the early eighties but not for a good reason. I knew I wanted to be an engineer but I did not know what kind of engineer. Chemistry was one possibility, electronics the other.
I considered chemistry because it was the subject of study with most female students. I chose electronics but also for a bad reason. In high school I found it difficult to wrap my mind around voltage and currents and the like, so
I thought that if I learned more about it, I would begin to understand it. Bad choice. One day we were doing an assignment, we had to explain why an electronic diagram behaved like an ideal inductor, I realized that I had to do
something else with my life. The guys that understood the ins and outs of electronics came up with the explanation in 30 seconds without the use of paper and pencil. I had to do two pages of math with integrals and you name it resulting in a formula proving exactly what the teachers wanted us to prove.

I had some really great years at that university though and "met" the second love of my life. Math.

I often wonder how chemists have discovered all the things we know about chemistry today. I mean, what an abstract world to jump into. I remember that I once read that the property that regulates how sweet a substance is, is an angle between two bonds (not sure if bond is the right word for it). How on earth do you guys manage to discover things like that.

One of my student fellows from high school, John, is today an esteemed professor in chemistry.

Speaking about John. In the late seventies, 13 was the highest grade one could obtain in Denmark. It was so rare, that if somebody got a 13 at/for? their examination, the newspapers wrote about it. It was even more rare to get a 13 as your mark for the year. Of course John got a 13 as his mark for the year in chemistry and it was well deserved. He was good.

I have to tell you a little story from my time at high school. I actually got as famous as John did because but not for a good reason. I managed to get a 03 score, the second lowest grade in those days, as my mark for the year in the subject of history. I tell you, 03 as grade for the year, was even more rare than 13 was. Students at the high school were divided into two groups. One group thought that John's grade was the most impressing, the other group favored my 03. I had my days of fame back then.

A new how on earth question. How on earth have you managed to write such stable software? I have always claimed that when the complexity of a piece of software exceeds a certain level it is impossible to avoid errors. It seems to me
though that you have managed to do so. Are you some sort of genius? Don't be humble when you answer.

That's it for now.
 

Tessa

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Hmmmm. I don't know what has happened. A week ago or so I wrote a long reply to you. Yesterday I wondered why I had not heard from you so I checked my posts on Access World, and it turns out
that I have not sent you a reply on your last post. I wrote the answer in another editor than that on Access World and copied and pasted the text to Access World and deleted the original file.
I must have forgotten to press the Send button. Sorry about that.

So. You are a chemist. I have always regarded chemists as wizards. I cannot get my head around how on earth you guys discover all these things about those little tiny things. I remember that I once read that the
property that decides how sweet a substance is, is the angle between two bonds (is that what it is called in english?). I mean 1) how do you detect a bond, 2) once detected, how on earth do you estimate the angle between two of them?

One of my classmates, John, from high school is today an esteemed professor in chemistry. When I went to high school the highest mark one could get was 13. I was so rare to get a mark of 13 at examination that the newspapers
wrote about it if it happened. If you got a 13 as your mark for the year it was in the news on TV. Of course John got a 13 as his mark of the year in chemistry and it was well deserved. He was/is good.

Speeking about high school. Back then students at my high school were divided into two groups. One group thought that John's 13 was the most impressing mark ever obtained, the other group thought that one of my marks for the year
was the most impressing. My mark though was not considered for a good reason. In those days the second lowest mark you could obtain was 03. It was almost as rare as 13. I got a 03 as my mark for the YEAR in the subject of history
and it was well deserved. It required quite some effort to be scored that low :) and disappointing that they did not write about my mark in the newspapers.

I actually considered studying chemistry back in the early eighties. But not for a good reason. I didn't know what subject of study I should choose at university and therefore I spent a year working as a bricklayer
trying to find out about what to do with the rest of my life. After a year of consideration I ended up with two subjects of study. Chemistry and Electronics but both of them were considered for a bad reason.
I considered Chemistry because it was the subject of study with most female students. I considered electronics because I had some difficulties understanding Ohm and Ampere and stuff like that in high school, so I thought
that if I studied it further I would begin to understand. I ended up choosing electronics, don't remember why. Bad choice. The first couple of years at university were fine. The assignments in electronics we got were pure math,
no need for a deeper understanding of the circuits we did calculations on. But then life began to be troublesome. The circuits we worked with started to be more complicated and in order for us to be able to do calculations on them
we started to leave out of account bits and pieces of the circuit because the current anyway through these parts were neglectable. I thought that was a mess. I mean, if it was a part of the circuit it should also be a part of the
the calculation. I simply couldn't get my head around just throwing things away. Finally one day I realized I had to do something else with my life than electronics. We had an assignment where we should explain why a circuit had
the same properties as an ideal inductor. It took the guys with a deeper understanding of electronics about 30 seconds to explain why the circuit in fact acted as wanted. I had to do 2 pages of math ending up with a formula showing
it but with no deeper understanding what so ever. That day turned out to be my last day at that university. I had some great years there and met the second love of my life (is that possible?). Math.

I can understand from reading your post that you are a quality guy. I have always claimed that it is impossible to write software without errors no matter how thoroughly you have tested it. It seems to me though
that you have been capable of doing that. Many plaudits for that from Denmark. I have actually once my self written a program i C, that behaved exactly as wanted and was 100% error free according to the requirements specification.
I had a colleague that needed to test how a certain thing behaved when a null-pointer exception happened in an application, so he asked me if I could write a program that caused such a null-pointer exception. Need I to say
that that was an easy one?

Enough from cold Denmark. I apologize for linguistic errors. Usually I have my eldest daughter, studying english, read my posts if they are important, but she is doing her final project at the moment at university
so I wouldn't disturb asking her to proofread.

One final thing. Are you familiar with regular expressions and if so, are you also a regular expression wizard?
 

Tessa

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Hmmm. I am trying to reply to a post from The_Doc_Man but my reply does not show up in the thread neither in my list of posts.
 

Tessa

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Things are a bit tricky right now. I am trying to post a reply to you. Are you receiving this post?
 

The_Doc_Man

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Tessa, I do watch this section of the forum all of the time, but I didn't see any replies until this morning. I suspect Colin's comments regarding the need for a moderator's approval are probably relevant to why I didn't see anything. The forum's software will get you like that sometimes.

To answer your question about stability:

One secret to durable code is the combination of FOCUS and TESTING. When you write a module, assure that it does ONE thing but does it as well as possible. Focus on what you want it to do - and what you don't want done. Further, when you design the module, design the way to test it before you write the code.

First reason: Knowing how it will be tested makes you aware of reasons the test would fail, so you catch yourself in the coding phase making corrections before you ever actually run the test.

Second reason: Actually testing your code will verify that you correctly anticipated the pitfalls.

The next secret is DIVIDE AND CONQUER. By modularizing what you do, you can build layers and become like Shrek the Ogre. (From the movie... "Orges are like onions; we have layers." Plaintive voice from a donkey: "I like parfait.")

It is a matter of attention to detail and good initial planning to identify necessary steps. That's all it takes to make durable code. Particularly if you want to build a "tool box" (which I did for the Navy), you just assure that you build your tools with that focus in mind so that your modules don't have side-effects.

Quite often, when code fails, it was either trying to do too much at once in a given layer OR the testing didn't check for something because you didn't treat testing as an equally important phase as coding.

Some people here take issue with some of my viewpoints on code aftermath and cleanup, but I have developed a habit of assuring that I have left no loose ends when I exit any subroutine. You'll see that from time to time in the main forums.

Don't worry about your English. I have no trouble understanding it.
 

Tessa

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isladogs, thank you very much for the explanation about my posts.
Before I had a chance to read your post I actually found the error in my regular expression but thanks anyway for the tip. I can tip you back. I'm currently working on a project where I use quite a lot of REs, and in my search for documentation and tutorials about REs I came across a tool called PowerGREP which I have downloaded and currently are evaluating. Anybody struggling with REs should have a look at this tool.
 

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