3 addins that have significantly improved my development (1 Viewer)

This is just a quick post to show the tools that have helped me in my quest to improve my Access skills. I have nothing to gain by any of you following this advice, as I'm not affiliated with any of the companies, just a happy user, looking to give back to the forum that's helped me along the way. I've listed these from least to most expensive.

1. RubberDuck VBE AddIn (Free)
2. Ivercy Source Code Control (99 euros)
3. FMS Ultimate Suite (not cheap, but worth it)

#1 - the Rubber Duck add in. I love the Project Explorer, so much easier to view a complicated application. It also has things like auto indentation, code review, and some refactoring tools. And a built-in To Do list. Well worth the price (FREE). Oh, even Unit Testing...This is a very active open source project on GitHub, that just keeps improving.

#2 - Ivercy SCC -I never knew what I was missing without having source code control. Now I can test out some new code without fear of breaking something (I can easily revert to the way it was, even check the differences between my changes, and whats in the repository). I use this with SourceGear Vault, which is free for a single user.

#2a - SourceGear Vault - Pretty amazing, seems like a well-built version control system (But what do I know, never used another). Not complicated, but plenty of options for me. I love the diff and merge tools, the task list which tracks my ideas of future features, bugs, etc.


#3 - FMS Ultimate suite- Where do I start with this...it's excellent. Honestly, I've had it over a year, and have yet to use it to it's fullest extent. The Source Code is very good and has become almost a framework I code against. I just drop the modules I need into the application I'm working in. The Detective add-in is very handy for applications I created before I had #2 above. The analyzer add-in will show you any issues with your code and offer performance tips. I use the CodeTools VBE add-in all the time to help write easier, better code. I still haven't had time to dig into the custom components.

I use the Total Access Startup to auto-update local User FE's after I created a new version. Worth every penny if you have the budget for it.

Disclaimer--These are simply things I've looked for to help me in my own development. I hope they help someone else as well.

I love:

SmartIndentor: free, does what it says, indents code according to options you can set. Sounds like Rubber duck does this too, so I may have to check that out.

MZ Tools: lots of features, my favorites/most used are code templates and adding customizable error handlers to subs/functions. I've tried the new version, which has a moderate cost, and frankly prefer the older version, which was free (but no longer available). That could be an old dog/new trick issue, as the new version has a lot of new features.

Not a development tool per se, but I also like Snagit for grabbing screen shots and being able to add to them (arrows, boxes, highlight, etc). Full disclosure, I got it free as an MVP, not sure what it costs.

I agree that MZ Tools is excellent - v3 was free but v8 has to be purchased though it has more features. Like Paul I actually prefer the older & simpler version

VTools - free & excellent - especially the deep search feature

Not tried Ivercy but if you have A2010 or earlier, source code control is available though not automatically installed

Rubberduck - I tried to use this several times but it repeatedly crashed Access & from comments I've read online, many other people have had the same problems.

I used to use SnagIt but the snipping tool supplied with Windows 10 is very good.
Its just been updated to Snip & Sketch in the latest Windows update.
Both shopping tools can do freeform snips as well as annotation, highlighting etc. You can also use a delay to show dropdown menus etc

The advantage of SnagIt is that it can copy right-click menus. I haven't seen a free tool that can do that.

Both of the free Windows tools can do that.
Set a delay of up to 5 seconds, show the right click and snip e.g.

The first versions of Rubberduck did crash a few times on me. I haven't had that problem in a long time, so I think it's stable now.

Snaggit certainly does help. I have that as well.

Also, I forgot Notepad++ (Also free). You can set the language up to VB, and it reads pretty well. I use this to copy a chunk of code out. Sometimes its very handy for understanding where to put a parathesis, or closing quotes. I use Notepad++ more for other things (excel formulas, etc.)

isladogs said:

Both of the free Windows tools can do that.
Set a delay of up to 5 seconds, show the right click and snip....

Click to expand...

Hi Colin,

Thanks for your comments here about the "Snipping Tool". Years ago I used snagit, can't remember why I stopped, maybe they started charging for it? Don't know. It is/was very good. I particularly like the torn paper borders.

I am/was currently using the one provided by screen-o-matic, this has the advantage of being able to upload directly to their website, a feature I might take advantage of from time to time.

But now I've seen how good the snipping tool is, I'm pretty sure that's going to be top of my list for screen grabs... Thanks Again!

I also used to use SnagIt but the built-in Windows snipping tool became my preferred option a couple of years ago. It's been all I've used since then.

The latest Windows update has further improved it by adding extra options to the annotation tools. It may have been the only good thing about the flawed 1809 update which I removed after two days

EDIT: Some additional free apps / addins that I use all the time
ASAP Utilities for Excel - huge feature set
SharpKeys - excellent utility if you ever need to remap the keyboard / disable key combinations
WinMerge - free utility that works well for source code control
Excel PowerQuery - best addin ever for Excel 2010/2013 - now built into Excel 2016/365
MS SQL Server Express - it does everything I need from SQL Server at no cost