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For all you MS Access developers with those shelved projects gathering dust, waiting for the day when you have the time and patience to tackle them... let me share a little story. ChatGPT now has a custom interface called "Code CoPilot." To test it, I asked if it could suggest any utility ideas I might build in my spare time. It gave me a list, and among the suggestions, Chatty proposed an import routine for Excel.
Now, I was working on something similar back in 2017. There was a thread about it here: "Joining large tables together"
Video here:
Importing large CSV files into MS Access - Nifty Access
I didn't go directly for importing Excel because that limits you to Excel. If you export from your spreadsheet into CSV (comma-separated value) files, then it will work with anything as long as you can convert it to CSV. I shelved that project because, frankly, I was getting frustrated with it; every time I made progress, another setback dug itself in.
However, Chatty bashed out some excellent-looking code (which I still have to check and verify). Looking back through my notes on this large CSV import routine, I realized that if I presented my code to Chatty, it might be able to incorporate it into its own code. Chatty checked through my code, extracted useful bits, and made a new block of code that looks very interesting.
They say two heads are better than one, and we've got one biological head and one digital head. I think the combination is working well. We still haven't perfected the utility, but Chatty definitely takes the frustration out of development, though it does add a bit of frustration back in when it ignores my instructions!
So, going back to your shelved projects—if you've got one that gives you an enormous headache and you shoved it on a dusty shelf in a dusty corner—it might be time to ask Chatty what it thinks about your project. Have a conversation with Chatty and see if you can iron out the bugs and get it working...
Now, I was working on something similar back in 2017. There was a thread about it here: "Joining large tables together"
Video here:
Importing large CSV files into MS Access - Nifty Access
I didn't go directly for importing Excel because that limits you to Excel. If you export from your spreadsheet into CSV (comma-separated value) files, then it will work with anything as long as you can convert it to CSV. I shelved that project because, frankly, I was getting frustrated with it; every time I made progress, another setback dug itself in.
However, Chatty bashed out some excellent-looking code (which I still have to check and verify). Looking back through my notes on this large CSV import routine, I realized that if I presented my code to Chatty, it might be able to incorporate it into its own code. Chatty checked through my code, extracted useful bits, and made a new block of code that looks very interesting.
They say two heads are better than one, and we've got one biological head and one digital head. I think the combination is working well. We still haven't perfected the utility, but Chatty definitely takes the frustration out of development, though it does add a bit of frustration back in when it ignores my instructions!
So, going back to your shelved projects—if you've got one that gives you an enormous headache and you shoved it on a dusty shelf in a dusty corner—it might be time to ask Chatty what it thinks about your project. Have a conversation with Chatty and see if you can iron out the bugs and get it working...