Tricks of the Microsoft Office Gurus

As you learned in Chapter 11, "Maximizing Office with VBA Macros," a macro is a series of statements packaged as a procedure or function. In an Access database, you can also create a second type of macro that's a series of actionssuch as opening a form, applying a filter, and displaying a messagepackaged as a single database object. In this case, when the user runs the macro, Access executes each of the defined actions in the order specified within the macro.

You can use macros to automate tasks by building lists of actions that occur in response to events, such as a command button being clicked. You build the list in the order you want these actions to occur. The list can cover all the features available through the program's menus, as well as some that aren't. By using macros, you can automate the process of importing and exporting data, create buttons that perform complex queries, and create other useful functions.

Why not use VBA, instead? Actually, if you're comfortable with VBA, you should skip this chapter and just do all your coding in the VBA language. That's because there's nothing an Access macro can do that VBA can't do at least as well, and usually with more power and flexibility. However, if you're not familiar with VBA, you'll love Access macros because they require no programming skill, and building them isn't much harder than building a table or query.

In this chapter, you learn how to create simple and complex macros, work with existing macros, associate macros with various events, and troubleshoot your macros.

IN THIS CHAPTER