Computer Learning Zone

00:23:47

Returning Multiple Values from Microsoft Access VBA...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/10/08

Need one VBA routine to retrieve several related pieces of information, such as a customer's address, city, state, ZIP code, and country? This episode explores a clean Access VBA pattern for doing exactly that without scattering repeated DLookup code throughout your database.Using a Boolean function result for success or failure and ByRef parameters for the additional values, you can keep related lookup logic in one reusable place. The calling code stays readable, and it is easy to tell whether

en-us

00:03:20

Microsoft Access Forms Quiz: What Happens When You...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/10/07

Test your Microsoft Access form knowledge with five beginner-friendly questions about labels, bound forms, Form View, sensitive fields, and continuous forms.One key issue is what happens after you edit a record and see the pencil icon. In most bound Access forms, moving to another record commits the change to the underlying table, so users can accidentally save an edit without pressing Ctrl+S.This quick quiz also clears up common form-design misunderstandings, including why changing a label does not

en-us

00:11:23

Microsoft Access Navigation Forms for a Cleaner...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/10/06

When staff open an Access database and see a wall of tables, queries, forms, and reports, it is easy for them to get lost or open something they should leave alone. A Navigation Form provides a simple front door, giving users one clear place to start and an easier way to reach the tools they actually need.This episode covers Access's built-in Navigation Forms, including the available tab layouts, drag-and-drop organization, and why they are a practical no-code option for beginner and

en-us

00:04:51

Make Microsoft Access Property Sheet Text Larger and...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/10/06

Small property sheet text can make form and report design in Microsoft Access unnecessarily difficult, especially on high-resolution displays or when your eyes need a little extra help. This episode covers Access's newer option for increasing the Property Sheet font size so design settings are easier to read.We also discuss the difference between zooming forms in Form View and the still-missing zoom support in Design View. For those times when precise control placement is hard to see, Richard

en-us

00:03:37

Microsoft Access Macro Quiz: Form Properties and...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/10/03

Test your Microsoft Access knowledge with five quick questions about form properties and macros. This advanced quiz covers control sizing, focus events, fonts, section colors, and the SetValue action.Learn why Access uses twips for control dimensions, why Got Focus and Lost Focus work well for temporary text box resizing, and why common fonts are safer when databases move between computers.The quiz also clears up a common macro mistake: property sheets may display friendly text such as

en-us

00:04:07

Microsoft Access VBA Combo Box Validation...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/10/02

Test your Microsoft Access VBA knowledge with five practical questions about combo boxes, validation, and calculating values from selected records.

en-us

00:03:12

Microsoft Access SQL Quiz: What SELECT Asterisk and...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/30

Test your Microsoft Access SQL knowledge with five quick questions about the building blocks of SELECT queries. The focus includes what SELECT * means, how WHERE filters records, and why ORDER BY affects row sorting rather than the order of returned columns.You will also look at a common combo box Row Source detail: the fields listed after SELECT determine the column sequence. Plus, learn when table-name prefixes and square brackets can be safely removed to make a simple query easier to read.A short

en-us

00:03:56

Microsoft Access Select Queries: Editing Results and...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/26

Test your Microsoft Access query knowledge with five beginner-friendly questions about select queries. Explore what select queries do, how to filter records without displaying sensitive values, and how sort order works in the query design grid.You'll also learn an important real-world reminder: editing an editable value in a select query changes the underlying table record, not just a temporary result. That can be convenient, but it also means you are working with live data.The quiz also covers

en-us

00:04:20

Microsoft Access VBA Quiz: Private Procedures and...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/24

Test your Microsoft Access VBA knowledge with five quick questions about private procedures, procedure parameters, Select Case statements, ElseIf chains, and operation-specific validation.Learn why a Private Sub stays local to its form module, how arguments such as "Add" are passed into a procedure, and why Select Case can make a calculator-style routine easier to read and maintain.The quiz also covers a common control-flow detail: ElseIf stops checking later conditions after a match,

en-us

00:14:30

Open the Active Form's VBA Module from the Access...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/23

When an Access form is already open, filtered, and positioned on the record you need, switching views just to reach its VBA code can be an annoying interruption. This episode covers a small developer customization that adds a Quick Access Toolbar button for opening the code module behind the form currently in use.Using Screen.ActiveForm, a public VBA function can identify the active form and open its corresponding Form_ module. A simple RunCode macro provides the bridge needed to place that function

en-us

00:03:21

Microsoft Access Control Text Colors and RGB Quiz

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/21

Test your Microsoft Access control formatting knowledge with a quick quiz on text colors, RGB expressions, and macro-driven property changes.Learn the difference between ForeColor and BackColor, why RGB(0, 0, 255) produces blue, and how RGB expressions help Access assign usable numeric color values. It also covers changing FontSize with a macro and a common snag when pasting hexadecimal color-picker codes like #FF0000 into a SetValue action.A useful refresher for anyone building Access forms that

en-us

00:03:47

Microsoft Access Relationships Quiz: Deleting...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/20

Test your Microsoft Access relationship knowledge with five questions about parent and child tables, subdatasheets, orphaned records, and referential integrity.Find out what happens when you try to delete a customer who still has related contact records, why Access normally blocks that deletion, and when cascade deletes can change the outcome. It is a useful reminder that deleting a parent record without considering its children can create data problems fast.The quiz also covers the requirements for

en-us

00:03:47

Microsoft Access Relationships and Referential...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/20

Test your Microsoft Access relationship skills with five expert-level questions about parent and child tables, one-to-many relationships, subdatasheets, orphaned records, and referential integrity.Find out what happens when you try to delete a customer who still has related contacts, why Access blocks deletions in a properly enforced relationship, and when cascade deletes can change the outcome. It is a useful refresher for avoiding broken customer and contact records.The quiz also covers the

en-us

00:27:40

Let Users Choose Continuous Form Columns in Microsoft...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/18

Continuous forms give you much more design control than a datasheet, but hiding a field can leave awkward blank gaps in every row. This episode looks at a practical VBA pattern for letting users choose which fields they want to see while keeping the remaining controls neatly aligned.Learn how checkbox-based field selectors can show or hide both detail controls and their matching labels, then reposition the visible fields using their Left positions and actual widths. The result is a compact,

en-us

00:11:22

Microsoft Access VBA Error 9: Fixing Subscript Out of...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/16

Run-time error 9, "Subscript out of range," usually means VBA is trying to access something that does not exist. Often it is an array position outside its valid range, but it can also involve missing collection items or keys.This episode explains what a subscript is, why indexes can be too high or too low, and why zero-based arrays created with VBA's Array function are a common source of off-by-one mistakes. Three values might sound like positions 1 through 3, but VBA may actually

en-us

00:16:58

Highlight Search Matches Inside Microsoft Access Text...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/13

Conditional formatting can flag an entire field, but that is not much help when a long notes box contains several paragraphs. In this episode, Richard Rost shows how to highlight every occurrence of a search word or phrase inside a Microsoft Access text box without changing the original table data.The discussion uses VBA, rich text controls, HTML-style formatting tags, and the Replace function to create a separate display field with highlighted matches. It also covers why quote handling matters, how

en-us

00:46:36

Microsoft Access or Web App? Choosing the Right Path...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/09/08

Do you really need to replace a working Microsoft Access application just because remote employees, mobile devices, or web access are entering the picture? Often, the answer is no. The important question is not whether Access is old, but what business problem actually needs to be solved.This episode separates the Access front end from the database backend and explains why they do not have to be replaced together. A business can move shared data to SQL Server, keep familiar Access forms, reports,

en-us

00:23:54

Understanding BOF and EOF in Microsoft Access Recordsets

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/08/31

BOF and EOF are easy to memorize in Access VBA, but understanding what they mean can save you from some very confusing recordset behavior. This episode explains why EOF alone does not prove a query returned no records, especially after code has moved past the last row.Learn how DAO recordsets track a current record, what happens when you use MoveNext or MovePrevious, and why BOF and EOF are boundary positions rather than actual records. The key empty-recordset test, rs.BOF And rs.EOF, makes much

en-us

00:31:30

Microsoft Office Installation Problems: Common Causes...

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/08/19

Microsoft Office installation failures can be frustrating, especially when the error message offers little more than "something went wrong." This episode covers the common reasons Word, Excel, Access, and Microsoft 365 may refuse to install.Learn why leftover files from older Office versions, pending Windows updates, antivirus interference, low disk space, installer issues, and 32-bit versus 64-bit conflicts can stop an installation in its tracks. Access users in particular can run into

en-us

00:23:33

Calculating Overlapping Date Ranges in Microsoft Access

Computer Learning Zone ·

2026/08/05

Need to know how many calendar days two date ranges have in common? This episode covers a simple, reusable VBA approach for Microsoft Access that works whether ranges partially overlap, one contains the other, or they do not overlap at all.The key is to identify the later start date and earlier end date, then handle the important no-overlap check before calculating the result. Richard also discusses the often-missed difference between inclusive dates and date ranges where the ending day is not

en-us

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

Lead With AI

Tamara Nall

Manufacturing Matters

Tech B2B

The Good Tech Companies

HackerNoon

The Vergecast

The Verge

Computer America

Ben Crossman