Microsoft Access Database Programmer Anaheim CA

Microsoft Access Programmer Information

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The following material is shared here to indicate our commitment to professional Microsoft Access programmer services in the Anaheim CA area. Access programming for business is highly complex and requires dedication and skill to create a high quality database application. We wrote the book on Microsoft Access prgramming, so you know you will get the best possible Access database solution for your business.

Working with Variables

You must consider many issues when creating VBA variables. The way that you declare a variable determines its scope, its lifetime, and more. The following topics will help you better understand declaring variables in VBA.

Declaring Variables

There are several ways to declare variables in VBA. For example, you could simply declare x=10. With this method of variable declaration, you really aren't declaring your variables at all; you're essentially declaring them as you use them. This method is quite dangerous. It lends itself to typos and other problems. If you follow the practice recommended previously—of always using the Option Explicit statement—Access will not allow you to declare variables in this manner.

You could also type Dim intCounter; the Dim statement declares the variable. The only problem with this method is that you haven't declared the type of the variable to the compiler, so it's declared as a variant variable.

Another common mistake is declaring multiple variables on the same line, as in this example:

Dim intCounter, intAge, intWeight As Integer

In this line, only the last variable is explicitly declared as an integer variable. The other variables are implicitly declared as variants. If you're going to declare multiple variables on one line, make sure each variable is specifically declared, as in the following example:

Dim intCounter As Integer, intAge As Integer, intWeight As Integer

The most efficient and bug-proof way to declare your variables is to strong-type them to the compiler and declare only one variable per line of code, as in this example:

Dim intCounter As Integer

Dim strName As String

As you can see, strong-typing declares the name of the variable as well as the type of data it can contain. This type of declaration enables the compiler to catch errors, such as storing a string in an integer variable, before your program runs. If implemented properly, this method can also reduce the resources needed to run your programs by selecting the smallest practical data type for each variable.

NOTE

You should try to avoid using variants whenever possible. Besides requiring a significant amount of storage space, variants are also slow because they must be resolved by the compiler at runtime. However, certain situations warrant using a variant. One example is when you want the variable to contain different types of data at different times. Another case occurs when you want to be able to differentiate between an empty variable (one that hasn't been initialized) and a variable that has a zero or a zero-length string. Also, variant variables are the only type of variable that can hold the special value of Null. Empty and Null values are covered in Chapter 13, "Advanced VBA Techniques."

Access Programmer for Anaheim CA Attribution

This material originally appeared in Alison Balter's book Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2007 Development. Reprinted here by author's permission.

When you need a Microsoft Access programmer for your Anaheim CA business, call MS Access Solutions at (323) 285-0939. We have over 25 years experience in Microsoft Access programmer solutions. We create Access database applications for all sectors, consisting of hospitals, government agencies, the U.S. military, universities, agriculture, workers services, and insurance provider. We can take care of the most advanced as well as complicated Access and SQL Server database programming for your business as well as smaller projects, like fixing damaged Access database forms, MS Access reports, Access macros, and VBA code.

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