Microsoft Access Programmer Charleston, West Virginia

Using Microsoft Access Modules - For Programmers

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The material below originally appeared in Alison Balter's book Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2007 Development and is reprinted here with the author's permission. There may be references to "Figures" or "Chapters" that are not reprintable and are not used on this page

What Are Access Class Modules, Standard Modules, Form Modules, And Report Modules?

VBA code is written in units called subroutines and functions that are stored in modules. Microsoft Access modules are either Standard modules or Class modules. Standard modules are created by clicking to select the Database Tools tab and then selecting the Visual Basic button from the Macro group. Access takes you to the Access Visual Basic Editor (VBE). Finally, select Insert, Module from the VBE menu. Class modules can be standalone objects or can be associated with a form or report. To create a standalone Class module, you choose the Class Module command from the VBE Insert menu. In addition, whenever you add code behind a form or report, Microsoft Access creates a Class module associated with that form or report that contains the code you create.

Modules specific to a form or report are generally called Form modules and Report Class modules, and their code is often referred to as Code Behind Forms (CBF). CBF is created and stored in that form or report and triggered from events occurring within it.

What Is A Subroutine?

A subroutine (or subprocedure) is a routine that responds to an event or performs some action. An event procedure is a special type of subroutine that automatically executes in response to an event such as a mouse click on a command button or the loading of a form. A function is a special type of routine because it can return a value; a subroutine can't return a value. Like a subroutine, a function can be triggered from an event.

Where Is VBA Code Written?

You write all VBA code in the Visual Basic Editor, also known as the VBE. Access places you in the VBE anytime you select Visual Basic from the Macro group on the Database Tools tab or press Alt+F11. Figure 8.1 shows the Visual Basic Editor. The VBE environment in Microsoft Access is consistent with the editor interfaces in other Microsoft Office products. The VBE is a separate window from that of Microsoft Access and comprises a menu bar, toolbar, Project window, Properties window, Immediate window, Locals window, Watch window, Object Browser, and Code windows. The various components of the VBE are discussed as appropriate in this chapter and throughout the book.

The Anatomy of a Module

Whether you're dealing with a Standard module or a Class module, all modules contain a General Declarations section. As the name implies, this is the place you can declare variables and constants that you want to be visible to all the functions and subroutines in the module. You can also set options in this section. These variables are referred to as module-level or private variables. You can also declare public variables in the General Declarations section of a module. Public variables can be seen and modified by any function or procedure in any module in the database.

A module is also made up of user-defined subroutines and functions. Figure 8.3 shows a subroutine called SayHello. Notice the drop-down list in the upper-left portion of the window titled Chap8Ex—basHello (Code). This is referred to as the Object drop-down list. Subroutines and functions are sometimes associated with a specific object, such as a form or a control within a form. This is the place where such an association is noted. In this case, the subroutine named SayHello is not associated with any object, so the Object drop-down list contains General).

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Author Attribution

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

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