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Access Expert 5 Welcome to Access Expert 5. Total running time is 1 Hour, 17 Minutes. Lessons
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"But I Don't Send Letters. Can I Skip This?"This is one of those levels that I get emails about all the time. "I don't send letters," or "I never use reports," etc. First of all, please read this: Skipping Levels. This is a perfect example of one of those levels there is a lot of good, important information in it, regardless of the topic. Expert 5 teaches you about dirty records, getting a value from an open form, refreshing form data before opening a report (or another form), embedded macros, and a lot of other cool stuff. The contact letter report is just the "sample project" for that lesson. There's a lot of good material wrapped inside that. So, if you're a Learning Connection member or want to skip this as your free TechHelp Gold Member lesson for the month... the answer is "no!" Watch it! Questions?Please feel free to post your questions or comments below. If you have questions about a specific lesson, please specify the lesson number and the time index in the lesson where the issue occurs. Thank you! Subscribe for UpdatesIf you would like to be notified whenever changes are made to this page, new lessons are posted, or comments are made, click on the subscribe button.
IntroIn this lesson, you will learn how to enhance your contact management database in Microsoft Access by adding the ability to write formatted letters directly from your contact form, create and print personalized contact letter reports, and use command buttons with custom macros. We will cover exporting reports in various formats, sending letters as email attachments using Microsoft Outlook, and customizing the ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar for a more efficient workflow. This is Microsoft Access Expert Level 5.TranscriptWelcome to Microsoft Access Expert Level 5, brought to you by AccessLearningZone.com. I am your instructor, Richard Rost. In today's class, we are going to take the contact management features that we built into our previous databases and upgrade them so we can use them to write letters directly from our database.We will begin by upgrading our contact form so we can write a letter directly in the form and use formatting, bold, fonts, and such. We will then develop a contact letter query so we can print out one record at a time in a report. Next, we will create the contact report that will look like a letter, and I will show you how to format it so you can print it out, fold it, and stick it in a window envelope. We are going to create a command button to print our letters for us, and we are going to learn how to edit the embedded macro in the button that the wizard creates so we can do some extra stuff when we click on the button. What is the extra stuff, you ask? We will see in class. We will then learn how to export our letter in several different formats, including PDF, text file, Word document, and so on. We will learn how to send the report as an email attachment using Microsoft Outlook with just one click of a button. Finally, we will take a few minutes so I can teach you how to customize the ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar. You will learn how to create your own ribbon tabs and groups and all kinds of good stuff. This course follows Access Expert Level 4. In Level 4, we learned about several different types of form controls, one-to-one relationships, and one-to-many relationships. It is strongly recommended that you watch Level 4 and all the preceding classes before continuing with today's lessons. For more information on acquiring Level 4, visit my website at AccessLearningZone.com. In this class, I am using Microsoft Access 2013. Pretty much everything in this class will also work just fine with Access 2007 and 2010 with some minor cosmetic differences. If you do come across something that is significantly different, please email me and let me know. If you are using Microsoft Access 2003 or earlier, you should either upgrade your version of Access, preferably, or visit my website at AccessLearningZone.com and look for my Access 2003 tutorials. Access 2003 is radically different from 2013. This class, Access Expert 5, is roughly equivalent to my AC204 class. So if you are using 2003 or earlier, find my AC204 class on my website. You are strongly encouraged to build the database yourself that I build in class, but if you are like me and you are lazy and you just want to download it, go to my website at AccessLearningZone.com/databases and you can find all of the sample databases from this and the previous classes online. My courses are broken up into four groups: Beginner, Expert, Advanced, and Developer. The Beginner lessons are designed to give you a basic overview of the simple features of Access. The Expert series, the one you are in now, is designed for more experienced users who are already comfortable with Access. The Advanced lessons cover working with macros, automation, and many more advanced features. The Developer lessons get into programming with Visual Basic for Microsoft Access. Each of the series is broken down into different numbered levels, starting with Level 1. The Beginner series, for example, had levels 1 through 9. In addition to my normal Access classes, I also have seminars designed to teach specific topics. Some of my seminars include building web-based databases, creating forms and reports that look like calendars, securing your database, working with images and attachments, writing work orders, tracking accounts payable, learning the SQL programming language, and lots more. You can find complete details on all these seminars and more on my website at AccessLearningZone.com. If you have questions about the topics covered in today's lessons, please feel free to post them in my student forums. If you are watching this course using my custom video player software or the online theater on my website, you should see the student forum for each lesson appear in a small window next to the class videos, as long as you have an active internet connection. Here, you will see all of the questions that other students have asked, as well as my responses to them and comments that other students may have made. I encourage you to read through these questions and answers as you start each lesson and feel free to post your own questions and comments as well. If you are not watching the lessons online, you can still visit the student forums later by visiting AccessLearningZone.com/forums. To get the most out of this course, I recommend that you sit back, relax, and watch each lesson completely through once without trying to do anything on your computer. Then, replay the lesson from the beginning and follow along with my examples. Actually, create the same database that I make in the video, step by step. Do not try to apply what you are learning right now to other projects until you master the sample database from this class. If you get stuck or do not understand something, watch the video again from the beginning or tell me what is wrong in the student forum. Most importantly, keep an open mind. Access might seem intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will see that it is really easy to use. Now, let us take a closer look at exactly what is covered in today's class. In Lesson 1, we are going to modify our existing contact form so we can write letters in it using rich text, and we are going to create the contact letter query. In Lesson 2, we are going to design our contact letter report. In Lesson 3, we are going to make a command button to print our letter out, and we are going to learn how to edit embedded macros to refresh the letter before the report opens. In Lesson 4, we are going to learn how to export our letter in several different formats or email the letter using Microsoft Outlook. In Lesson 5, we are going to take a few minutes and learn how to customize the ribbon. QuizQ1. What is the main feature being added to the contact management database in this course?A. The ability to generate invoices automatically B. The ability to write and print formatted letters directly from the database C. The ability to create calendar appointments D. The ability to manage inventory Q2. What type of text formatting will the updated contact form support? A. Plain text only B. Rich text with formatting such as bold and fonts C. Only HTML formatting D. Only CSV export Q3. What will be created to help print one record at a time in a report? A. A macro to loop through all records B. A contact letter query C. A table join D. An Excel export Q4. How will the contact report be formatted? A. As a chart B. As a datasheet C. As a letter suitable for window envelopes D. As a summary table Q5. What will the command button added in the report do? A. Print all contacts at once B. Print the letter for a specific record C. Generate database backups D. Import new customer records Q6. What is one additional feature learned when editing the macro generated by the command button wizard? A. How to bypass all security settings B. How to refresh the letter before the report opens C. How to publish reports to a website automatically D. How to create login screens Q7. What export formats will you learn to create for your letter? A. Only PDF B. Only Word document C. PDF, text file, Word document, and more D. Only JPEG image Q8. What is a highlighted method for sending the report as an email attachment? A. Using Microsoft PowerPoint B. Using a third-party tool exclusively C. Using Microsoft Outlook with one click D. Only through manual attachment Q9. What interface elements will you learn to customize in the final lesson? A. Query relationships B. The ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar C. Table structures D. Data validation rules Q10. What prior level is strongly recommended before taking Expert Level 5? A. Access Advanced 3 B. Expert Level 4 C. Developer Level 1 D. Beginner Level 9 Q11. Which versions of Access does this course primarily support? A. Access 2000 only B. Access XP and 97 C. Access 2007, 2010, and 2013 (with minor cosmetic differences) D. Only Access for Mac Q12. If using Access 2003 or earlier, what is suggested? A. No action needed, everything will work B. Upgrade to a newer version or find the AC204 class for 2003 on the website C. Switch to Excel D. Export all data to CSV Q13. What is the best approach to learning from these lessons, according to the instructor? A. Apply concepts immediately to your live projects B. Watch videos at 2x speed only C. Follow along step-by-step by building the same database after viewing each lesson once D. Memorize the script Q14. If a student has questions about the lessons, what is recommended? A. Email support only B. Post in the student forums and refer to other students' and instructor's responses C. Post on social media D. Wait for a follow-up video Q15. What is the difference between Beginner, Expert, Advanced, and Developer courses? A. There is no difference; they are just different names B. They all cover advanced programming C. They are different levels of instruction, with Developer focusing on programming D. They cover topics unrelated to Access Answers: 1-B; 2-B; 3-B; 4-C; 5-B; 6-B; 7-C; 8-C; 9-B; 10-B; 11-C; 12-B; 13-C; 14-B; 15-C DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks. SummaryToday's video from Access Learning Zone focuses on Microsoft Access Expert Level 5. In this course, I will show you how to enhance the contact management features we created in earlier lessons so you can write and manage letters right inside your Access database.We begin by updating the contact form to allow you to compose letters directly within the form, complete with text formatting options such as bolding and font changes. After that, we move on to building a contact letter query, which enables you to print out a single record at a time in a clean, letter-style format. Next, I will guide you through designing a report that looks like a formal letter. I will also demonstrate formatting techniques for printing your letters so they can be folded and inserted into windowed envelopes, making your outgoing mail look extra professional. In addition, you'll learn how to set up a command button that prints letters for you, and we will discuss how to go beyond the basics by editing the macro that the wizard creates for our button. There are some useful extras that we can add with this customization, which I will demonstrate in the lesson. We will then explore how to export the letter in several different formats, including PDF, text file, and Word document. I will also walk you through the steps to email your report as an attachment using Microsoft Outlook, all triggered from a button in Access. Towards the end of the class, we will dedicate some time to customizing the Access ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar. You will discover how to create your own ribbon tabs and groups so you can personalize your workflow further. This course continues from Access Expert Level 4, where we covered form controls and established one-to-one and one-to-many relationships. I strongly recommend watching Level 4, as well as all prior lessons, before taking this class if you have not done so already. Details on obtaining previous levels are available on my website. For this class, I am using Microsoft Access 2013, though nearly everything shown here applies to Access 2007 and 2010 as well, with only small differences in appearance. If you encounter any significant discrepancies, please let me know. If you are using Access 2003 or an earlier version, it would be best to upgrade. Alternatively, check my website for courses specifically tailored to Access 2003, such as my AC204 class, which aligns in content with Expert Level 5. While I encourage everyone to build the database alongside me during class, if you prefer, you can also download the completed databases from my website. All sample databases for current and previous classes can be found there. My Access courses are divided into Beginner, Expert, Advanced, and Developer categories. Beginner classes introduce the fundamentals. Expert level, where we are now, is meant for users who already feel comfortable with the basics. Advanced sessions tackle automation, macros, and deeper features. Developer content goes into programming Access with Visual Basic for Applications. Within each group, the classes are organized by ascending level numbers, starting from Level 1. For example, the Beginner track includes Levels 1 through 9. I also offer seminars on specialized topics, such as developing web-based databases, designing calendar-style forms and reports, securing your database, working with images and attachments, managing work orders, accounts payable tracking, and the SQL programming language. You can find the full range of seminars and topics on my website. If questions arise about the material covered in today's lesson, I encourage you to participate in the student forums. These are available next to each lesson video if you are using my site or my custom player, provided you are online. Here, you can read discussions, view my replies, and see what other students are saying. You are welcome to contribute your own questions and comments in these forums. If you are not watching the lessons online, the forums can still be accessed on my website at any time. To maximize your learning, I suggest you first watch each lesson from start to finish without doing anything on your computer. Then, replay the lesson and follow along by building the same database with me step by step. Avoid applying new concepts to your own projects until you have thoroughly practiced with the sample database from class. Should you run into trouble or need clarification, rewatch the video or reach out using the student forums. It is important to stay open-minded. Access might seem overwhelming initially, but once you get comfortable, you will find it straightforward and valuable. Now, here's what we will be covering in today's lessons. In Lesson 1, we will update the contact form to support writing richly formatted letters and set up a contact letter query. Lesson 2 will focus on creating a report styled as a contact letter. In Lesson 3, I will show you how to create a button for printing letters and how to modify embedded macros so that the letter refreshes before the report opens. Lesson 4 will cover exporting letters in different formats or sending them as email attachments with Outlook. Finally, Lesson 5 will teach you how to personalize the ribbon in Access. You can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends. Topic ListUpgrading the contact form to support writing lettersAdding rich text formatting to form letter fields Creating a contact letter query for report generation Designing a letter-style contact report for printing Formatting reports for window envelope printing Creating a command button to print letters Editing embedded macros for enhanced button actions Exporting letters to PDF, text, and Word formats Emailing reports as attachments via Microsoft Outlook Customizing the Access ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar Creating custom ribbon tabs and groups |
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