Download the full version of the ebook at

https://ebookultra.com

Access 2007 VBA bible for data centric

Microsoft Office applications 1st Edition
Helen Feddema

https://ebookultra.com/download/access-2007-vba-
bible-for-data-centric-microsoft-office-
applications-1st-edition-helen-feddema/

Explore and download more ebook at https://ebookultra.com

 Recommended digital products (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) that
you can download immediately if you are interested.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 Bible 1st

Edition Vikram Kartik

https://ebookultra.com/download/microsoft-office-sharepoint-
designer-2007-bible-1st-edition-vikram-kartik/

ebookultra.com

Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 2010 2nd ed Edition

Mansfield

https://ebookultra.com/download/mastering-vba-for-microsoft-
office-2010-2nd-ed-edition-mansfield/

ebookultra.com

Access 2007 VBA Programming For Dummies 1st Edition Joseph

C. Stockman

https://ebookultra.com/download/access-2007-vba-programming-for-
dummies-1st-edition-joseph-c-stockman/

ebookultra.com

Microsoft SharePoint 2007 for Office 2007 Users 1st

Edition Martin Reid

https://ebookultra.com/download/microsoft-sharepoint-2007-for-
office-2007-users-1st-edition-martin-reid/

ebookultra.com
Office 2007 Bible 1st Edition John Walkenbach

https://ebookultra.com/download/office-2007-bible-1st-edition-john-
walkenbach/

ebookultra.com

Microsoft Office 2007 Timothy J O'Leary

https://ebookultra.com/download/microsoft-office-2007-timothy-j-
oleary/

ebookultra.com

Access 2007 VBA Programmer s Reference 1st Edition Teresa

Hennig

https://ebookultra.com/download/access-2007-vba-programmer-s-
reference-1st-edition-teresa-hennig/

ebookultra.com

Microsoft Access Data Analysis Michael Alexander

https://ebookultra.com/download/microsoft-access-data-analysis-
michael-alexander/

ebookultra.com

Microsoft Office 2007 Vista Edition Timothy J. O'Leary

https://ebookultra.com/download/microsoft-office-2007-vista-edition-
timothy-j-oleary/

ebookultra.com
Access 2007 VBA bible for data centric Microsoft Office
applications 1st Edition Helen Feddema Digital Instant
Download
Author(s): Helen Feddema
ISBN(s): 9780470047026, 047004702X
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 23.35 MB
Year: 2007
Language: english
 Access 2007 ™

VBA Bible
®
For Data-Centric Microsoft Office Applications

Helen Feddema
Access 2007 VBA Bible
™
 Access 2007 ™

VBA Bible
®
For Data-Centric Microsoft Office Applications

Helen Feddema
Access™ 2007 VBA Bible: For Data-Centric Microsoft® Office Applications
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 978-0-470-04702-6
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of
the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through
payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923,
(978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal
Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355,
or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with
respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including
without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or
promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold
with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If
professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher
nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this
work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses
the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be
aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written
and when it is read.
For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer
Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Feddema, Helen Bell.
Access 2007 VBA Bible: For Data-Centric Microsoft Office Applications / Helen Feddema.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-470-04702-6 (paper/website)
1. Microsoft Access. 2. Database management. 3. Microsoft Visual Basic for applications. I. Title.
QA76.9.D3F435 2007
005.75’65--dc22
2007007061
Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission.
Microsoft and Access are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other
countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with
any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in
electronic books.
About the Author
Helen Feddema is an independent developer specializing in Microsoft Office applications, concen-
trating on Access, Word, and (since 1996) Outlook. She has written or co-authored many books
on Access and other Office applications, including Inside Microsoft Access (New Riders, 1992),
Power Forms for Microsoft Access and Power Reports for Microsoft Access (Pinnacle, 1994), Access How-
Tos (Waite Group Press, 1995), MCSD: Access 95 Study Guide (Sybex, 1998), DAO Object Model: The
Definitive Guide (O’Reilly, January 2000), and Access 2002 Inside-Out (Microsoft Press, 2001), which
was judged #1 in the Desktop and Office Applications book category at the Waterside 2004 confer-
ence. Her most recent book is Expert One-on-One Microsoft Access Application Development
(Wiley/Wrox, 2003).

She has also contributed chapters to a number of multi-author Office books, including Special
Edition: Using Microsoft Outlook 97 (Que, 1997), Office Annoyances (O’Reilly, 1997), Outlook
Annoyances (O’Reilly, 1998), Special Edition: Using Microsoft Project 98 (Que, 1997), Teach Yourself
Project (Sams, 1998), and Special Edition: Outlook 2000 (Que, 2000). Helen has been a regular con-
tributor to Pinnacle’s Smart Access and Office Developer journals, Informant’s Microsoft Office and
VBA Programming (now Office Solutions), and Woody’s Underground Office newsletter, and she is cur-
rently the editor of the Access Watch ezine (formerly Woody’s Access Watch), for which she writes the
Access Archon column.
 To Kerry and Jean King, good neighbors and good friends

Credits
Executive Editor Project Coordinator
Bob Elliott Adrienne Martinez

Development Editor Graphics and Production Specialists

Kelly Talbot Sean Decker
Jennifer Mayberry
Technical Editor Heather Pope
Mary Hardy Amanda Spagnuolo
Production Editor Quality Control Technicians
Eric Charbonneau Melanie Hoffman
Robert Springer
Copy Editor
Brian Walls
Kim Cofer
Proofreading and Indexing
Editorial Manager
Aptara
Mary Beth Wakefield
Anniversary Logo Design
Production Manager
Richard Pacifico
Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group

Publisher
Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher

Joseph B. Wikert
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

Part I: The Office Components and What They Do Best 1

Chapter 1: Storing and Displaying Data in Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
A Brief History of Office Data Exchange ................................................................................3
Storing Data in Access ..........................................................................................................4
Displaying Data in Access Forms and Reports ......................................................................5
Creating Access Form Letters ......................................................................................8
Creating Worksheet-type Reports in Access ..............................................................11
Plain Datasheet Reports ..................................................................................11
PivotTables ......................................................................................................19
PivotCharts ......................................................................................................22
Summary ............................................................................................................................25
Chapter 2: Creating Word Documents from Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Filling Word Documents with Access Data Using the TypeText Method ..............................27
Using Word Templates for Creating Formatted Word Documents........................................30
Bookmarks ................................................................................................................31
Document Properties ................................................................................................39
Form Field Documents........................................................................................................45
Summary ............................................................................................................................48
Chapter 3: Analyzing Data with Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Exporting Access Data to an Unformatted Worksheet..........................................................50
Using Excel Templates to Create Formatted Worksheets Filled with Access Data ................52
Formatting Excel Worksheets in VBA Code ........................................................................62
Summary ............................................................................................................................69
Chapter 4: Organizing and Communicating with Outlook . . . . . . . . . . 71
Exporting Appointments and Tasks to Outlook ..................................................................72
Exporting Journal Information to Outlook ..........................................................................79
Creating Emails from an Access Table..................................................................................81
Summary ............................................................................................................................85

vii
 Contents

Part II: Writing VBA Code to Exchange Data between

Office Components 87
Chapter 5: Working with Access Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Working with Older Format Databases in Access 2007 ......................................................91
Disambiguating References to Object Model Components ........................................91
The DAO Object Model (Old and New) ....................................................................96
New Objects in the Access 2007 DAO Object Model ......................................97
Hidden Objects in the Access 2007 DAO Object Model ..................................98
Databases ........................................................................................................99
Recordsets........................................................................................................99
QueryDefs ....................................................................................................104
TableDefs and Fields ......................................................................................106
The ADO Object Model ..........................................................................................110
Connection ....................................................................................................110
Command......................................................................................................113
Recordset ......................................................................................................116
Record ..........................................................................................................129
Stream ..........................................................................................................129
Converting DAO Code to ADO Code ................................................................................129
Summary ..........................................................................................................................131
Chapter 6: Working with Word Documents and Templates . . . . . . . . . 133
Built-in Word Export in Office 2007 ................................................................................135
Exporting Access Data to Word Using Automation Code ..................................................138
The Word Object Model ..........................................................................................139
Creating a New, Blank Word Document ........................................................140
Creating a Word Document Based on a Template ..........................................141
Using a Query to Concatenate Data for Export ..............................................143
Choosing a Method for Merging Access Data to Word ............................................145
Working with Word Document Properties ....................................................146
Word Bookmarks ..........................................................................................165
The TypeText Method ....................................................................................170
Word Mail Merge ..........................................................................................175
Summary ..........................................................................................................................182
Chapter 7: Working with Excel Worksheets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Simply Exporting Access Data to Excel..............................................................................184
The Excel Object Model ....................................................................................................187
Minimally Formatted Worksheets ....................................................................................191
Tabular Worksheets Formatted from Code ........................................................................195
Timesheets ........................................................................................................................202
Summary ..........................................................................................................................218

viii
 Contents

Chapter 8: Working with Outlook Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Exporting Access Data to Outlook Items ..........................................................................220
Using the Collect Data Group ..................................................................................220
Using the Import Group to Import or Link to Outlook Data....................................221
Using Sample Databases and Forms ........................................................................230
The Outlook Object Model ..............................................................................................234
Explorer, Inspector, and other Outlook Objects ......................................................234
Syntax for Referencing Outlook Objects ..................................................................235
Referencing Outlook Items in VBA Code ................................................................240
Working with Outlook Appointments ..............................................................................241
Working with Outlook Tasks ............................................................................................247
Working with Outlook Contacts........................................................................................254
Summary ..........................................................................................................................262
Chapter 9: Working with Files and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Working with Windows Explorer Folders ........................................................................264
The Office FileDialog Object....................................................................................264
The FileSystemObject..............................................................................................271
Backing up Your Database ................................................................................................277
Working with Text Files ....................................................................................................282
Writing Data to Text Files ........................................................................................282
ADO ..............................................................................................................291
FileSystemObject ..........................................................................................292
VB ................................................................................................................292
Reading Data from Text Files ..................................................................................292
ADO ..............................................................................................................296
FSO ..............................................................................................................296
VB ................................................................................................................296
Working with Attachment Fields ......................................................................................297
Loading Files into Attachment Fields ......................................................................299
Saving Attachments to Files ....................................................................................302
Summary ..........................................................................................................................304
Chapter 10: Working with External Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Working with Text Files Using the TransferText Method....................................................306
Creating an Import or Export Specification..............................................................306
Importing and Exporting Text File Data in VBA Code..............................................312
Importing Text Data ......................................................................................312
Exporting Text Data ......................................................................................320
Working with Legacy Database and Spreadsheet Files ......................................................324
Importing Database Files ........................................................................................324
Importing Spreadsheet Files ....................................................................................328
Exporting Database and Spreadsheet Files ..............................................................336

ix
 Contents

Working with XML and HTML Files ................................................................................338

Importing HTML and XML Files ............................................................................338
Exporting HTML and XML Files..............................................................................341
Emailing Exported Text Files ............................................................................................348
Summary ..........................................................................................................................350
Chapter 11: Synchronizing Access and Outlook Contacts . . . . . . . . . . 351
Creating a Denormalized Table from a Set of Linked Tables ..............................................352
Comparing Outlook and Access Contacts..........................................................................359
Re-creating the Flat-file Tables of Access and Outlook Data ....................................361
Copying Contact Data from Access to Outlook (or Vice Versa) ................................374
Working with Attachments................................................................................................391
Summary ..........................................................................................................................396
Chapter 12: Going Beyond the Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Creating Fancy Word Shipping Labels ..............................................................................397
Creating Excel PivotCharts from Access Queries ..............................................................415
Emailing Shipping and Reordering Reports ......................................................................426
Summary ..........................................................................................................................432

Part III: Adding More Functionality to Office 427

Chapter 13: Creating COM Add-ins with Visual Basic 6 . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Creating a COM Add-in Using Visual Basic 6.0 ................................................................436
Using the COM Add-in Template ............................................................................436
Creating the LNC Control Renaming COM Add-in..................................................440
The SharedCode Module ..............................................................................440
The AccessDesigner Module ..........................................................................442
Creating the DLL ..........................................................................................463
Installing a COM Add-in ........................................................................................463
Troubleshooting a COM Add-in ..............................................................................466
Using a COM Add-in ........................................................................................................467
Comparing COM Add-ins with Access Add-ins ................................................................469
Summary ..........................................................................................................................469
Chapter 14: Creating Access Add-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471
The Purpose of Access Add-ins..........................................................................................472
Add-in Types ....................................................................................................................472
Creating a Library Database ..............................................................................................473
Menu Add-ins ........................................................................................................478
Wizards ..................................................................................................................479
Property Builders ....................................................................................................480
Things You Need to Know When Writing Add-ins ............................................................481
Special Requirements for Add-in Code ....................................................................481
Tips on Add-in Construction ..................................................................................482

x
 Contents

The Extras Add-in Code ....................................................................................................483

Extras Options ........................................................................................................483
basExtras Module ....................................................................................................486
Back up Database ....................................................................................................489
Back up Back End Database ....................................................................................491
List Query Fields ....................................................................................................495
List Table Fields ......................................................................................................497
Other Procedures ....................................................................................................499
Finalizing the Add-in ..............................................................................................502
Troubleshooting Add-ins ..................................................................................................503
Interpreting Add-in Error Messages ........................................................................506
Installing an Add-in ..........................................................................................................507
Using the Extras 2007 Add-in ..........................................................................................510
Extras Options ........................................................................................................511
Back up Database ....................................................................................................512
Back up Database Back End ....................................................................................512
List Query Fields ....................................................................................................513
List Table Fields ......................................................................................................514
Summary ..........................................................................................................................514
Chapter 15: Customizing the Ribbon with XML in Access Databases
and Add-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
Useful Tools for Creating and Editing XML Code ..............................................................517
XML Notepad 2007 ................................................................................................517
VB 2005 XML Editor ..............................................................................................518
Office 2007 Custom UI Editor ................................................................................518
Customizing the Ribbon in an Access Database ................................................................519
Creating the XML Code ..........................................................................................522
Adding a New Tab, Group, and Controls to the Ribbon ................................527
Removing a Tab or Group from the Ribbon ..................................................528
VBA Code................................................................................................................542
Form Ribbons..........................................................................................................547
Customizing the Ribbon with an Access Add-in ................................................................549
Summary ..........................................................................................................................558
Chapter 16: Customizing the Access Ribbon with a Visual Studio 2005
Shared Add-in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
Preparing to Write a Visual Studio Add-in ........................................................................559
Adding .NET Support to Office ........................................................................................559
Modifying the Connect Class Module Code ............................................................573
Adding Functionality to the Shared Add-in ............................................................575
Debugging the Add-in ............................................................................................582
Building and Installing the Add-in ..........................................................................583
Using the Add-in ....................................................................................................588
Summary ..........................................................................................................................589

xi
 Contents

Chapter 17: Creating Standalone Scripts with Windows Script Host . . . . 591
Tools for Working with Windows Script Host Scripts ........................................................591
The Microsoft Script Editor ....................................................................................592
The VBScript Help File ............................................................................................597
Differences between VBA and VBScript Code ....................................................................599
Useful Scripts ....................................................................................................................603
Setup Scripts ..........................................................................................................603
Office Scripts ..........................................................................................................611
Miscellaneous Scripts ..............................................................................................616
Scheduling a Backup Script with the Windows Vista Task Scheduler ................................619
Summary ..........................................................................................................................626
Chapter 18: Working with SQL Server Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Getting SQL Server 2005 ..................................................................................................628
Preparing an Access Database for Upsizing to SQL Server ................................................629
Configuring SQL Server 2005 for Data Access ..................................................................631
Getting through the Firewall....................................................................................640
Windows XP..................................................................................................640
Windows Vista ..............................................................................................643
Other Security Roadblocks ......................................................................................647
Using the Upsizing Wizard................................................................................................648
Converting Access Tables to SQL Server Tables ......................................................649
Creating a Client/Server Application........................................................................657
Linking to Data in SQL Server Tables ................................................................................662
The SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access..................................................................671
Summary ..........................................................................................................................672

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673

xii
M
any thanks to my technical editor, Mary Hardy, for catching errors and making many
valuable suggestions that improved the quality of the book (and sample databases), and
to editors Kelly Talbot and Brian Hermann for their suggestions and support.

xiii
W
elcome to the Access 2007 VBA Bible. Like all books in the Bible series, you can expect
to find both hands-on tutorials and real-world practical application information, as
well as reference and background information that provides a context for what you are
learning. This book is a fairly comprehensive resource on writing VBA code to exchange data
among the main Office applications (Access, Word, Excel, and Outlook), using Access as the cen-
tral application for storing data, and using the other applications for producing attractively format-
ted documents of various types. By the time you have completed the Access 2007 VBA Bible, you
will be well-prepared to write VBA Automation code that uses your Access data to produce Word
letters, mailing labels and other documents (without the overhead of mail merge), to create Excel
worksheets and PivotCharts, and to create Outlook appointments, mail messages, contacts, and
journal items, with or without attachments. Additionally, you will be able to synchronize contact
data (both ways) between Access and Outlook.

Who Should Read This Book

The book is written for the Access/Office developer or power user who is familiar with working
with Office applications (particularly Access) in the interface, and has at least a basic familiarity with
writing VBA code, but needs more information on how to write Automation code to work with Word,
Excel, and Outlook objects, so as to be able to use each Office application for creating the documents
that are its specialty, while storing most of the data in Access databases.

How This Book Is Organized

The book starts out in Part I with a description of the Office components (Access, Word, Excel, and
Outlook) and what they do best, as a guide to selecting the appropriate Office component for a
specific task.

In Part II, more specific coverage is provided for each Office component, with sample databases
that illustrate working with Access data, Word documents and templates, Excel worksheets, and
Outlook items. This part also includes a chapter on working with files and folders using the
FileSystemObject, and another on synchronizing Access contacts with Outlook contacts. This
allows you to maintain your contacts in a set of properly normalized linked tables in Access, while
also having the ability to reference and use Outlook contacts, without having to do dual entry or
manually update contact information. Finally, the last chapter in the part deals with several
advanced topics, working with Word and Excel objects.

xv
 Introduction

Part III covers topics that add more functionality to Office, including the creation of COM add-ins
with VB 6, Access add-ins, and Visual Studio 2005 Shared add-ins. It also covers customizing the
Office 2007 Ribbon with XML in Access databases and with add-ins of various types. Additionally,
there is a chapter on creating standalone scripts with Windows Script Host, and another chapter
on using Access as a front end for working with SQL Server data.

Conventions and Features

There are many different organizational and typographical features throughout this book designed
to help you get the most of the information.

Whenever the authors want to bring something important to your attention, the information will
appear in a Tip, Note, or Caution.

This information is important and is set off in a separate paragraph with a special icon.
CAUTION Cautions provide information about things to watch out for, whether simply inconve-
nient or potentially hazardous to your data or systems.

Tips generally are used to provide information that can make your work easier—special
TIP shortcuts or methods for doing something easier than the norm.

Notes provide additional, ancillary information that is helpful, but somewhat outside of
NOTE the current presentation of information.

New features introduce components or functionality that are new or improved in the
NEW FEATURE software compared to earlier versions.

What’s on the Companion Web Site

On the companion web site you will find sample code. Each chapter has its own subfolder on the
web site. You’ll in subfolders find all the sample databases and other files (such as Word and Excel
templates, or Windows Script Host scripts) that were discussed in each chapter.

Minimum Requirements
To run the sample code in this book, you need a computer capable of running at least Windows
XP, and of course you need Office 2007. Because Office 2007 runs fine on Windows XP, you don’t
need Windows Vista, but Office 2007 works even better on Vista. If you intend to run Vista, you
need a Vista-ready computer. If you buy a new computer, look for the “Windows Vista Capable”
sticker; however, an older computer may support Vista even if it doesn’t have the sticker (though
probably not the Aero Glass interface, which requires a high-powered video card).

xvi
 Introduction

Where to Go from Here

You should take away from this book the ability to select the Office component that does the best
job for the task at hand. You should also take away how to write VBA Automation code to transfer
data from Access to documents created with other Office components and format the documents as
needed; this will let you create procedures that can be run from form events or toolbar buttons to
automate any Office-related tasks you need to do on a regular basis.

My web site (www.helenfeddema.com) has pages with code samples and Access Archon articles,
many of which deal with exchanging various types of data among Office applications. Check them
out—you may find that the solution you are looking for is already there, ready to download and use.

xvii
 The Office
Components and
What They Do Best
IN THIS PART
Chapter 1
Storing and Displaying Data in
Access

Chapter 2
Creating Word Documents from
Access

Chapter 3
Analyzing Data with Excel

Chapter 4
Organizing and Communicating
with Outlook
 Storing and Displaying
Data in Access

S
ince its earliest days — about 14 years ago — Access has been a rela-
tional database program, storing data in tables and using its own
IN THIS CHAPTER
queries, forms, and reports to sort, filter, display, and print data. With A brief history of Office data
successive Office versions, moving data among Office components (espe- exchange
cially Word, Excel, and Outlook) has become so much easier that it is now
often more efficient to use another Office component rather than an Access Storing data in Access
report for a task such as printing letters or analyzing numeric data.
Displaying Access data in forms
and reports
Additionally, using other Office components to display or print data from
Access makes the data stored in Access tables more widely accessible. Many Working with rich text in
Office users have an edition of Office that doesn’t include Access — but they Memo fields
all have Word and Excel, and many also have Outlook, so they can easily
work with Word documents, Outlook messages or appointments, and Excel New report interactivity
worksheets, filled with data from Access tables.
Using Access as a control
Whether you plan to present your data as an Access report, PivotChart, or center for working with
PivotTable; or a Word document or Excel worksheet, the data is stored in Office documents
Access tables, and entered and edited in Access forms.

A Brief History of Office

Data Exchange
As the Windows operating system has progressed from Windows 3.0 to
Windows XP and Vista, data transfer techniques have improved, from simple
cut and paste using the Windows 3.0 clipboard, to Dynamic Data Exchange
(DDE) and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), to Automation (originally

3
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

called Object Linking and Embedding [OLE], then OLE Automation) and Extensible Markup
Language (XML).

In early Windows and Office versions, DDE and ODBC were difficult to use, cranky and unreliable
in operation, and ODBC in particular often required elaborate setup. I know — I used both DDE
and ODBC, when they were the only connectivity tools available. But I gladly dropped them when
OLE became available in Windows 95/Office 95, because it offered a much simpler way to connect
Office applications, though at first only in a limited manner.

Before Office 97, there was a distinction between Office components that were OLE servers, which
could be manipulated by code running from other applications, and OLE clients, which could
work with objects in OLE server applications’ object models. Back in the days of Access 1.0 or
even 2.0, Access developers had few tools available for connecting to other Office applications
such as Word or Excel. Access, for example, was only a client, whereas Word was only a server.

In Office 95 AccessBasic was upgraded to standard Office VBA, and Access became an OLE server
(previously it was only an OLE client). By Office 2000, all the major Office applications (Access,
Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint) had been upgraded to support Automation both as clients
and servers, so the OLE server/client distinction is no longer significant.

You can write Automation code in any major Office application to connect to any other Office
application’s data and functionality (and some third-party applications as well).

Storing Data in Access

Access was designed from the start to store data, so (if you have a choice — which is not always the
case) it is the place where you should store your data. You may need to use that data to produce
Word letters, SharePoint lists, Excel worksheets, or Outlook mail messages, but the data itself
should be kept in Access tables, unless there is a very strong reason to store it elsewhere.

One valid exception is storing data in SQL Server back-end databases, using Access as
CROSS-REF the front end. SQL Server is usually the choice for huge corporate databases, not small-
to medium-sized databases used by individuals or small companies, where Access can easily handle
the number of records. See Chapter 18 for more information on this option.

Data entry and editing, too, should be done in Access, for the most part, because you can create
Access forms that offer an attractive interface for entering and editing data. You can write VBA code
that runs from form and control events for purposes of error handling, and create functions that
automate repetitive data-processing operations.

In my earlier book, Expert One-on-One Microsoft Application Development, I discussed creating

Access applications, with details on using queries, forms, reports, and code. I won’t duplicate this
information here, but instead in this chapter I concentrate on new or improved features in Access
2007, which enhance the utility of Access forms and reports.

4
 Storing and Displaying Data in Access 1

Displaying Data in Access Forms and

Reports
Sometimes you don’t need to go outside of Access to present your data — if you are designing an
Access application, displaying data in forms and printing it in reports may be all you need.

Over the years, Access forms and reports have been significantly upgraded. In Access
NEW FEATURE 2007, one long-requested feature has finally arrived in a workable form (I recall an
early and unreliable implementation that made a brief appearance in Access 95). Memo fields can
now store and display rich text, using the Text Align property, which takes a value of either Plain Text
or Rich Text. When you select Rich Text for this property, you can apply various fonts, colors, and
other attributes to selected portions of text in a table field or a control bound to that field.

In earlier versions of Office, if you wanted to generate a letter or other document including a block
of text with color, bolding, or other attributes applied to selected words or phrases within the
block, you had to create a Word letter and use Word’s formatting features. In Access 2007, you
can produce Access reports with varied formatting within text blocks, displaying text entered into
Access memo fields in a textbox on a form.

The sample database for this section is RichText.accdb.

NOTE
To create a field that can store data in Rich Text format (behind the scenes, this is done using
HTML code, but you don’t have to worry about writing the code), start by creating a table field of
the Memo data type, and selecting Rich Text as the Text Format value (see Figure 1.1).

FIGURE 1.1
Creating a Memo field to hold Rich Text data.

5
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

If you select a block of text in a Rich Text–enabled Memo field, you will see a floating
WARNING toolbar that lets you apply some formatting, including indenting or outdenting, similar
to Word (this works fine; see Figure 1.2). However, if you apply bullets or numbering from this tool-
bar, you will get the bullets or numbers, but the text that runs over one line won’t be indented prop-
erly, as shown in Figure 1.3. For this reason, I recommend against using these features, unless all the
items on your lists are no more than one line in length.

FIGURE 1.2
Indenting text from the floating toolbar in a Rich Text field.

FIGURE 1.3
Incorrect indentation of an item in a numbered list in a Rich Text field.

Create a form bound to the table with the Memo field; you can now enter data into this textbox
control and format it with different fonts, color, bolding, and other attributes, as you would while
working in a Word document. When you place the cursor into a control with Rich Text enabled, a
formatting group on the Form Ribbon is enabled, with a variety of formatting selections, as shown
in Figure 1.4.

Figure 1.5 shows the form with a variety of formatting attributes applied to the text in the textbox.

6
 Storing and Displaying Data in Access 1

FIGURE 1.4
Selecting formatting for a portion of text in a Rich Text–enabled textbox on a form.

FIGURE 1.5
A Rich Text–enabled textbox with a variety of formatting applied to portions of its text.

7
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

Once you have applied formatting to the text on a form, you can create a report based on the table,
and the formatting will display on the report as well (see Figure 1.6).

FIGURE 1.6
A report showing Rich Text formatting applied in a textbox on a form.

Creating Access Form Letters

A more realistic example of Rich Text formatting would be a form letter report, with the body of
the letter text coming from a Rich Text–enabled field, and the name and address information from
a table of contacts or customers. I created a table called tblLetterText in the sample database, with
a Rich Text–enabled Memo field to hold the letter body text, and an ID and a LetterType text field.
The LetterBody field holds formatted text, as shown in Figure 1.7 (the Rich Text formatting can be
seen directly in the table, though you will find it easier to create and edit the rich text in a textbox
control on a form).

You can copy and paste formatted text from a Word document into a Memo field with
TIP Rich Text enabled (or a textbox bound to such a field), and the formatting will be pre-
served. However, bullets and numbered lists won’t be aligned correctly, so it is best to turn off those
features before copying text to Access.

I also created a one-row table to hold information to use in the database; in this case, it has
two Rich Text–enabled Memo fields for the letter header and signature information. The form
fdlgSelectLetter (bound to the information table, zstblInfo) lets you edit the header and signature
(Figure 1.8) and select a letter type and a contact.

8
 Storing and Displaying Data in Access 1

FIGURE 1.7
A table with formatted letter body text.

FIGURE 1.8
A dialog form for editing header and signature block information and selecting a letter and contact.

9
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

Clicking the Create Letter button opens a filtered Access report displaying name and address data
from the selected Contact record, and the letter body from the selected letter type, as depicted in
Figure 1.9.

With Rich Text formatting now supported in Access forms and reports, you may not need to pro-
duce a Word letter to get the look you want in printed documents. However, compared with Word,
Access reports using Rich Text–enabled Memo fields have one significant limitation. In Word, you
can place merge fields or DocProperty fields within a block of text, so that merged data or data
stored in document properties will print at a certain point in the text, with the surrounding text
wrapping as needed, depending on the length of the text in the fields. This is not possible with a
Memo field on an Access report, so if you need to embed merge fields or DocProperty fields within
the letter body text, you still need to create Word documents.

See Chapter 2 for information on creating Word documents of various types filled with
CROSS-REF Access data.

FIGURE 1.9
A report with formatted text.

10
 Storing and Displaying Data in Access 1

Using a Naming Convention

I first realized what a problem it is to work in a database with no naming convention when I took
over a database created by another programmer. The database had a table, a query, a form, a
report, a function, and five or six variables (of different data types) all called Sales (this was only one
of a number of sets of objects with the same name). This meant that when I encountered the word
“Sales” in VBA code, I had no idea whether it was a reference to a table, form, query, function, or
variable, unless the context made it clear. There were numerous errors because of the use of the
same name for different types of objects, because (among other possible sources of errors) you can
set the value of a field with a variable, or with a function — and if several variables and a function
are all called Sales, the code may use the wrong one.
You can also get circular reference errors when a control has the same name as the field to which it
is bound — which is still the case in Access 2007, when you create a form bound to a table using the
Form Wizard. To prevent these reference errors, it is an excellent idea to use a naming convention for
database objects, controls, and variables. Using a naming convention also makes your database self-
documenting (to some extent, at least), and prevents confusion when selecting an object from a
drop-down list.
About 10 years ago, I wrote an Access 97 add-in (LNC Rename.mda) to automate the process of giv-
ing the appropriate tags to database objects and controls on forms and reports, using the Leszynski
Naming Convention (LNC). This add-in was updated for Access 2000, and that version still works in
Access 2007; it is available as Code Sample #10 (for Access 2000 or higher databases) from the
Code Samples page of my web site, www.helenfeddema.com.

Creating Worksheet-type Reports in Access

If you need to produce a report formatted in familiar worksheet-type rows and columns, you can
do this with an Access report. Access 2007 reports have some new features, letting you sort and fil-
ter interactively — and if you want full interactivity, you can create a PivotTable or PivotChart form.
To demonstrate these features, I used a variation of the Northwind sample database, with objects
renamed according to the Leszynski Naming Convention.

Plain Datasheet Reports

The sample database for this section is Modified Northwind.accdb.
NOTE
The query qryNorthwindAll links all the tables in the Modified Northwind database. To produce
a plain datasheet report, start by selecting qryNorthwindAll, and selecting Report Wizard in the
Reports group on the Create tab of the Ribbon, as shown in Figure 1.10.

11
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

FIGURE 1.10
Selecting the Report Wizard to create a report.

Select the fields to include on the report (see Figure 1.11) and click Next.

FIGURE 1.11
Selecting fields for a report.

12
 Storing and Displaying Data in Access 1

On the next screen of the wizard (see Figure 1.12), select the top-level grouping you want for the
report (in this case, I accepted the default selection of OrderQuarter, Customer, OrderDate).

FIGURE 1.12
Selecting a major grouping level for a report.

The next screen lets you select sub-groups, if desired; I accepted the default (no further sub-
grouping, as shown in Figure 1.13).

FIGURE 1.13
Select sub-grouping levels for a report.

13
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

Next, select sorting and summarizing options; I selected ProductName for sorting, as shown in
Figure 1.14.

FIGURE 1.14
Selecting sorting and summarizing options for a report.

On the report layout screen, depicted in Figure 1.15, I selected the Block option.

FIGURE 1.15
Selecting the Block report layout option.

14
 Storing and Displaying Data in Access 1

Select a style on the next screen, shown in Figure 1.16 (bear in mind that some of the more artistic
styles won’t look good when printed on a black-and-white printer). I selected None for a plain report.

FIGURE 1.16
Selecting a report style.

Give the report a name on the Finish screen (Figure 1.17) — I called it rptNorthwindSales. Select
the “Modify the report’s design” option to open the report in design view, and click Finish.

FIGURE 1.17
The Finish screen of the Report Wizard.

15
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

You will need to make some adjustments to the report’s design in the property sheet; if
TIP it is not open, click the Property Sheet button in the Tools group on the Design tab of
the Ribbon, as shown in Figure 1.18.

FIGURE 1.18
Opening the property sheet.

By default, in the Block report layout only the cells with values have visible borders, so to create an
overall worksheet-type layout, select all the controls in the Detail section of the report, and turn off
display of duplicate data values by setting the Hide Duplicates property to No on the Format tab of
the properties sheet, as shown in Figure 1.19.

FIGURE 1.19
Setting the Hide Duplicates property to No to eliminate duplicate data on a report.

Although it is generally not a problem for report controls to have the same names as their bound
fields (because they are rarely, if ever, referenced in code), I like to give the appropriate tags to the
bound controls at least. To do this manually, give the textboxes the prefix txt. (On a report created
by the Report Wizard, labels are named with the non-standard suffix _Label.)

16
 Storing and Displaying Data in Access 1

The Report Wizard generally applies the default alignment to each column label, which
NEW FEATURE may result in inconsistent alignment. That doesn’t look good, so (if necessary) adjust the
alignment of the column headings labels as desired (generally they should be either all left-aligned or
all centered); on the sample report I made them all centered.

If you need to adjust an individual column width, it may be necessary to turn off control grouping
(a new feature in Access 2007). To accomplish this, first select the controls in the Detail section
and click the yellow group anchor that should now be visible (though not very visible — Microsoft
should have selected a color with more contrast than dull mustard yellow) at the upper-left corner
of the group, then right-click any control in the group and select Remove from the Layout submenu
(see Figure 1.20).

FIGURE 1.20
Turning off control grouping.

Figure 1.21 shows the finished worksheet-type report.

You can interactively sort and filter a report in report view — for example, when you want to view
records from only one customer, as shown in Figure 1.22.

17
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

FIGURE 1.21
A worksheet-type Access report.

FIGURE 1.22
Filtering a report by a selected value in the Customer field.

18
 Storing and Displaying Data in Access 1

After making the selection, the report shows only Gourmet Lanchonetes records (Figure 1.23).

FIGURE 1.23
A report filtered by a Customer value.

PivotTables
If you need more advanced interactivity, you can make a PivotTable based on the same
qryNorthwindAll query. In Access 2007, the process of creating a PivotTable has been simpli-
fied; just select the data source query or table, then, as depicted in Figure 1.24, select PivotTable
from the More Forms menu of the Forms group in the Create tab of the Ribbon.

19
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

FIGURE 1.24
Creating a PivotTable.

A new form based on the data source opens in PivotTable view (see Figure 1.25), with the Field
List open so you can drag fields to the drop zones of the PivotTable, one field each to the Row
Fields, Column Fields, and (optionally) Filter Fields drop zones, which are indicated in gray text at
the upper-left corner of the form. The data field to be displayed in the body of the table is dragged
to the drop zone in the center of the form; Access will automatically create a Count or Sum field
when appropriate.

See Chapter 5 of my book, Expert One-on-One Microsoft Application Development, for

CROSS-REF more information on creating and using PivotTables and PivotCharts.

Figure 1.26 shows the PivotTable with Salesperson selected as the Row field and CategoryName as
the Column field, with Price as the Totals field.

20
 Storing and Displaying Data in Access 1

FIGURE 1.25
A newly created PivotTable, ready to select fields.

FIGURE 1.26
A completed PivotTable.

21
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

PivotCharts
Making a PivotChart is even easier: select the data source query or table and click the PivotChart
button in the Forms group in the Create tab of the Ribbon. Figure 1.27 shows the new, blank
PivotChart with drop zones at the top and right sides of the form.

FIGURE 1.27
A new, blank PivotChart.

As with a PivotTable, you simply drag fields from the field list to the appropriate drop zones.
I dragged the OrderQuarter field to the Category field drop zone, the Supplier field to the Series
drop zone, the CategoryName to the Filter drop zone, and the Price field to the Data drop zone,
and I selected the Dairy Products category for filtering the data. Figure 1.28 shows the PivotChart
at this point.

22
 Storing and Displaying Data in Access 1

FIGURE 1.28
The PivotChart with fields assigned to its drop zones.

The next step is to give names to the chart’s vertical and horizontal axes. To name the axes, select an
Axis Title label, open the property sheet, and select its Format tab; enter the name you want to dis-
play for that axis in the Caption property, as shown in Figure 1.29. Repeat for the other axis label.

FIGURE 1.29
Naming the vertical axis of a PivotChart.

23
Part I The Office Components and What They Do Best

To make the chart’s Legend visible (generally a good idea), click the Legend button in the
Show/Hide group of the Design tab of the Ribbon, as shown in Figure 1.30.

FIGURE 1.30
Making the PivotChart’s Legend visible.

The finished Pivot Chart is shown in Figure 1.31.

FIGURE 1.31
A completed PivotChart.

Access 2007 reports have some interactivity, and PivotTables and PivotCharts have almost unlim-
ited interactivity, but both have a serious limitation: the interactivity is available only when you are
working in the Access database; when you send an Access report, PivotTable, or PivotChart to
someone else who doesn’t have Access, say as a PDF file, the recipient gets a read-only image of the
report, PivotTable, or PivotChart, with no interactivity. This may be what you want in some cases;
but if you need to deliver data in a worksheet or chart format that users can interact with, you
need to create an Excel worksheet or chart from your Access data, rather than a report, PivotTable,
or PivotChart.

24
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation.”

• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who

notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt
that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project
Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or
destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
Project Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of

any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in
the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90
days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™

electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend

considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe
and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating
the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may
be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to,
incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a
copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or
damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer
codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for

the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3,
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the
Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim
all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR
NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR
BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH
1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK
OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL
NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT,
CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF
YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you

discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving
it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by
sending a written explanation to the person you received the work
from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must
return the medium with your written explanation. The person or
entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide
a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work
electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to
give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in
lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may
demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the
problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied

warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted
by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation,

the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation,
anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with
the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or
any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission

of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.
It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and
donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the

assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a
secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help,
see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project

Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,

Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to

the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without
widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can
be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the
widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many
small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to
maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating

charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and
keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in
locations where we have not received written confirmation of
compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of
compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where

we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no
prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in
such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make

any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of
other ways including checks, online payments and credit card
donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About

Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,

including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how
to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.