OK, I upgraded to Office 2007, and the dreaded new Ribbon isn’t so bad. You just have to look around a bit to find things. But some things I just could not find.
> Where is the SendKeys macro action?
> Where is the query Clear Grid command?
Both of these questions were driving me crazy! Finally, I posted them in an Access newsgroup, hoping to find an answer. I got several, but the #1 answers came from a guy named Jeff Conrad, who, as it turns out, just happens to be one of the authors of a book we carry called Microsoft Access 2007 Inside Out.
Now, before you can get to Sendkeys, or any of the other macro actions that have gone missing, you have to be working in a Trusted database.
TRUSTED DATABASES
When you open a non-trusted database, which is any database that you haven’t set up to be trusted, you’ll see a box with the word OPTIONS. Click on Options.
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Now you’ll see an option to “enable this content”. You can do that each time you open the database, OR you can avoid that by adding it as a trusted database. To do that, click on the link that says Open the Trust Center at the bottom of the next dialog box.
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Now that you’ve opened the Trust Center, click on Trusted Locations in the left-hand bar. Then click on Add New Location (bottom right), and then add the path to your database in the resulting popup.
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I usually put my similar databases in one folder, and then set that folder as a trusted location, so I don’t have to go through this for each database I use.
Ok, now that you have trusted your database, you can finally access the missing macro actions.
SENDKEYS
Go to Create > Macro, and right above the macro action pane, click on the Show All Actions box. Now Sendkeys and all the other missing actions will be available.
Simple huh? Yeah, sure it is, once you know!
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CLEAR GRID
What about clearing the query grid? I was told to highlight all the fields and hit delete, or just close out the query and start a new one. But Jeff knew where Clear Grid was hidden!
Alright, you’ve created your query and now you’re back on the Home tab. Now look at the Sort & Filter section of the Ribbon. You’ll see Advanced. Open that up, and there she is – Clear Grid.
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- You just gotta know where to look!
Ok, so with that, and with looking around on Jeff’s Website (Sorry, Jeff’s website is no longer available), I’m convinced that I need his book! Jeff’s book is for Intermediate-to-Advanced users. I think I fit into the intermediate group. But wait, there’s more!
He also has an Access 2007 training video for Beginning-to-Intermediate users called Microsoft Access 2007: Essentials. It runs 6.6 hours. It starts with a solid introduction to Access and covers topics such as defining a database, knowing when to use Access, working with database objects, and converting older databases. (Actually, those are the first four lessons, and you can see them for free.)
Once you’re up to speed on the intricacies of Access, Jeff walks you through step-by-step procedures on how to construct your table structures, create and adapt meaningful data entry forms, as well as share tracked information with others through reports. The link above will take you to the Course Outline.
ABOUT JEFF
So now tell me, what other commands have you had trouble finding on the new Office Ribbon?
I have been looking for the SENDKEYS function since 2007 came out. I had copied Macros from 2003 databases and then tailoring them to get the SENDKEYS option into 2007 and 2010.
Thanks for this simple solution.