ms-access - someone else's project

i have been hired to take over a ms-access database. i know sql and vb.net and vba; however i dont have experience with ms-access.

this开发者_StackOverflow中文版 is what it looks like:

alt text http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/2465/test2xk.jpg

what steps should i take to start to understand the structure ?

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Pretty much the same as you would do taking over any other project. Read the documentation, understand what the program is expected to do, get with the stakeholders and determine the current status and pending work items, see the software in action, play around with things as much as you can to get a good understanding.

Then you can go into the code to figure out what it is doing.

MS Access usually has

• Tables
• Queries
• Forms
• Reports
• Macros
• Modules

Review all of these in your MDB and figure out how they are used.

Imp points:

• Make sure you have backups before you change anything.
• work in Dev, not in Prod :)
• Use VSS (or any other source code control system that Access ties into)

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I would definitely give the Object Dependencies a look. That will allow you to look at the structural of the piece of the database. Then you will be able to go and look at the front end UI (forms, reports, etc.)

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read the documentation and jump into the code?

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If you have a good understanding of VB / VB.net you should have no problems to easily dive into MS Access and fix / update issues

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All the other answers are good, but here are some practical tips from doing exactly what you've likely been doing (!):

• Check the startup code [Access 2003 · Tools menu · Startup...] for: an initial form/page ['Display Form/Page:'], an icon, etc.
• Check any custom menu bars [Access 2003 · Tools menu · Customize...] and then right-click on the menu bars you should see [you are opening the .mdb while holding down Shift (to prevent startup code from running), right? (so you can see all the menu bars in case they're being hidden for some reason by the startup code)]
• Check for a Macro named Autoexec (or alternately-capitalized versions thereof) – that macro is evaluated when the .mde / .mdb is opened (unless the Shift key is held down)

As for the rest, you'll have to follow the advice above and simply follow the code.