AEU29: Improved, Enhanced Message Box (Olaf Nöhring) & Enhancing Access Forms (André Minhorst)

In this session, we had two presenters from Germany. Olaf Nöhring demonstrated his improved version of the free Enhanced Message Box tool originally created by Renaud Bompuis. André Minhorst then introducd two exciting enhancements for Access applications (amvCalendar & amvExplorer). These are designed to streamline and enhance user experience.
Times:
00:00 Welcome from Colin
00:28 Olaf's intro - Improved, Enhanced Message
00:47 Standard message box features
01:24 Original Enhanced Message Box (Renaud Bompuis) copy/save; rich text; unicode support etc. Many customisation options
02:24 Olaf's improved version. Works with all Access versions from 2010 onwards (32/64-bit)
02:47 Additional features of improved version: code wizard / custom colours / default buttons / auto close / hover effects / modal or not
05:07 Message Design - CodeWizard
06:32 Code created by wizard
07:06 Required objects - 2 forms & 2 modules. No additional references needed
08:09 Demo using wizard to construct & format enhanced message box
09:30 May need to add additional line breaks at end to ensure the whole message is displayed
09:49 Other features explained - countdown till buttons enabled / change default / custom buttons etc
14:50 Paste generated code into VBA module
15:33 Download free from url.olaf-noehring.de/dialogbox
15:53 Three questions from Tim Finch:
1. use of constants instead of numbers? Yes - e.g. vbCustom
2. will it respond to automatic form resizing? (possibly - to be confirmed)
3. line break issues - suggested possible use of Wizhook Twips from Font function to calculate space required for message
21:11 Q: Colin - Does it work with unicode fonts? Yes
22:09 Q: Tim Jacobi - can button font colour be a light colour if button colour is dark? Not at the moment
23:26 Colin suggested adding colour selector
23:45 Q: Colin - do hyperlinks work within message - No
24:41 Andre's intro
25:19 amvCalendar - Presentation / Demo
25:55 Replicate Outlook calendar functionality in Access - change views (day/week/month etc). Date selector option
26:47 Working with multiple calendars - overlay & split views
28:41 Manage calendars - add / rename / delete calendar; change calendar colour
29:20 Mark appointments as done or active
29:50 Categories - add/delete/set colours
30:45 Appointments - add/edit all day events/repeating events/recurring events (series)
32:35 Work with time zones; save appointment as .ics file
33:46 Delete appointments - 5 different methods
34:25 View appointment without opening - reading mode
35:09 Search appointments using keywords. View appointments from results
35:58 Print calendars as list/split view/save to PDF
36:34 Scroll calendars in overlay mode/split view and in Goto Date feature
37:38 Can transfer appointments between amvCalendars in 2 Access apps
38:49 amvCalendar is compatible with SQL Server - buy with full source code from andreminhorst.de/amvcalendar
40:00 amvExplorer - Presentation / Demo
40:14 Use to manage external files related to Access databases e.g. customer invoices / orders / emails
40:26 Where are associated files normally stored/referenced? Use Shell in VBA to open specific folder in Explorer
42:10 amvExplorer integrates File Explorer folder into Access form
42:34 How it works - show folder for each cutomer; copy/paste files or drag & drop files/emails & email attachments etc
43:52 Rename files/folders; navigate folders; use context menu commands
44:27 Implement amvExplorer in own apps - import tables/modules . Add legacy web browser control to form to hold Explorer window
45::02 Add code to form - WithEvents variable; Form Open/Current/Unload event procedures; UpdateExplorer sub; 3 event procedures to allow specific actions
46:07 Code in Form_Open allows back/forward navigation and hiding controls when not needed
46:28 Watcher - timer controls actions in a specific folder e.g. add/remove/rename files & folders; change file contents
46:57 Using the watcher - RegisterWatcher method when form opened/ Terminate on close/WatchEvent prodcdure
47:20 Parameters of watcher event - Path/ItemName/ItemType/EventAction
48:12 Practical uses for watcher include: backup files/extract file content/add email content to table/create PDF
48:47 More features e.g. options to enable/disable specific features for users e.g. block drag & drop/file execution/changing view etc
49:52 amvExplorer - buy with full source code from andreminhorst.de/amvexplorer
50:42 Thanks & questions:
Tim Finch - can amvCalendar sync with Google Calendar? Not yet - work in progress
51:35 Ben - is this purely Access / VBA? Yes
51:42 Neil - is there a preview pane functionality in amvExplorer window? No. Not possible
52:34 Next month: Pete Poppe - Using Treeviews with Access applications - link to download instructions at isladogs.co.uk/aeu-30
54:28 Final comments. Thanks to our presenters and all those attending. Next meeting - Wed 7 Aug