Help on Help. Help on Format.

[wdsnews]

I'm converting myself from Paradox to Access and I'm totally frustrated by
Microsoft's help system. (non-help system?) Is there a reference source
built-in to Access that can be used to look up functions such as "Format"?
I know it's possible to use Format to format strings in addition to dates
and numbers, but the only help I've found is mostly about formatting dates.

In this case I want my query to end up with a text string that is exactly
ten characters long. I want to pad the front end with spaces. I want to
build a query that returns a text field that is exactly ten characters long.

I'd appreciate your pointers on using help so that I can answer my own
questions. Thank you.

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

Actually, Format wouldn't be my first choice to accomplish that (if, in
fact, it's even capable of doing it).

Try:

Right(Space(10) & MyTextString, 10)

You don't mention what version of Access you're using. Some versions (Access
2000 springs to mind) did have abyssmal help. The Help system has been
steadily improving from version to version (although in my opinion they're
still not at the level of the Access 97 help). One thing to know, though, is
that help for VBA functions (such as Format and Space and Right) needs to be
accessed from within the VB Editor.

 

[wdsnews]

wow. that was fast. Thank you.

I'm using Access 2003. Before I posted my note, I tried going in to the VBA
editor, but the help for Format was just as limited. I'll try your
suggestion.

Is there a website that provides syntax? I miss the good old days when we
could reach for a syntax manual. Then life got even better when that stuff
became available on-line as well. Now I feel helpless without any manuals
or help system.

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

Some links I use fairly often:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa296748(office.11).aspx
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa167788(office.11).aspx
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa271312(office.11).aspx