IDBE Ribbon Creator for Access 2007 ribbon customization

[dbguyatlanta]

Anybody else using this product? I've been very pleased with it. I have
created several complex ribbons with good results.

My question: It appears to be a one-use tool. That is to say, you need to
complete your ribbon design in its entirety before you start adding code to
open forms, reports, etc. Because if you don't, if you modify the ribbon
design and import it back into your Access database, you lose whatever code
you added to basRibbonCallbacks for openining your own forms, reports, etc.

I've been tinkering with the XML to modify the ribbon after the first import
but hand coding ribbons in XML is so tedious and backwards, I'd prefer to
work in a visual design environment like IDBE. Access was afterall supposed
to be a RAD tool.

Have I missed something? Is there a way in the IDBE Ribbon Creator product
to add statements like "DoCmd.OpenForm 'frmClients'... so that my customized
code stays with the ribbon designer and gets imported into the Access
database everytime the ribbon is replaced?

I've seen the "Edit Callbacks / Tags" feature but the translation from
German is not very good and I'm having to investigate that by pure trial and
error.

Thanks

 

[Mark Andrews]

Once you do a ribbon or two I find it easier to just tweak the XML by hand
and code the basRibbonCallbacks module.
Of course most of my ribbons are not terribly complex (mostly buttons,
sometimes I hide things dynamically).

If ribbon tweaking is only a few minutes for each database I guess I don't
see the need for the tool.
Figuring out the images I want to use is usually the most work, I just use
that excel spreadsheet with all the images for reference.

I kinda like just having some XML in a table and some code in a module,
without throwing all kinds of extra things into the mix.

Nothing against the tool it's probably a good product and when I started
doing my first ribbon I really wanted a tool to use as well, since then
I guess I got used to manual XML tweaks.

That's my two cents on Ribbon design,
Sorry I don't have any extra knowledge about how the tool works,
I did start on that site by looking at all the examples,
HTH,
Mark Andrews
RPT Software
http://www.rptsoftware.com
http://www.donationmanagementsoftware.com

 

[dbguyatlanta]

Does manually creating a user interface by typing in XML code give you any
flashbacks to the Clipper and DBASE days when we used to type @SAY statements
all day? Is this what we expect from a RAD tool?

I acknowledge the benefits of using XML to define the ribbon but wow, we're
back to churning our own butter on the front porch.

Nice website by the way, looks like you have a very active/successful
business.

 

[Mark Andrews]

I wasn't much of a Clipper or DBase guy, I did a lot of Turbo Pascal and
Borland C back in the days before Windows.

However I agree with your point and yes it would be better if Microsoft
built in the Ribbon editor right into Access.
It would be better if there was more power/options for a ribbon as well. I
guess my point was why use a third party
tool when copying an existing ribbon and making a few tweaks is easier.
You got to live with what you get.

Thanks I made the website myself, it's not very graphical but gets the job
done. Business is going well so far this year.
I did create the website mostly using notepad so maybe I'm the type of guy
you doesn't mind a little markup in the mix?

I haven't looked at Access 2010 yet, I think there is some Ribbon
enhancements in that version?

Wish you luck,

--
Mark Andrews
RPT Software
http://www.rptsoftware.com
http://www.donationmanagementsoftware.com

 

[dbguyatlanta]

Turbo Pascal was a terrific product. I remember looking at database libraries
for it and was considering switching to Turbo Pascal for database projects at
one point. Some products are so well done they are fun to use. Very, very
rare these days it seems to me.

I'm guessing Microsoft hasn't bothered to provide any visual design tools
for the ribbon in Access 2010 either. The subject of the thread, IDBE Ribbon
Creator, appears to have an Access 2010 beta in the works.

 

[Mark Andrews]

I did a really quick search and came across some articles on ribbons in
2010:
http://blogs.technet.com/office2010/archive/2009/11/09/making-the-ribbon-mine.aspx
http://accesspro.blogspot.com/2009/08/microsoft-access-2010-preview-ribbon.html

Might make you happy? I'm sure lots of people who use this newsgroup know
what Access 2010
Ribbon improvements were made. I just haven't used 2010 yet.

In Turbo Pascal I did a lot of programs of a scientific nature, most didn't
use any database.
I also used a little FORTRAN and Borland C and some Expert system languages.
I then turned to Access 2.0 and jumped in full steam. Used Access everyday
for a few years
and got pretty good at it, then VB6, then Visual C++, then asp, then .net of
all kinds with SQL Server and Oracle and
all kinds of software packages and now I'm back to using Access 2007 most
days. Interesting how things work out?

I should of quit my job back when I was doing asp on IIS 1.0 and created a
business then, I would probably be a millionaire
sitting at my house in Hawaii and not on this newsgroup. Well I would have
a few houses so depending on the time of the year
I might be in Hawaii.

Mark

 

[dbguyatlanta]

Thanks for the links, I'm looking it over. I'm getting a whiff of what I
would like anyway.

It's odd the IDBE guy has an Access 2010 product if Microsoft is really
delivering the kind of visual user interface design tool many of us would
like.

http://www.ribboncreator2010.de/en/

I'm going to have to get a copy of Access 2010 and see for myself.

Do you have any Access 2007 systems deployed where you run a Access 2007
front end against a Oracle, MySQL, or SQL Server back end? ODBC or ADP? I'm
wondering what your experience has been as far as performance and reliability.

 

[Mark Andrews]

I haven't done many access database that use a different back-end. I ran a
reporting systems based on access with my report server product that did
reports off a sql server back-end and it's been in production for about 8
years now. The data warehouse collects all the data from the Oracle
Financial system and the in house CRM system (biggest FACT table is about 5
million records). The access db uses only pass-thru queries to access sql
server data and works great. So the user interface is actually web-based
but uses access on a server to generate pdf and excel files.

I'm sure others could reply about experience with different database
back-end for data entry type application.

Most of my customers are moving from no system or just an excel file to now
using an access database and most don't have sql server or oracle in house.
I have one guy who is linking a bit to an external sharepoint system (which
uses sql server).

Mark

 

[Kathy]

I am trying to use this product but I don't seem to be having much luck. I am a self taught person with Access (currently usine 2007) and I am working on a custom app for a client. I do not have any programming background so I am getting stuck. No problem with the regular built-in buttons but I want to open forms and I also want to link to pdf files but I have no idea how to do that. I tried using macros and putting the name of the macro in the "OnAction" tag. That recognizes all of my macros but they all show up in a dropdown list.
Can you help point me in the right direction?

I used the Access 2010 for a 30 day trial and I really liked it. It has helpful features to non-experts like myself.