For decades, Microsoft Access has occupied a distinct role in the business software landscape. It has served as a bridge between spreadsheets and enterprise database systems, giving power users the ability to build custom applications without the need for a full development team. This positioning made it especially valuable for departments that needed tailored solutions but did not have the resources or time to invest in larger platforms. As business requirements and software ecosystems continue to evolve, it is reasonable to reassess whether Access still provides strong value as a modern solution.
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The Shocking Truth About Microsoft’s Feedback Portal!
After a couple recent posts, such as:
- Another One Bites The Dust
- Microsoft Feedback Portal Suggestion Disappeared Again Without Notice Or Explanation
I noticed that a Feedback Portal suggestion had been removed, and then another, followed by several more. This prompted me to take a closer look at the suggestions I have posted on my site and their current status within the portal.
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How-To Recover Deleted Files
This is one of those questions that keeps continuously coming up in forums and I thought I’d quickly post a few programs that can help recover deleted files. These are programs I have used or that have been recommended by other community members in various discussions.
The following list is in no particular order. Some applications are free, others offer free trials and some are outright paid for.
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Display Help Information When Microsoft Access’ Content Is Disabled
Every developer is familiar with the lovely yellow warning banner that gets displayed by default for all Microsoft Access database until the database is either set as a Trusted Document or placed in a Trusted Location.
When Perpetual No Longer Means Perpetual
Be forewarned that Microsoft seems to be redefining the meaning of the word ‘Perpetual’ and those who bought perpetual versions of Microsoft Office may sadly be in for a real surprise.
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How To Display The Current Database Path/Name In The Access Application Title Bar
Over the years, there are a number of common questions that keep resurfacing in forums from novice developers. How to display information, commonly the database Path/Name or both, in the Access Application Title Bar is most certainly amongst those questions.
Normally, the way to populate the Microsoft Access Title is to set the option within the GUI.
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Uploading a File in Chunks in Yii2
I had a long-running application that uploaded files whenever a form was submitted, and for years everything worked perfectly.
Then came the migration.
The app needed to move to a Managed Azure App Service slot running NGINX, and that’s where we hit an unexpected problem: file uploads larger than 1 MB were being rejected.
NGINX413 Request Entity Too Large 413 Request Entity Too Large
nginx/1.28.0
At first, this seemed like a straightforward problem to fix. Some brief research indicated NGINX normally allows this limit to be changed using the client_max_body_size setting in the configuration file. We added the setting, restarted the app, and expected everything to work.
It didn’t.
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WordPress – Warning – Do NOT Upgrade to Shortcodes Ultimate 7.5.1
A quick heads up to WordPress site owners. If you use the poular Shortcodes Ultimate plugin, whatever you do, do NOT upgrade to the latest version 7.5.1 as it is causing fatal errors which crashes sites completely. Even worse, whatever the fatal error is, even the built-in WordPress “recovery mode” fails because of it.
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Thoughts of Support for Mike Wolfe and NoLongerSet.com
If you haven’t already seen it, NoLongerSet.com is temporarily offline while Mike Wolfe investigates and remediates a security incident. Although this security incident does not impact me directly, I think it important to express my respect for the transparency, quick disclosure, and responsible handling of a difficult situation.
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Microsoft Access Zoom Slider Roadmap Item Mutation
Interesting change spotted on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap for Microsoft Access. Microsoft appears to have quietly changed the Microsoft 365 Roadmap for Microsoft Access.
Previously, the roadmap included a single item:
Access: Add zoom slider magnification to Microsoft AccessMicrosoft -- Access Roadmap
Rounded Corners Coming to Microsoft Access Forms
Microsoft quietly added another new Microsoft Access item to the Microsoft 365 roadmap today: ‘Access: Rounded corners on Access form controls’.
The new ‘CornerRadius’ property will let developers give controls a softer, more modern appearance directly inside Access forms.
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Listing Microsoft Access Table Indexes with VBA Code
In any database system, indexes play a critical role in performance, data integrity, and overall application reliability. As databases grow larger and more complex over time, keeping track of how tables are indexed becomes increasingly important. That is where a utility function like ‘ListTableIndexes’ becomes especially useful.
At a high level, the purpose of the function is simple: it generates a readable summary of all indexes associated with a specific Microsoft Access table. Instead of manually opening table design views and inspecting index settings one by one, a developer or database administrator can run a single function and immediately see how a table has been structured behind the scenes.
While this may sound like a small convenience, it can save significant time in real-world environments.
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