Tutor.MAY...
NEW@ 14/05/01 8:15 PM Page 2
MAY TUTOR ■
easing
into sql
T h e re’s good reason for Access pro g ra m m e rs to learn SQL. The Access query design
grid lets you construct complicated SQL st at e m e n ts with minimal diffi c u l t y. Here’ s
h ow to keep your queries error and bug fre e .
astering Access SQL (Structured
M Query Language) can be a daunt-
ing task even if you consider your-
self an Access expert. Part of the
problem is the absence of an Access-to-SQL
interface. This limitation doesn’t have to slow
you down, however, if you know how to avoid
some of the more common coding mistakes. In
this article, we’ll show you how to use the query
design grid to create SQL statements and then
how to run the statements in the Immediate
window to debug them.
You might be wondering why you should
bother to learn SQL at all. One reason is that
almost any bound object will accept a SQL
statement as its data source. Consequently, you
can often replace a fixed query with a simple
SQL statement. In addition, some queries sim-
ply can’t be replicated in the query design grid.
Only a SQL statement can implement a Union
query, for instance. Once you’re familiar with
SQL, you’ll find many convenient uses for it.
BUILD A SQL STATEMENT IN THE QUERY
DESIGN GRID
SQL statements can be extremely long and, as
106 May 2001
ACCESS SQL
such, prone to logic errors and typos, so let
Access do as much of the work for you as pos-
sible. Fortunately, you can create most basic
statements in the query design grid. Access
produces an equivalent SQL statement for every
query, and you can use this behaviour to your
advantage. To build a SQL statement in the
query design grid, begin as you would with
any normal query by choosing a data source
(table or query), clicking on the New Object
button in the Database toolbar and selecting
Query. (In Access 97, you would select the
Queries tab and click the New button.)
Once you have a data source and have
opened the query design grid, drag fields from
the field list to the grid, build relationships, add
criteria and specify sort orders. Along the way,
feel free to view the results of the query by
clicking the View button and choosing
Datasheet View.
When you’ve gone as far as you can using the
grid – you may not be able to create the com-
plete statement – click the View button and
choose SQL View and Access will display the
query’s equivalent sql statement. Finally, high-
light the statement and copy it to a module.
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In many cases, the resulting statement will
need some fine tuning. Unless you’re very adept
at writing SQL statements, though, you’ll prob-
ably find this quick-start method preferable to
writing the entire statement from scratch.
DEBUG A SQL STATEMENT IN THE QUERY
DESIGN GRID
If you make any changes to a SQL statement
after copying it from the design grid to a mod-
ule, chances are the statement won’t run cor-
rectly the first time. Unfortunately, VBA error
messages aren’t very helpful in this context.
On the other hand, the query design grid is
almost always helpful and informative. If you
can’t quickly figure out the problem, copy the
SQL statement from the module to the query
design grid and run the statement there. The
same error will occur, but the query design
grid’s error message will be more specific and
will usually help you pinpoint the mistake.
If you’d like to try this yourself, here’s a short
list of instructions that will help you through the
process:
1. Highlight the SQL statement in the module.
Don’t include the quotation marks at the begin-
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Tutor.MAY...NEW@ 14/05/01 8:15 PM Page 3
ning or the end of the statement or the VBA
method (Run SQL or Execute) you’re using to
run the SQL statement.
2. Press Ctrl-C or, alternatively, choose Copy
from the Edit menu.
3. Access the Database window (press F11 to
restore the window if it’s minimised).
4. Choose Query from the Object bar and then
click New in the Database window toolbar.
(Access 97 users should click the Queries tab
and then click the New button in the Database
window.)
5. In the resulting new query dialog, double
click Design View.
6. When Access opens the query design grid,
close the Show Table dialog without selecting
a data source.
7. Click the View button in order to open the
SQL window.
8. Press Ctrl-V or choose Paste from the Edit
menu in order to copy the SQL statement to
the SQL window.
9. Replace any variables with the appropriate
object names.
10. Select Query | Run from the Access menu
bar (or click Run on the Query Design tool-
bar.)
In step 9, we note that you must replace vari-
ables with the actual object names they repre-
sent. For example, the statement:
SELECT * FROM " & strTable & "
would return an error if you tried to run it as is
in the query design grid. You must replace the
variable strTable with an actual table or query
name. Let’s suppose you’re working with a
table named tblMyTable. You’d replace the “ &
strTable & “ section of your statement with the
table’s name as follows:
SELECT * FROM tblMyTable
After replacing all the variables with actual
object names, run the statement by clicking the
Run button on the Query Design toolbar. If the
grid evaluates the statement without returning
an error, you can assume your problem was
with the variables. If not, most likely there’s a
simple problem with the delimiting characters
(which we’ll discuss in the next section).
When variables aren’t the problem, Access
will almost always display a more compre-
hensive error message than you received from
vba. For instance, if your statement contains a
syntax error, Access usually indicates the
offending section – significantly narrowing
your search. At this point, you should be able
to spot your mistake and make the necessary
changes.
Keep working with the statement until you
receive no errors, then copy the corrected state-
ment back to the module and restore any vari-
ables you replaced in step 9. Or make the nec-
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ACCESS SQL
CAREFUL CONCATENATION
One of the most typical SQL mis-
takes isn’t even a SQL error; it’s a
concatenation error. Omitting the
necessary spaces between the SQL
statement and the variables you’re
concatenating, for example, is com-
mon. The seemingly correct state-
ment
d b . E x e c u t e " S E L E C T * I N T OName”
tblNewTable & "FROM tblOldTable
WHERE tblOldTable.LastName" &
strCriteria & won’t" ; "work
because there’s no space between
the INTO keyword and the table
name. There’s also space missing
between the table name and the
FROM clause. Let’s take a look at
how this statement evaluates, so
you can see the actual error.
Let’s suppose you’re creating a
new table named tblNewTable with
records from tblOldTable that con-
tain “Smith” in the LastName field.
In this case, the SQL st at e m e n t
above would evaluate to SELECT *
I N T O t b l N e w T a b l e F R O M t b l O lWHERE
Table WHERE tblOldTable. Last-strCriteria & ";"
Name = 'Smith';
Evaluated, the missing spaces are
easy to spot. You can’t readily see
essary corrections to the statement in the mod-
ule (as long as the concatenated variables
weren’t part of the original problem).
AVOID CONCATENATION ERRORS
Using the query design grid to track down prob-
lems in SQL statements is a great trick, but
replacing the variables first can be a pain. You
can easily make a mistake in the process and
not know it, further complicating your debug-
ging task.
You can avoid the variable problem by
adding a few extra lines of code to your VBA
procedure. The additional code will print an
evaluated SQL statement in the Immediate win-
dow. By evaluated, we mean that VBA will
replace all of the variables with the appropri-
ate object names. Copying the evaluated ver-
sion from the Immediate window to the query
design grid relieves you of the aggravating task
of replacing the variables and completely elim-
inates the possibility of introducing typos (and
■ MAY TUTOR
this error in the basic statement,
though, so you can spend a lot of
time rewriting the statement with-
out ever correcting the actual error.
The correct statement
db.Execute "SELECT * INTO " &
tblNewTable & " FROM tblOld-
Table WHERE tblOldTable.Last-
" & & strCriteria & ";" should
run, provided strCriteria is valid.
If you have too much trouble with
concatenation, consider defining a
constant that consists of a space
ch a ra c t e r, and use the const a n t
instead of a space. This can make
your statement more readable and
therefore a bit easier to debug. For
instance, after defining the space
character as a constant using the
statement Const conSpace = " "
you can include the constant in the
statement
db.Execute "SELECT * INTO" &
conSpace & tblNewTable& con-
S p a c e & “ F R O M t b l O l d T a b l e
d- tblOldTable.LastName" &
Some might consider this approach
overkill, but the solution that works
for you is what you should use.
hence additional errors) into your statement.
The code that follows shows an example of
this easy trick:
strCriteria = " = 'Smith'"
strSQL = "SELECT * INTO tblNewTable FROM
tblOldTable WHERE " & "tblOldTable
.LastName" & strCriteria & ";"
Debug.Print strSQL
The first two lines assign the search criteria
and the basic SQL statement to the string vari-
ables strCriteria and strSQL. The Debug.Print
statement then prints the evaluated statement
to the Immediate window. If the statement
returns an error, open the Immediate window
(by pressing Ctrl-G or clicking the Code button,
depending on what window is active). Now
copy the evaluated version
SELECT*INTOtblNewTableFROMtblOldTable
WHERE tblOldTable.LastName = 'Smith';
to the query design grid (instead of copying
the original statement from the VBA module)
and run it there. Notice that the evaluated ver-
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MAY TUTOR ■
ACCESS SQL

sion includes the actual name of the data source view this query’s SQL statement, shown in Fig- your changes when prompted. The control will
and the criteria string, not the variables shown ure 2, by choosing SQL View from the View update accordingly.
in the code listing above. button at the far left of the toolbar. You can SQL can be difficult to work with; even the
Not only is this solution easier, but you avoid also see the results of the query by choosing experts occasionally fret over a statement. For-
introducing typos. Don’t wait until you have a Datasheet View. tunately, Access offers a number of tools to
problem with a SQL statement, though; get in As you can see, this builder is flexible – you make the task easier. The query design grid
the habit of adding this functionality to your can view three different forms of the same gives you an easier way to create SQL state-
code so it’s available when you need it. query. You can bounce back and forth between ments than trying to create them from scratch.
the builder, the SQL statement, and the results In addition, you can debug statements by copy-
QUICK RESULTS WITH THE QUERY BUILDER until you get the statement just right, at which ing evaluated statements from the Immediate
Access SQL isn’t limited to queries and VBA time you simply close the builder and save window to the query design grid.
modules; controls often use a SQL statement
instead of a saved query as the Row Source
property. Fortunately, you don’t have to create
the appropriate statement from scratch; you
can use the SQL statement query builder. (We’ll
show you how to access this builder in just a
minute.) In the open builder, you’ll choose
fields and express criteria in the query design
grid, just as you would in a normal query. The
builder then converts your work into a SQL
statement. You don’t actually have to know Figure 1: The SQL Statement Query Builder launches a query design grid.
SQL at all.
Let’s take a look at an example. Open in
Design View any form that contains a combo
or list box, or open a blank form and add a
combo or list box. Double click the combo or
list box to open its property sheet, and click the
Build button that appears when you select the
Row Source property field. This launches the
SQL statement query builder, which is a sim-
ple query design grid. Modify the grid as you
would a query. (If you’re working with an
existing control, the grid will display an equiv-
alent sql statement in the query design grid.)
Figure 1 shows a simple expression that will
display a list of concatenated fields – FirstName
and LastName. In other words, the combo or
Figure 2: The query in Figure 1 and the SQL statement here represent the same question.
list control will display a list of names. You can

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