ACC2002: Finding Help Topics in Microsoft Access 2002 (290130)

Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

This article applies to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb) and to a Microsoft Access project (.adp).

For a Microsoft Access 2000 version of this article, see 240206.

SYMPTOMS

When you use Microsoft Access Help, you cannot seem to find any information about built-in functions, properties, or methods of objects or collections.

-or-

When you use Microsoft Access Help, you find Help topics that seem to be related to Microsoft Excel rather than to Access. For example, when you ask the Office Assistant What is the Left function, one of the topics returned is "LEFT worksheet function."

CAUSE

The files that make up the Help system of Microsoft Access 97 and earlier versions have one entry point for both Microsoft Access Help topics and Visual Basic for Applications Help topics. With the addition of the Visual Basic Editor to Access starting with Microsoft Access 2000, there are now two separate entry points into the Help files: one entry point for the Access Help files, and one for the Visual Basic Editor Help files.

Additionally, some of the Access Help files contain topics about common Microsoft Office components, such as the Office Spreadsheet, Office Chart, and Office PivotTable. Therefore, you may find topics that seem to be related to Excel.

RESOLUTION

Generally, to find topics specific to Access or how-to type questions, start the search from Access. To find topics such as syntax for built-in functions, properties, and methods of objects or collections, start the search from the Visual Basic Editor.

To start the Visual Basic Editor from Access

In the Database window, click Modules under Objects, and then click New to create a new module, or click Design to open an existing module in Design view.
To find help for a specific built-in function, type the function name in the module, place the mouse pointer in the function name, and then press F1.

MORE INFORMATION

Just because you can find help on a topic only in a particular environment does not mean that you are limited to using that topic in that environment. For example, if you are working in the Visual Basic Editor and ask the Office Assistant How do I use the Instr function, one of the topics returned is "InStr Function." This topic shows the syntax of the InStr function. But if you are working in the Access user interface and ask the Office Assistant the same question, you do not see a topic that shows the syntax of the InStr function. You can, of course, use the syntax that you find in the Visual Basic Editor Help topic in the query design grid of the Access user interface.

Many Access articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base contain references to Help. These articles tell you whether you should search for the Help topic from the Access user interface or from the Visual Basic Editor.