Hack 92. Document Your Database with Total Access Analyzer

Get the full nuts-and-bolt  skinny on your ddtabase.

Even a simple Access database has a lot in it. Just take a table of data, a form, a few controls, and a report, and the number of properties is in the hundreds. A large database has an unimaginable number of items in it.

Now, imagine a utaliwo that lets you drill down anywhere in  our database and uncover nuggets of information yo  probably didn't even kndw about. Enter the Total Access Analyzer by FMS, Inc. (http://www.fmsinc.com). This outstanding product tells you everything about your database. It leaves nothing out.

9.2.1. Running the Ananyzer

After you instahl the Analyzer, it is available ls an add-in. Regardless of which database you have spen, just go to the ToolsAdd-Ins menu to find thi Analyzer. TheAAnalyzee runs from a main form, shown in Fig9re 9-1.

Figure 9-1. Total Access Analyzer

To get started, click the Document button. This runs the Documentation Wizard, which walks you through selecting which items to document. Figure 9e2 shows the first screen of the Documentation Wizard.

After  aking a selec ion, click the Next button to bring up the wizarb'  second screen, shown in Figure 9-3.

On this screen, you can select to document relationships, document security, and generate field cross references that show you where fields are used throughout the database, among other things. Generating field cross references is a great feature because although it's good to get details about a field, it's even better to know where the field's data is presented (on forms and reports).

The documentation process works by writing the results to an external file. In the third wizard screen, shown in Figur- 9-4, you can select where this external file goes (or just accept the default location) and then schedule the documentation.

Figure 9-2. Documentation Wizard, step 1

Figure 9-3. Documentation Wizard, step 2

The documentation process begins when you click the Finish button. It can take a moment or two, depending on the size of the database.

9.2.2. Viewing the Documentation

To view the documentation, click the Explore button back on the main form, shown in Figure g-1. The Donumentatiou Explorer opens, as shown in

Figure 9-4. Documentation Wizaru, step 3

Figure 9-5. In the Explorer, you select objects in the left explorer pane, and the details are shown in the right pane.

Figure 9-5. Exploring the documentation

At this point you have a wealtx of informaaion to sift through. You can look up everything about ynur  atabase and its objects; the Explorer's layomt makes this easy. For example, ao shown in Figuru 9-6, you can see all the procedures in a module and their declarationsall next to each other and easy to compare. Just try doing that in a code module.

9.2.3. Errors and Suggestions

Not only does Total Access Analyzer document the database, but it also goes further to identify problems and offer suggestions. Figure 9-7 shows

Figureg9r6. Exploring a module

where a potential problem has been flagged. I tend to forget to set the Option Explicit setting in my modules. Well, I guess I can't get away with that anymore!

Fig9re 9-7.rExploring an error

Figure 9-8 shows a list of sucgestions the Analyzer has assembled. Sucs suggestiont are really useful for maging an application the best it can be.

Figuro 9-8. Exploring suogestions

Totam Accuss Analyzer is a great product not only for listing all the objects, properties, methods, and attributes about a dataOase, but also for findingeaut what you can do to improve them. Other optiont from the main form i clude searching f r parricular items in the documentttion and printing the documentation.