Acknowledgments

When I first saw Access in July 1992, I was instantly sold on this new-generation database management and access tool. I've spent the last 15 years using Access virtually every day. In fact, I eat, breathe, live, and sleep Access!

The fact that it's possible to earn a living working principally with a single product is a tribute to the Microsoft Access designers. This product has changed the productivity of corporations and private citizens of the world. More people use this product to run their businesses, manage their affairs, track the most important things in their lives, and manage data in their work and play than any other product ever written. It is a privilege to be part of this worldwide community.

The Microsoft Office Access 2010 Bible has been completely rewritten for Access 2010, with many new examples and more in-depth coverage. I've covered every new feature I could think of for the beginning and intermediate users and especially enhanced the programming section. Over 500,000 copies of Access Bibles have been sold for all versions of Microsoft Access; for this, I thank all those loyal readers.

My first acknowledgment is to all the users of Access who have profited and benefited beyond everyone's wildest dreams.

There are many people who assisted me in writing this book; I'd like to recognize each of them.

To Katie Mohr, Jodi Jensen, Tiffany Ma, and the editorial and administrative staff at Wiley. Thanks for the opportunity to work on this book!

A very big thanks to Doug Steele for his excellent technical editing of the Access 2010 Bible. Doug is a highly regarded member of the Access community and has been recognized by Microsoft as an MVP as far back as I can remember. Doug and I go way back to the days when every version of Access was a new game, and I am honored to have Doug onboard as technical editor. Doug's long, long experience with Access shows on every single page of this book. He let me get away with nothing — he caught problems in examples that I've used many, many times as an Access instructor for AppDev (Application Developer's Training Company) and presenter at the Advisor conferences. Doug's well-known sense of humor never left him as he labored over the chapters in this book, and I learned a lot from his suggestions and guidance.

I can never thank enough Elizabeth Kuball, my sorely neglected project editor on both the Access 2007 Bible and now the Access 2010 Bible. Elizabeth made countless corrections to my prose, catching hundreds of misspellings and grammatical errors, and suggesting better ways to convey complex concepts. Elizabeth did her level best to keep me on schedule, and made sure deadlines did not slip any more than humanly possible. Elizabeth never seems to sleep, and even though we are separated by three time zones, she responded to my e-mails within minutes every time. This book is much, much better for her hard work and diligence.

To Carole McClendon, the very best literary agent in the business, and all the folks at Waterside Productions for being my agent.

Thanks also to Rob Tidrow. Years ago, Rob and I worked together at New Riders Publishing in Indianapolis, and it was he who recommended me as the lead author of the Access Bible. Thanks, Rob!

A special thank-you to Clint Covington, Kerry Westphal, Steve Greenberg, Greg Lindhorst, Ryan McMinn, Suraj Poozhiyill, Russell Sinclair, Wouter Steenbergen, Chris Downs, Eran Megiddo, and the rest of the Microsoft Access 2010 team! You've built a terrific product, and I thank you! Thank you for your irreplaceable help getting this book done on time.

As an Access developer, I strongly suggest you visit the Access Team Blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/access/) every few days. The Access development team frequently updates this site with white papers, articles, and news on what's happening with Microsoft Access. All too often, we think of Microsoft as a huge, faceless corporation that doesn't listen to user feedback, but I promise you that the Access team really, really wants to hear from you. The Access Team Blog is not a marketing Web site; instead, it is a gathering place for Access enthusiasts and supports a strong peer-to-peer exchange between Access developers in the field (that's you!) and the people who actually write the specifications and code for each new version of Microsoft Access. I've met the Access team members on many occasions, and I'm always impressed with their dedication and desire to learn more about how people use Microsoft Access.

Thanks to these wonderful people, I'm able to deliver a quality book to my readers.

Finally, I dedicate this book to Pam. You are the one. Vos es panton volo.

—Mike Groh