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Alison Balter's Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2003
What Alison¿s book offers over other books in that she is able to take a highly technical topic and present it in a manner that is easy to comprehend. It is a book that the reader will often want to read from cover to cover, but it can also act as an excellent reference. Readers of this book will learn:
- Access 11 application development and real-world solutions to specific development and programming problems.
- Professional programming techniques backed by concise, no-nonsense explanations of the underlying theories.
- Debugging and troubleshooting methods to solve problems quickly and get stalled development projects back on track.
- ISBN-100672325500
- ISBN-13978-0672325502
- Edition1st
- PublisherSams Publishing
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 2004
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions7.34 x 2.08 x 9 inches
- Print length1392 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Balter's basic approach is to introduce a concept (say, the Implements keyword or ADO Database objects) and quickly explain its purpose with prose, then provide an example of how the concept works in practice. Which is to say, she provides a code sample. Because of this strategy, almost every page of this book has code on it. However, the author appears to have made a conscious effort to keep her code snippets short and easily comprehensible. Long, difficult-to-trace listings that span multiple pages are thankfully absent. Balter also does a good job of illustrating the Access development environment, including many screen shots of Access at work and of the applications that result from her code. This is a detailed, carefully considered book that will make sense to all but the most inexperienced Access users. --David Wall
Topics covered: How to write applications with Microsoft Access 2003. Noteworthy coverage deals with the Access way of handling object orientation, clever form-design strategies, and scores of techniques for performing various procedures on databases. Security coverage is good, too.
From the Back Cover
What Alison¿s book offers over other books in that she is able to take a highly technical topic and present it in a manner that is easy to comprehend. It is a book that the reader will often want to read from cover to cover, but it can also act as an excellent reference. Readers of this book will learn:
- Access 11 application development and real-world solutions to specific development and programming problems.
- Professional programming techniques backed by concise, no-nonsense explanations of the underlying theories.
- Debugging and troubleshooting methods to solve problems quickly and get stalled development projects back on track.
About the Author
Alison Balter is the president of InfoTechnology Partners, Inc., a computer consulting firm based in the rural Santa Rosa Valley Area, close to Camarillo, California. Alison is a highly experienced independent trainer and consultant specializing in Windows applications training and development. During her 19 years in the computer industry, she has trained and consulted with many corporations and government agencies. Since Alison founded InfoTechnology Partners, Inc. (formerly Marina Consulting Group) in 1990, its client base has expanded to include major corporations and government agencies such as Shell Oil, Accenture, Northrop, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Prudential Insurance, Transamerica Insurance, Fox Broadcasting, the U.S. Navy, and others.
InfoTechnology Partners, Inc., is a Microsoft Certified Partner, and Alison is a Microsoft Certified Professional. Alison was one of the first professionals in the computer industry to become a Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer.
Alison is a partner in the multimedia training company Blast Through Learning, Inc., and is the author of more than 300 internationally marketed computer training videos and CD-ROMs, including 18 Access 2000 videos, 35 Access 2002 videos, and 15 Access 2003 videos. These videos and CD-ROMs are available by contacting Alison's company, InfoTechnology Partners, Inc. Alison travels throughout North America, giving training seminars on Microsoft Access, Visual Studio .NET, Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Basic, and Visual Basic for Applications. She is also featured in several live satellite television broadcasts for National Technological University.
Alison is a regular contributing columnist for Access/Office/VB Advisor as well as other computer publications. She is also a regular on the Access, Visual Studio .NET, SQL Server, and Visual Basic national speaker circuits. She was one of four speakers on the Visual Basic 4.0 and 5.0 World Tours seminar series co-sponsored by Application Developers Training Company and Microsoft.
Alison is also the author of six other books published by Sams Publishing: Alison Balter's Mastering Access 95 Development, Alison Balter's Mastering Access 97 Development, Alison Balter's Mastering Access 2000 Development, Alison Balter's Mastering Access 2002 Desktop Development, Alison Balter's Mastering Access 2002 Enterprise Development, and Learning Office Access 2003 in 24 Hours. Alison is a coauthor of three Access books published by Sams Publishing: Essential Access 95, Access 95 Unleashed, and Access 97 Unleashed.
An active participant in many user groups and other organizations, Alison is a past president of the Independent Computer Consultants Association of Los Angeles and of the Los Angeles Clipper Users' Group.
On a personal note, Alison keeps herself busy horseback riding, skiing, ice skating, running, lifting weights, hiking, traveling, and dancing. She most enjoys spending time with her husband, Dan, their daughter, Alexis, their son, Brendan, and their golden retriever, Brandy.
Alison's firm, InfoTechnology Partners, Inc., is available for consulting work and on-site training in Microsoft Access, Visual Studio .NET, Visual Basic, and SQL Server, as well as for Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows XP, PC networking, and Microsoft Exchange Server. You can contact Alison by email at Alison@InfoTechnologyPartners.com, or visit the InfoTechnology Partners Web site at http://www.InfoTechnologyPartners.com.
Product details
- Publisher : Sams Publishing
- Publication date : January 1, 2004
- Edition : 1st
- Language : English
- Print length : 1392 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0672325500
- ISBN-13 : 978-0672325502
- Item Weight : 4.75 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.34 x 2.08 x 9 inches
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Alison Balter is the founder of InfoTechnology Partners, Inc., a computer consulting firm in California. She is a highly experienced trainer and consultant, specializing in Windows applications. During her 17 years in the computer industry, she has helped many Fortune 500 corporations as well as government agencies. The author of over 300 internationally-marketed computer training videos for KeyStone Learning Systems Corporation, Alison has also written several bestselling books for Sams Publishing.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonTop reviews from the United States
- 5 out of 5 stars
If you only buy one book on Access development. . .
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2004Do you want a book that will cover more area about Access development than you could ever imagine? This is it. Don't even think about "Should I buy this" - just get it. Alison has a superb way of writing, and her organization of topics is just short of perfect.
I use this book in my Access Development class at a local college. It covers the necessary topics on the Access objects and is easily understood by even beginning developers.
Well documented with code examples. And the CD has all the book's code included. A fine reference book that I use almost daily.
5 people found this helpfulSending feedback...Sending feedback...HelpfulThank you for your feedback.Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try againThanks, we'll investigate in the next few days.Sorry, We failed to report this review. Please try again - 4 out of 5 stars
An Advanced Introduction
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2006This text is nothing if not thorough. It covers virtually every aspect of using Microsoft Access 2003 and most of it is done in a clear and thorough manner. It does not only teach the use of the program, it teaches the use of relational databases and some of the theory behind them. Best of all, it teaches good habits which, when adhered to, cut down on problems later on down the line. It is an excellent text.
There are some things it could do better. The book ships with a disk that has plenty of examples of database objects and of VBA programming code. The examples generally make the points they are intended to make, particularly the programming ones, but they could be better. If they were to build upon each other towards the completion of a greater project, I believe some of the points would be better made. Instead, they are generally isolated examples and too much use is made of the venerable old Northwind Trading Company database which ships with access.
This book is meant as an introduction but it is a fairly advanced one. Persons reading it would be well served to have some programming experience in the later chapters although the early chapters should be very accessible for all. After the basics, it goes into more advanced topics such as programming and use as a distributed application.
18 people found this helpfulSending feedback...Sending feedback...HelpfulThank you for your feedback.Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try againThanks, we'll investigate in the next few days.Sorry, We failed to report this review. Please try again - 2 out of 5 stars
Not a Reference, Not Easy to Skip Around
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2007I am a programmer with extensive 3GL and database experience, and wanted to get to know Access better. The reviews and table of contents showed the book to be thorough, and online browsing proved it a very readable text.
This book seems to be a compilation of her training seminars. So while it is extensive in its coverage, and very readable, after two months I still cannot use it to look up a concept or function in the index and get a solid introduction or clear picture of how to use it.
Organizationally, it is difficult to pick out one topic, such as click events, and get a handle on it. The topics aren't always listed in the - extensive - index. Further, as explained in the book intro, topics are often covered piecemeal, as is relevant to the overall application being built throughout the book.
Last and most disappointing, I did not find enough definitions and explanations to help me understand the terminology specific to Access. Instead I had to jump about the book, reading every snippet on a topic, and piece it together myself.
12 people found this helpfulSending feedback...Sending feedback...HelpfulThank you for your feedback.Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try againThanks, we'll investigate in the next few days.Sorry, We failed to report this review. Please try again - 5 out of 5 stars
Great book!
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2010I've been using her books since forever and only bought this because my old one for Access XP was falling apart after years of use. It's the best Access book I've ever used. If you want to learn Access, buy this book.
Sending feedback...Sending feedback...HelpfulThank you for your feedback.Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try againThanks, we'll investigate in the next few days.Sorry, We failed to report this review. Please try again - 3 out of 5 stars
Alison Balter's Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2003
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2005comes with a fairly good cd that ends part way through what would have been a good primer, with a lead-in to purchase a rather expensive follow-on. disappointing
3 people found this helpfulSending feedback...Sending feedback...HelpfulThank you for your feedback.Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try againThanks, we'll investigate in the next few days.Sorry, We failed to report this review. Please try again - 5 out of 5 stars
Review of Alison Balter's Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2003
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2009It meets my needs for now. The book is laid out well and easy to understand. Not much engineerese there. I highly recommend it.
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The Bible of MS Access!!!
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2007I bought this book about a year ago when I landed a job at which I am responsible for designing, creating, and administering various Access databases. I have used Access for about 4 years, so I thought that I was ready to tackle any task that was thrown my way - until the company started throwing advanced tasks my way. I immediately went out and bought Alison Balter's book. I scanned through the book for about 2 hours when I first bought it. I bookmarked several pages that I thought could help me out with my Access projects. The next day at work, I started to apply the information in this book immediately. I keep this book by my side at all times! I keep the book in my car to make sure that I never leave it at home by mistake. This isn't a beginner book (the user level on the back says "intermediate-advanced") so it would be good to have some Access knowledge before using this book. This book isn't a "hold your hand" book or a "step-by-step" book. It's a book that will take the knowledge of any intermediate-advanced Access user to the next level. What makes it even better is Alison herself. I was asked to create a report that uses a form to gather the criteria for the report. I was trying to utilize a technique that Alison showed in chapter 10 of the book ("Advanced Report Techniques"), but I didn't have all of the code because my son broke my CD. I e-mailed her and asked her if there was a place where I could download the files. She replied the same day, and sent all of the books CD content to me! I was able to use the chapter 10 files to get the report working properly. Thanks to Alison and her book (which I have used to do several neat and advanced things), I'm being viewed as an Access genius here at work. When/if my company upgrades to Access 2007, I will definitely upgrade to Alison Balter's Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2007. More-than-likely, I'll buy the book the same day! Thanks Alison!
6 people found this helpfulSending feedback...Sending feedback...HelpfulThank you for your feedback.Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try againThanks, we'll investigate in the next few days.Sorry, We failed to report this review. Please try again - 2 out of 5 stars
Good starting point if you are forced to run 2013
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2015Returned it! Not all that great if you are a power user
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