Document Your Access Database With Visual Basic

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Document Your AccessDatabase With Visual Basic

• Presented by
• Joseph J. Sarna Jr.
• JJS Systems, LLC

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Documentation Is a Necessary Evil!

• Does the client require documentation?
• What do follow-on developers need to know about
  your application?
• What do YOU need to know six months from now?

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Types of Documentation

• We need to provide
• Database documentation
• File format documentation
• Registry entry documentation
• Project and code documentation

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Database Documentation

• Tables
• Field names, data types, descriptions, valid data
  ranges, etc.
• Views/Queries/Stored Procedures
• Definitions and SQL strings

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File Formats Documentation

• Layouts of any special file types used
• XML schema
• Ini file formats
• Application specific files

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Registry Entries Documentation

• Locations and purposes of all registry entries
• Location and purposes of all Active Directory
  interactions (additions if users, roles, groups,
  etc.)
• Do not need to include entries made by Setup
  program

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Project Code Documentation

• Directory structures of files
• Reporting formats
• Technical specifications
• Code procedures

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Using Visual Basic to Generate Database
Documentation

• DBDoc.vbp
• By Tim Patrick, from Visual Basic Programmers
  Journal, July 2001 - http//www.vbstyleguide.com/
• This application reads the database structures of
  tables using ADO and ADOX and then writes the
  document to an HTML file.
• Modified by J. Sarna to include Views/Queries

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ADO Object Models

• Three object models of ADO provide the
  functionality found in DAO.
• ADO
• Microsoft ADO Extensions for DDL and Security
  (ADOX)
• Microsoft Jet and Replication Objects (JRO).
• mk_at_MSITStoreC\Microsoft Visual
  Studio\MSDN\2001JUL\1033\techart.chm/html/daotoa
  do.htm

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ADO and ADOX

• The ADO model allows access and manipulation of
  data through any OLE DB provider
• The ADOX model contains objects for data
  definition (such as tables, views, and indexes)
  and creating and modifying users and groups.
• With ADOX, one can control database schema and
  grant and revoke permissions on objects to users
  and groups

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DBDoc Example Code

• C\Visual Basic Projects\DBDoc\DBDoc.vbp
• Add a reference to Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects
  2.5 Library.
• Add a reference to Microsoft ADO Ext. 2.5 for DDL
  and Security.

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Closing

• Document your project for your own safety!
• Find methods that will automate this
  documentation