Access 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference

3.6. End-User Enhancements

Access 2003 provides a seemingly endless list of new features and enhancements that benefit both the developer and the end user. Since these features are primarily in the user interface, they are grouped together as end-user enhancements. This is not to say that developers do not benefit tremendously. In fact, Pivot charts, XML, and integration with SharePoint services are prime examples of features that really leverage the developer skills to create impressive applications.

3.6.1. Pivot Charts

Pivot charts were introduced in Access 2002. Amazingly, they are like golden nuggets hiding under a rock; they have not been publicized and exploited. Anyone who is struggling with cross tab queries should take a look at PivotTable and PivotChart views for forms.

These incredibly powerful views allow users to look at data in countless ways. It can be drilled into, grouped by criteria, limited to the top X, expanded, sorted, totaled, subtotaled, charted, diagramed, and the list of criteria is seemingly endless. The number of chart options is absolutely amazing, and developers can let the user interact with the data and even change the chart type on the fly.

Although there are wizards for creating PivotCharts and PivotTables, most people find them rather intuitive, especially after doing a couple of experiments. And, they are so easy to modify after they are setup that you will want the ability to change them. There are several ways to create a PivotChart. In addition ...