Access 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference

G.4. Rules for Creating Names—Adding the Personal Touch

As developers, we tend to have an independent streak, which often means that we like to do things our own way. Thankfully, in most cases, there are multiple ways of achieving the desired results. That's the case with naming conventions. Even if you choose to adopt existing standards, there are plenty of opportunities to incorporate your own preferences. But before you start customizing things, it's a good idea to understand the rules. The following should help you to both work existing standards and to create standards of your own. You may find that a combination works best.

G.4.1. Starting with the Basics

Naming conventions apply to application objects, such as forms, controls, queries, and user-defined objects, as well as to Jet objects such as containers, databases, fields, queryDefs, tableDefs, and workspaces.

Consistency is the key. As stated already, you should determine your naming conventions before you create the first object in your database. So, pick your conventions or standards and apply them consistently throughout your application. Remember that even when following an established naming convention, there will be plenty of situations that challenge your interpretation of how to apply it.

Next, you should be thinking short and sweet—for names, that is. Although Access allows up to 64 characters, no one wants to type or read names that are that long. Plus, the application may need to interface with other programs ...