Access Hacks

Hack #92. Document Your Database with Total Access Analyzer

Get the full nuts-and-bolts skinny on your database.

Even a simple Access database has a lot in it. Just take a table of data, a form, a few controls, and a report, and the number of properties is in the hundreds. A large database has an unimaginable number of items in it.

Now, imagine a utility that lets you drill down anywhere in your database and uncover nuggets of information you probably didn't even know about. Enter the Total Access Analyzer by FMS, Inc. (http://www.fmsinc.com). This outstanding product tells you everything about your database. It leaves nothing out.

Running the Analyzer

After you install the Analyzer, it is available as an add-in. Regardless of which database you have open, just go to the Tools→Add-Ins menu to find the Analyzer. The Analyzer runs from a main form, shown in Figure 9-1.

Figure 9-1. Total Access Analyzer

To get started, click the Document button. This runs the Documentation Wizard, which walks you through selecting which items to document. Figure 9-2 shows the first screen of the Documentation Wizard.

After making a selection, click the Next button to bring up the wizard's second screen, shown in Figure 9-3.

On this screen, you can select to document relationships, document security, and generate field cross references that show you where fields are used throughout the database, among ...