News

Minor Update

A minor update has been applied to the system, increasing the version to 1.1.1. This fixes a bug that causes Access to hang on exit under the following circumstances:

When one or more quick query windows is open with unsaved changes and the user closes Access, then any open quick query windows will prompt the user to save or abandon the changes. Regardless of which option was chosen, Access would not close down correctly. This is now resolved.

Major Features Update

A new major update has been released, increasing the version to 1.1.0. The following features have now been added, improved context highlighting and bracket matching, multi level undo and redo, improved stability, the ability to run several queries at the same time, and the ability to interrupt queries part way through.

Improved context highlighting and bracket matching
The way in which highlighting is performed has been completely reworked, fixing many minor issues with keywords appearing in string values, etc. Text within square brackets and quotation marks will now have a fixed color and style. The performance has also been improved, especially when typing several brackets at a time.

Multi Level Undo and Redo
Undo and redo functions have now been added, allowing you to reverse any changes made.

Improved stability
Each window now runs completely independently of each other, so running a query in 1 window does not cause other windows to freeze.

Run several queries at the same time
As each window now runs independantly of each other, several queries can be executed at once.

Interrupt queries part way through
Running a query no longer freezes the interface, and you are provided with a cancel button to interrupt the query if it is taking longer than expected.

Minor Update

A minor update has been applied to the system, increasing the version to 1.0.1. This fixes a bug that caused the system not to run correctly when both .Net 1.1 and .Net 2 are installed.

Site Launch

Version 1.0 of Quick Query is now ready. This application was first conceived while trying to develop complex queries against a MS Access database. Being used to developing using SQL Server, trying to use MS Access in the same way became frustrating very quickly.

To generate a basic query in Access using SQL you have to create a new query in Design View, Close the table selection box then switch to SQL mode. After opening several windows at once, the working environment soon became cluttered and difficult to manage. Once you have written your query, when you try to run it, the query disappears and the results are then displayed. To get back to your SQL, you have to explicitly select SQL view from either the view menu, or the view dropdown.

The SQL view itself is also difficult to use. There is no context sensitive highlighting, and Access has a tendency to reformat your code, which reduces readability.

This is where Quick Query comes in. It provides an easy way to manage queries and perform simple, quick operations without the extra steps. You can have several views of your data at the same time, and as the windows exist outside the Access environment, you can manage your forms and tables without the query windows getting in the way. The context sensitive highlighting and bracket matching makes your code instantly more readable, even after it has been reformatted by Access.

I hope you find this software useful, please report any bugs using the link on the website, providing as much details as possible, and I will respond ASAP.

Copyright© Mark Burkitt 2007. All rights reserved.