Microsoft Access Database Management (VB)

This page discusses how to use VB (Visual Basic) programs to manage Microsoft Access databases.
  1. Check the Microsoft Access Database Help Pages.

  2. Start the Visual Studio Community.
    3.  Check the Microsoft Visual Basic Programming and select the following Windows options: 
       Start ⇒ All Programs
         ⇒ Visual Studio 2015
  3. Create a New Project.
    4.  For example, create a Windows application at C:\VB-workspace\WindowsApplication3\ .

  4. Use the Access to Build a Database and Tables.
    5.  Check the Microsoft Access Database Management. Under the application, create a folder such as C:\VB-workspace\WindowsApplication3\Access\ to host the database used by the application. The database created is C:\VB-workspace\WindowsApplication3\Access\Inventory.accdb, which includes only one table Grocery having 4 columns, ID (the primary key), Description, Cost, and Price.




  5. Create the User Interface.
    6.  Create a user interface such as


    by using the panes of “All Windows Forms” of “Toolbox” and “Properties.” This user interface includes


    For how to create a Visual Studio user interface, check Creating the Visual Look of Your Program: Introduction to Windows Forms.

  6. Implement the Project.
    7.  Write the events’ procedures, for example, by doubly clicking the button “Find:”


    C:\VB-workspace\WindowsApplication3\WindowsApplication3\Form1.vb 
     Imports System
 Imports System.Data
 Imports System.Data.OleDb
 Imports System.Data.SqlClient

 Public Class Form1
  Dim provider   As String
  Dim dataFile   As String
  Dim connString As String
  Public conn    As OleDbConnection = New OleDbConnection
  Public dr      As OleDbDataReader

  Private Sub Form1_Load( ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs ) Handles MyBase.Load
   provider   = "Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source ="
   dataFile   = "C:\VB-workspace\WindowsApplication3\Access\Inventory.accdb"
   connString = provider & dataFile
   conn.ConnectionString = connString
  End Sub

  Private Sub FindButton_Click( sender As Object, e As EventArgs ) Handles FindButton.Click
   conn.Open( )
   DescriptionText.Clear( )
   CostText.Clear( )
   PriceText.Clear( )

   Dim str As String
   str = "SELECT * FROM Grocery WHERE (ID = " & IDText.Text & ")"
   Dim cmd As OleDbCommand = New OleDbCommand( str, conn )
   dr = cmd.ExecuteReader
   While dr.Read( )
    DescriptionText.Text = dr("Description").ToString
    CostText.Text  = dr("Cost").ToString
    PriceText.Text = dr("Price").ToString
   End While
   conn.Close( )
  End Sub
 End Class

    This program is to display the detailed information of a grocery item by giving its ID. For how to write a Visual Basic program, check Introduction to the Visual Basic Programming Language.

  7. Build the Project.
    8.  Build the project by selecting the following VS options: 
       Build ⇒ Build Solution

  8. Execute the Project.
    9.  Close the Access and execute the project by selecting the following VS options: 
       Debug ⇒ Start Without Debugging
    One example of execution results is as follows: