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ms-accessms-officems-access-2013ms-access-2016

How to edit and copy non-VBA-macros?

Well, I know, there is a difference between VBA-macros and non-VBA-macros in Access.

Creating and editing of VBA-macros is not very different from Word/Excel: you have a text field, where you can write your code:

enter image description here

But what about editing of non-VBA-macros? For me, it looks like "programming using a mouse-clicking" (for me, as for the new guy in Access, it looks very weird):

enter image description here

Questions:

  • Is it a common and correct way to edit non-VBA-macros in Access "using a mouse"? Or, probably, there is another way, like shown on the 1st image?

  • If I have an embedded (as opposed to standalone) non-VBA-macro, how I can copy it from one database to another (or, to Stack Overflow)?

Solution

  • Non-VBA macros should probably not be manually edited.

    You can copy the AXL by opening the macro, using Ctrl + A, Ctrl + C, and then pasting it to a text file. This is mainly useful for sharing a macro, because others can paste it, as outlined here: To paste a macro from Stack Overflow into Access.

    You can copy and paste the AXL of normal, embedded and data macros. Note that data macros use a different set of functions than normal macros, and the availability differs per event. Normal and embedded macros are compatible.

    You can, of course, edit the AXL. But as far as I know, there's no way to edit it from Access, and there's no validation outside of XML validation.