Fitness 57

Global Event Handler Trick to Instantly Save and Recalculate Any Form in Microsoft Access. Fitness #57

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Changing Clocks is Still Dumb! We Must Abolish Daylight Saving Time! Nov 2025 Edition

Hey folks, Richard Rost with Computer Learning Zone. Time for my semi-annual rant about how changing the clocks is dumb. And yes, I will keep posting a new video twice a year until this dumb practice is over.

Watch the video here

Like everyone else, I spend a good chunk of time twice a year running around my house changing clocks. My computer, my phone, my Alexa devices, my smartwatch, they've all got it figured out. But everything else, forget it. I've got the digital clock in the bedroom, one in the garage, the car clock that requires an engineering degree, the stove, the microwave, the coffee maker, the wall clock, the oven timer, the air fryer, the old VCR that I keep around just so I can be mad at it. Every single one needs manual intervention.

It's like a time-themed scavenger hunt that I never signed up for. I'm half expecting to find one hiding in the freezer. Why am I doing this twice a year?

Now here in Florida, we get a special spin on the madness. A few years back, our state proudly passed the so-called Sunshine Protection Act to keep daylight saving time year-round. Everyone cheered, we patted ourselves on the back and then nothing happened. Because surprise, we actually need federal approval before we can stop pretending it's 1918.

So we're all down here in the Sunshine State, ready to stop changing clocks, just waiting on Congress to remember that we exist. And here's the kicker, even President Trump said he was on board with making the change. He campaigned on it. He literally called it inconvenient and costly to the nation. So we've got bipartisan agreement on something for once and still, Congress has been sleeping on the job and still getting paid.

In the shutdowns, the hearings, the grandstanding, they can't seem to get around to actual legislation that would make a difference in people's daily lives. Now I get it, there are bigger fires to put out, but come on, this one's easy. Just pick a time and stick with it. Arizona and Hawaii already figured it out. Meanwhile, the rest of us are running around like confused time travelers twice a year.

So here's my appeal to my fellow Floridians. Try saying that ten times fast - fellow Floridians. Let's do what Arizona and Hawaii already figured out decades ago. Let's just stick with standard time year-round and be done with it.

We don't need congressional approval to stop playing this twice-a-year game of guess-what-time-it-is. Instead of changing the clocks, just change what we do. For those of you who are worried that it's too dark for kids in the morning waiting for the school bus, start school a little later. If you want more daylight after work, start work earlier. If you're worried the sun's going to set before you finish the 18th hole of your second round, hit the course earlier. Problem solved. It's way easier than convincing a do-nothing Congress to amend the law from the 1960s, especially a Congress that can barely agree on what day it is.

Alright, so for those of you who didn't catch my last rant, here's a quick recap. Changing clocks is bad for your health, bad for your schedule, bad for your software, and bad for your sanity. Your taxes go up, productivity goes down, and somewhere a poor IT guy is patching another database because timestamps don't match. We've got smart lights that can sense sunrise, but we're still acting like we're saving whale oil for the war effort.

Honestly, if we're going to keep doing this, we might just as well randomly change the calendar too. Let's move lunch to 3 a.m. and call Thursday New Monday. Embrace the chaos.

And now it's time for me to share a few of my favorite memes that people have submitted to me since the last video. This one's from Platinum Member Donald Blackwell. Love a good Star Trek meme. This one's from YouTube Member Fitz027. This one's from Gold Member Anna Blakely. If you've got a good meme you want to send to me, post it in the comments, email it to me, post it on the website, maybe it'll be included in the next video.

Alright, for those of you who haven't seen it yet, here's the rest of my previous video, and yes, I'm going to keep adding to this every year until something actually changes.

Hey folks, it's Richard Rost with Computer Learning Zone. It's that time of the year again. It's my semi-annual rant about how changing clocks is dumb. And I used to complain about daylight saving time, but it's not just daylight saving time. If you want to keep extra sunlight hours in the summer, that's fine. I don't care. Just leave the clocks alone. Stop messing with them.

And while we're at it, hey, President Trump, this one's for you. You've been signing all kinds of executive actions. Why not take a shot at this? I know it technically requires an act of Congress, but you renamed the Gulf of Mexico, so why not push this through and see what happens? Why wait for Congress? The great state of Florida, of which your residence has already voted to get rid of this dumb stuff. And you expressed support for eliminating it during your campaign. You called it inconvenient and, quote, very costly to the nation, unquote. You said the Republican Party would use its best efforts to eliminate daylight saving time. So let's get this done. Make it happen. Or as Picard would say, make it so.

Alright, for the rest of you, here's the rest of my previous video. So you get all the history and all the good stuff about daylight saving time and why it's so dumb. And yes, I said savings again. It's a habit.

Hey folks, Richard Rost from Computer Learning Zone. I know you just had to watch this video back in November, but I'm going to keep posting it until our lawmakers finally get rid of this stupid practice of changing clocks twice a year. It's dumb. And clearly, I'm not the only person who feels this way. Look at these people. This guy is so angry, his legs fell off his body. And this guy brought his cello to the party. So yeah, it's not just me.

Hey folks, this is Richard Rost with Computer Learning Zone. I want to just take a minute to say that we should abolish daylight saving time once and forever. It's dumb. It's time to stop changing the clocks twice a year. DST is dumb. It causes problems with both people and computers, and we're going to talk about that in just a minute. And it's time to get rid of it.

So daylight saving time was originally introduced in Germany and Austria in 1908 to conserve energy during the war. In the United States, we had the Uniform Time Act of 1966. That's what gave us daylight saving time. And it's daylight saving time, not savings time. I know I catch myself saying it wrong from time to time as well. And that's how dumb daylight saving time is.

And of course, it's a big myth that it was to help the farmers with their crops when actually the agricultural industry lobbied against DST. They hate it. No, that's a big myth.

Now Arizona, which we'll talk about in a minute, and Hawaii passed state laws to exempt themselves from DST. So they're on standard time year-round. Twenty-nine other states, including where I live in Florida, have passed state laws to make DST permanent. However, and this is why it's stupid, since doing anything other than exempting yourself from DST goes against that law we talked about. It requires congressional approval because it's interstate commerce and blah, blah, blah.

So we could exempt ourselves in Florida from DST, which means we'd be on standard time all year round, but we don't want that. They want to make DST permanent, so that requires congressional approval. The whole thing is dumb.

And let's talk about some more craziness inside of Arizona. You've got this mess. Arizona is exempt from DST. However, inside Arizona, you've got the Navajo Nation, which does observe DST. But then inside the Navajo Nation is the Hopi Nation, which does not observe DST. So yeah, it's crazy.

Now the Sunshine Protection Act, introduced by two Floridians, Senator Marco Rubio and Rep. Vern Buchanan, was aimed at making DST permanent and it's been introduced in Congress multiple times. It's passed in the Senate, but it's not passed in the House. So the House members need to get their butts moving. And no, those pictures in no way represent my feelings toward Congress.

Now, in addition to being a nuisance, DST has been shown to have many negative effects on humans. It can disrupt sleep patterns, mood, alertness, appetite. It messes with your circadian rhythm. Even this morning I woke up and it was seven o'clock and of course my body still thinks it's eight o'clock. You can trigger mental illnesses like bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder. I had that really bad when I lived up in New York, because it was dark all the time. And of course, those things are all indicators for elevated risks for cardiovascular diseases, injuries, and immune-related diseases. These are all from scientific papers, not just my opinion. You want some references? Google it.

Now of course this is Computer Learning Zone. So DST has also been shown to have many negative effects on technology, which is my emphasis. Switching clocks is dumb. It causes time synchronization issues, scheduled task disruptions, logging and auditing challenges. For example, time clocks with shifts that span the DST switchover. Sure, Windows itself can handle the change, but does your software calculate those differences properly? If your shift starts at midnight and ends at 8 a.m., is your time clock software properly programmed to notice that daylight saving time kicked in? I've done lots of software fixes for people that had databases or spreadsheets where that wasn't the case.

In fact, I remember back in 2011 when the iPhone had a huge glitch and everyone was complaining about it. Its clock fell back an hour instead of springing forward during the DST transition, and lots and lots of people had problems waking up that morning. But of course, it's an iPhone. So what do you expect? Android forever.

Anyway, if you've got Excel spreadsheets that track time clock data, the best way to do that is to use UTC or universal time. Basically, Greenwich Mean Time. Store that in your spreadsheets. I just did a video on this a couple of days ago. I'll put a link down below if you want to watch it.

Same thing for Microsoft Access, which is my forte. If you've got a database where you're keeping track of your time clocks or any other kind of scheduling and calculating the number of hours between clock-in and clock-out is important, make sure you're using UTC time. Here's a video on that. And yes, you can hear me complain about DST some more in these videos.

And of course, I shouldn't even have to tell you how much of a pain it is to run around changing the stove, the microwave, the wall clocks, the clock in the car. It's just easier for me just a couple of months out of the year to know that my clock is wrong than to change it everywhere. Remember the VCR. I hate it. I still have to do it today.

Today, DST just - wait, we just went to standard time today. We fell back. So I'm not looking forward to it. I've got like six clocks I have to change. The pain, twice a year.

Alright, so instead of me just complaining about it, what am I going to do? Well, I'm going to write my congressman and I'm going to encourage as many other people as I can to write your congressman as well. There is the link. You can just Google 'write to my congressman' and you'll find house.gov.

I'll put a link to this down below as well. You can just click on it. You type in your zip code. There's my rep, Byron Donalds. And right down here, you can find a link to email them. See that little link right there? Click on that. You type in your zip code right here. Don't worry about the plus four. Hit submit. Or there are links up here if you'd rather Facebook them. I hate Facebook. Facebook them. Tweet them. And yes, I'm going to call it tweeting. It's not Xing or whatever they're trying to do nowadays. Or there's a YouTube channel on some of them. Different congressmen have different ways to contact them. I'm going to email mine.

And what do you say to them? Well, I wrote a letter. There it is. I'll put a copy of that down below too. You can find it at this page right here. DST is dumb. Feel free to copy and paste if you want. Put your congressman's name up here, your information down there and send it.

So if you're like me and you hate daylight saving time, here's something we can at least try to do. I don't know if they actually read these or not or if it has any effect or whatever, but I'm going to at least try instead of just complaining.

Alright, now I can check this off my list. This is my Rick's Life missions checklist. I'm going to convert the world to ISO dates. I've already done several videos on this. This is the proper date format - year, month, day. It's confusing when people around the world use it differently, and it causes software problems too.

I've done a lot of videos on this. If you're sharing a spreadsheet with someone who's in, let's say, England and they're doing day, month, year, which is more logical than the way we do it here in the US. No, this is the way everyone should write dates. I've been putting it on my checks this way for years. And yes, I occasionally still write checks. I'm old.

Alright. Mission two, abolish daylight saving time. I complain about it every year. Time to do something about it. This one I don't see happening in my lifetime. Or this one, get everyone to use the metric system. Come on. Pounds, inches, dumb. And yes, I think we should switch to a 28-day calendar. It makes more sense. January 1st is always a Monday. You'll need 13 months of 28 days each, each month is the same number of days. Shift the month names so that October is actually the eighth month. Shift all the rest of them over. Then we've got to add a 13th month. What do we call it? I don't know. Call it Rickember. I don't know.

Then you take New Year's Day. Make it a holiday. You can either add it as the 29th day of the last month or whatever you want to do. Or make it outside of the calendar. Make it a party day. And then your leap day is election day every four years and give everybody off so they can go vote or do online voting, which we should do, which I don't know why we don't.

Alright. So there we go. That's my annual tirade on abolishing daylight saving time. It's dumb. Go write your congressman. Tell them I sent you. Point them to my video. Spread the word. Share this. Let's get rid of daylight saving time forever. And yes, I know I just said savings time. That's how dumb it is. OK, bye.

The Plumber, the Programmer, and the Piano Hands

Sometimes the question isn't whether you can do something, it's whether you should. As a developer, I know I can build just about any software I need if I throw enough time at it. The real question is: how much time is it going to take, and is that time worth it? Sometimes it makes more sense to just buy something off the shelf and move on with your life.

Case in point: a little while ago I bought some color-changing LED lights for the outside of my house. I wanted to be able to dim them, and maybe set orange for Halloween or red and green for Christmas. Simple idea. I've got eight white lights out there, so I thought, no problem. I got out the ladder, climbed up, and did the first one. And that's when I realized it was a big pain in the ass. To do seven more of them would take me all day. Not to mention I only have vision in one eye, so I'm not exactly comfortable up on a ladder. My balance isn't great, and I'd prefer not to break a hip in the name of festive lighting. I love holiday spirit, but not enough to spend it in a neck brace. I already had cuts and scrapes on my hands from the sharp aluminum under the soffit where the lights were mounted after doing just one. That's when I decided to call in help. Sure, I could do it myself, but my time (and my delicate piano hands) are worth more than that. (1)

It's the same with plumbing. I can fix a simple clog or swap out a faucet, but if the problem is something deep in the pipes, I'm calling a plumber. Could I take apart the toilet, figure it out, and fix it myself? Probably. But it would take me the entire day, and honestly, I don't care enough about plumbing to want that skill in my toolbox. If a plumber can show up and fix it in twenty minutes for a hundred bucks, that's money well spent. When I was younger and broke, I had more time than money, so I'd tackle those jobs myself. Now my time is worth more, and I'd rather spend it doing something productive or enjoyable instead of learning how to snake a drain. Besides, once you've seen what comes out of those pipes, you can't unsee it. Also, I wouldn't want to accidentally scar my wife for life if she catches sight of my plumber butt.

This same logic applies to software. Just because you can build something doesn't always mean you should. I've seen plenty of business owners start out wanting to build their own Microsoft Access database. And that's great - if you want to learn it, if building databases excites you, if you enjoy the challenge, then by all means go for it. That's why I teach this stuff. But there comes a point when some people realize they'd rather spend their time running their business than writing VBA code and fixing bugs. That's when it might make sense to hire someone from my Developer Network to help.

Even then, though, I always encourage people to learn the fundamentals. Understand how tables, queries, and relationships work. Maybe dabble a bit in VBA. That way, if something goes wrong, you're not dead in the water. You'll also be able to talk to your developer in their language. Instead of saying, "I want a screen that shows stuff," you can say, "I need a cross-tab query that summarizes sales by month." That makes everyone's life easier.

Businessman Sy Syms once said, "An educated consumer is our best customer." The same applies here - an educated Access user is a developer's best client. If you know the basics, you'll get better results and you'll appreciate the work that goes into it. The same principle holds true in any field. If you're talking to a lawyer, it helps if you understand a few legal terms. If you're dealing with an electrician, it helps to know what a breaker is. And if you're dealing with a developer, it helps if you understand Access.

In business, it's always about time versus money. When you're just starting out, you usually do everything yourself. You handle your own bookkeeping, run payroll in Excel, answer every customer email, design your own marketing materials, and maybe even manage your own inventory. That makes sense when you're small and cash is tight. But as your business grows, your time becomes more valuable. Eventually, you realize it's worth paying for a service like Paychex, hiring an accountant, outsourcing customer service, or bringing in a marketing agency so you can focus on running and expanding your business instead of juggling all the little pieces yourself.

When I first started 599CD, I used to literally make my own CDs by hand. I burned them one by one, printed the labels, slipped them into envelopes, and drove them to the post office. It was time-consuming, but I was young, broke, and excited to be doing it. That was the scrappy startup phase. As things grew, I eventually realized it was worth outsourcing duplication and fulfillment to a professional service. Sure, I could still do it myself, but that time was better spent creating new lessons instead of standing in line at the post office. (2)

I used to build my own computers back in the 90s. It made perfect sense then. You could save a few hundred bucks by buying all the components yourself and assembling the machine piece by piece. When a good computer cost around $2000, that savings really mattered. Plus, there was some pride in booting up a system you built with your own hands. But times have changed. These days, buying a computer is like buying a toaster. Even I don't bother building them anymore. I just pick up a laptop and get to work. The only people who still build their own machines are gamers or hardcore enthusiasts who genuinely enjoy tweaking every little nook and cranny of what's inside the case. And that's great, because they're doing it for the passion, not just the savings. For me, hardware was never the fun part. I've always been more interested in what makes the thing tick once it's running. Plus building computers, once again, can be rough on the piano hands. So many sharp edges inside those cases.

In fitness, it's the same story. When I first decided to get serious about health back in my 30s, I was young and broke, and the idea of paying a personal trainer was laughable. I also hated going to the gym. I've never liked working out around other people, so I built my own home gym in the garage and did everything myself. This was before the internet was packed with fitness influencers, so I hit the bookstores instead. I read every book and magazine I could find on nutrition, weight training, and metabolism. I studied how the body works and how to eat properly. It took a lot of time, but it paid off. I built the knowledge from the ground up, and that was a valuable skill to learn.

The fact that I let myself go in my 40s wasn't because I didn't know better - it was because I moved to Florida and got lazy. Now that I'm back on track, I'm applying all that knowledge again. The difference today is that there's so much information online, and you have to be careful about what you follow. There are legitimate experts out there, but there's also a lot of nonsense. So before you let someone tell you that seed oils are evil or diet soda is toxic, check their credentials. Nutrition science is clear: seed oils aren't going to kill you, fats don't automatically make you fat, and the secret to weight loss isn't magic - it's calories. Measure your intake, move your body, eat real food, and stay consistent. It's not rocket surgery.

And if you don't want to spend months (years!) learning all that yourself, that's fine too. You can hire a personal trainer to teach you how to lift properly and a registered nutritionist to set up a plan for you. Just make sure they're actually qualified and not just someone who looks good in gym selfies. Whether you do it yourself or pay for expert guidance, the key is finding what works for you and actually sticking with it.

Philosophically, it's about deciding which skills you actually want to learn and which ones you're fine letting someone else handle. But there are some things you should never outsource, and thinking is one of them. You can hire someone to fix your plumbing, build your software, or run your payroll, but you can't delegate your worldview. Too many people just download their beliefs like a piece of off-the-shelf software and never question where it came from. Whether it's politics, religion, or whatever's trending on social media, it's easy to let someone else do the thinking for you. Don't just scroll to the end of the software agreement and click "I agree."

That doesn't mean you should ignore the experts, though. Quite the opposite. Trusting experts isn't blind faith - it's recognizing that they've spent their lives studying things you haven't. My electrician understands wiring better than I ever will, and my plumber knows how to fix things I'd probably just break worse. The same goes for virologists, immunologists, and astronomers. You could spend twenty years learning all of that yourself, or you could rely on the people who already have. The difference between science and dogma is that scientists constantly challenge each other. They don't protect bad ideas - they tear them apart. Believe me, I've seen that same instinct in Access developers. If one of us posts bad code or a wrong tutorial online, the rest of us are quick to call it out. Experts love catching other experts being wrong. That's how progress happens. You've seen me critique other bad articles, websites, and videos before.

So yes, build your own worldview, but use good tools and solid data while you do it. You don't have to reinvent the wheel every time, but you should at least understand how it turns. Think for yourself, question what you hear, but don't assume every expert is part of some grand conspiracy. Most of them are just people like me - nerds who care deeply about getting it right.

I still like hands-on projects when they're fun or I'll learn something from them. I installed a ceiling lifter in my garage - took me forever, but it was a good challenge. Would I do it again? No way. I'd hire it out. Same with assembling my home gym. It's all about whether I consider it work or play. If I enjoy it, I'll do it. If it feels like work, I'll gladly pay someone else.

Even in Star Trek, the same principle applies. In the Next Generation episode Booby Trap, Geordi La Forge nearly burns himself out trying to free the Enterprise from an energy-draining snare. He's brilliant, and given enough time he probably could solve the problem, but instead he does something smarter: he creates a holographic version of Dr. Leah Brahms, the engineer who originally designed the ship's engines. With her help, they find the solution together. Geordi could have kept struggling on his own for days - or years - and maybe never found the answer. The point is, even the best engineers know when to call in an expert. You don't always have to prove you can do it yourself. (3)

Sometimes the smartest thing you can build isn't software or hardware - it's free time. In the end, that's the only currency we really have that's worth anything.

LLAP
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(1) Side note: don't call an electrician for something a handyman can do. I probably paid three times as much because I didn't think that through. Lesson learned.

(2) I am so happy that everyone can stream video online now. Because shipping those CDs was a major pain and a huge time waste. And even after I was able to outsource it to a company that did that for me, you still got to deal with returns and broken disks, and it was just a nightmare.

(3) And yes, before anyone points it out, when the real Dr. Leah Brahms shows up later, she's understandably not thrilled to find out Geordi built a holographic version of her and spent a little too much time with it. Let's just say that episode didn't age well in today's HR environment.

Quick Queries #64

What's Coming to Microsoft Access in 2026 - The Status of Future Updates - Quick Queries #64

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Fitness 56

Add Color-Coded Goal Indicators to Forms in Microsoft Access - Fitness #56

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Fitness 55

How to Save and Load User Settings in Microsoft Access - Fitness #55

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Scroll Wheel Rich Text

Why Your Scroll Wheel Doesn't Work in a Rich Text Box in Microsoft Access

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Fitness 54

How to Let Users Type Equations Directly Into a Field in Microsoft Access - Fitness #54

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Quick Queries #63

The Lazy Habit Quietly Bloating Your Microsoft Access Queries and Wasting Bandwidth. Quick Queries #63

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Pick Address 2

How to Pick From Multiple Customer Addresses for an Order in Microsoft Access, Part 2

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Pick Address

How to Pick From Multiple Customer Addresses for an Order in Microsoft Access

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Fitness 53

How to Make a Select All Checkbox for Yes/No Fields in Microsoft Access Forms - Fitness #53

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Fitness 52

How to Lock or Unlock a Field on a New Record in Microsoft Access - Fitness #52

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Quick Queries #62

Important Missing Index That Could Be Killing Your Microsoft Access Performance - Quick Queries #62

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Fitness 51

Implement Click and Shift-Click to Select Contiguous Records in Microsoft Access - Fitness Part #51

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Fitness 50

How to Calculate Totals for Checked Items Automatically in Microsoft Access - Fitness Part #50

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Fitness 49

How to Enter Excel-Style Equations in Any Text Box in Microsoft Access - Fitness Part #49.

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Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day? Let's Rename It "Reflection Day"

Every October, the same debate resurfaces here in the US. Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day? It's one of those holidays that means very different things depending on who you ask. Some celebrate exploration and discovery. Others remember conquest and loss. The truth is... both are right.

History isn't clean. It's messy, complicated, and filled with people who did terrible things for reasons that made sense to them at the time. Columbus didn't wake up one morning and decide to be a villain. He was a man of his era, driven by faith, ambition, and the values of a world that saw conquest as divine purpose. Was it brutal? Yes. But so was most of human history.

And it didn't start with Columbus. Conquest and colonization go back as far as we do. The first Homo sapiens leaving Africa displaced or wiped out the Neanderthals. The Romans conquered most of their known world with their coordinated, well-armed legions. The Crusaders spread their faith at the tip of a sword.

Empires rose and fell across every continent long before Columbus, and long after him as well. It's what our species has always done: explore, expand, and, too often, destroy.

But we've also evolved. The same curiosity that sent explorers across oceans, sent humans to the moon, and probes across the solar system. The same human urge to understand "what's out there" has also turned inward, toward understanding who we are, and where we come from. That's real progress.

So maybe the point of this holiday isn't to argue about who deserves a statue. Maybe it's to reflect on what kind of explorers we want to be now. Not conquerors, but learners. Not missionaries, but scientists. Not rulers, but caretakers.

There's a meme that floats around every year: "Celebrate Columbus Day by moving into someone else's house and telling them you live there now." Funny to some people, sure, but it also reminds us how far we've come. We can laugh because we know better.

For more info please visit:

https://599cd.com/ReflectionDay?key=Blogger

Quick Queries #61

Can Microsoft Access Handle API Calls or Act Like a Web Server? Quick Queries #61

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Fitness 48

Microsoft Access: Create a Default Value Box for New Records in Form Header - Fitness Part #48.

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Fitness 47

Microsoft Access: How to Copy Records to Today but Keep the Same Time - Fitness Part #47.

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Fitness 46

Microsoft Access Date/Time Secrets: Why Timestamps Aren't What They Look Like - Fitness Part #46.

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Fitness 45

Create a Button to Copy an Item Using a Recordset in Microsoft Access - Fitness Part 45.

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How to Make an OpenAI Chatbot in Microsoft Access That Remembers Conversations

 

Today's TechHelp tutorial from Access Learning Zone focuses on building a chatbot in Microsoft Access with real conversation memory. This means creating an OpenAI-powered chatbot that can remember and carry on an ongoing conversation, just like ChatGPT does in your browser.

Previously, I have shown how to connect your Access database with OpenAI to create simple chatbots. Those early versions were limited since they did not retain any memory of prior conversation: each question was a fresh start, and there was no context from what had been discussed earlier.

In today's lesson, I want to show you how to give your chatbot the ability to remember the conversation. Think of it as adding "memory" to your chatbot, much like ChatGPT remembers all the back-and-forth you have in a session online. With this improvement, the chatbot in Access can maintain ongoing threads, making it useful for all kinds of business situations: customer service chat records, tracking ongoing project discussions, internal help desk issues, sales and CRM histories, employee training, or even creating self-quizzing tools that remember what has already been asked. There are numerous practical applications when your bot can remember each back-and-forth with users.

To illustrate this, I set up a sample database for testing. For example, in one conversation, I chatted about Star Trek, role-played a little adventure, and even had the bot quiz me on anatomy. Each interaction is part of a continuous thread.

In a typical session, you start a conversation and ask something like "It was a shame that Firefly only had one season." The chatbot will respond appropriately. Now, if your next message is something like "Any word on a season two?", the chatbot, because it remembers the previous discussion, knows you are referring to Firefly and can respond correctly. Without this memory feature, it would not make that connection.

This tutorial is geared toward those comfortable with Access at the developer level. If you are new to VBA programming or have never worked with OpenAI in Access, I recommend reviewing my introductory video on connecting Access and OpenAI for all the basic setup steps.

After that introduction, I also created a video on requesting images from OpenAI and making further improvements to the codebase. Even if you are not focused on images, I recommend watching to learn about enhancements like switching to the GPT 4.1 API model and other minor changes.

For members at the Gold level, I will be working from the database that was developed at the end of the images video. Silver members and nonmembers, you will have to build out the database by following the previous tutorials.

To get started, in your test database, first place your OpenAI API key into the designated spot. I suggest enlarging the text box used to send input to the AI to give yourself more space to type. You should also create two more text boxes: one to display the AI's response, and another to store the full conversation thread.

The critical point here is that for the memory function to work, you must send the entire conversation thread back and forth with each request. The prompt essentially tells the AI, "Here is the conversation so far. Here is my latest comment. Please reply accordingly." This builds context, just as ChatGPT's web version maintains its state by constantly referencing the conversation history.

I suggest using different background colors for these new text boxes to distinguish their purposes visually. If you no longer plan to use image features, you can set aside those controls.

Next, there will be some minor adjustments required in the supporting code. Occasionally, OpenAI changes the API response format, so things like the markers for response text may need updating. For example, if the AI's response format changes, you may need to adjust the parsing logic in your function that sends queries and receives replies.

I recommend sticking with GPT 4.1 as your model for now. Although GPT 5 and its Mini and Nano variants are available, GPT 4.1 generally gives the best balance of response quality and speed.

You will need to update the code in your form's command button to handle both the single-message and memory-enabled chatbot modes. If the user fails to fill in the input box, make sure you prompt them with a status message before sending anything to OpenAI.

For our memory-enabled chatbot (let's call it bot number seven in your system), update the logic so that if the conversation thread is empty, you flag it as such for the AI. Each time the user submits input, append both their message and the AI's response to the thread box, always keeping it current. When the bot is in memory mode, make sure your command text incorporates the full conversation thread, followed by the new message.

Be aware that all data sent to and from OpenAI must use JSON formatting. This means you cannot send VB new line characters or double quotes as-is—they must be escaped or converted into friendly characters (for instance, using "backslash n" for new lines and escaping double quotes). Similarly, when processing the reply, convert any escaped characters back into their appropriate Access equivalents for display.

Occasionally, you might encounter bugs due to copy-paste errors or API changes. For example, if your code mistakenly overwrites input variables or fails to add updated content to the conversation history, double-check that you are passing and appending data correctly. Consistent naming and careful troubleshooting habits pay off here.

Once set up, you can see the memory feature in action by having a conversation about favorites from Star Trek or launching into a Dungeons and Dragons adventure, with the AI retaining context and responding naturally to follow-up comments. You can also create learning quizzes, where the AI remembers which topics or questions have already been covered.

There are still a few small details to polish, such as ensuring the chatbot can handle conversations that end with certain special characters (like double quotes) without error, and deleting unnecessary clean-up steps in the code if they create problems.

Currently, the conversation is only stored in the form during use. If you want to preserve entire chat threads or manage multiple ongoing discussions within your database, you can create a table to save conversation records, including an ID, description, and the thread text. This way, every interaction is available for later reference.

One item to keep in mind is the conversation length. Each time you interact with the chatbot, the entire thread is sent back to OpenAI. Long conversations—those reaching around 100,000 characters—will slow down performance and may hit the limits of the AI's context window. In the extended cut of this lesson, I will show techniques for handling long threads and managing multiple chats in your database. Gold and Silver members get access to these extended-cut videos, and as always, Gold members can download the databases shown in the videos for their own use.

When I begin advanced lessons, I always start from a standardized database so everyone is on the same footing. This helps avoid issues from previous small modifications or errors that may have crept in while following along at home.

In summary, today's tutorial covered creating a chat interface in Access with memory using OpenAI, adjusting your code for context handling, conversation tracking, JSON compatibility, and addressing common pitfalls. With this setup, you can have rich, ongoing conversations right from Access and tie them into your actual business data.

You can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below.

Live long and prosper, my friends.

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https://599cd.com/ChatbotWithMemory?key=Blogger

The #1 Mistake People Make with Null in Microsoft Access - Quick Queries #60

 

In today's Quick Queries video from the Access Learning Zone, I want to talk about the single biggest mistake people make when dealing with Null values in their Microsoft Access databases. I'll give you a hint: Null is not actually equal to Null.

Let's get right to the point. In Microsoft Access, Null isn't equal to anything, even itself. This trips up a lot of beginners and even some experienced users from time to time. Today, I'll go over that foundational concept and also respond to a variety of questions and comments I've received from students through YouTube and email.

The first discussion for today comes from a question posted in my website forums. I don't always get to answer questions there myself since the moderators or other students are usually pretty quick to respond, but this time I managed to catch one just after it was posted.

This leads to an important point: while I used to help answer questions on all sorts of other forums and sites, I don't do that much anymore. By the time I see questions, others have usually taken care of them already. That's why most of what you see in these Quick Queries videos comes straight from emails or YouTube comments. I get far too many emails to answer each one personally, so I encourage students to use the forums for faster responses. Still, if a question stands out as particularly interesting or useful, I might include it here.

So, Tim posted a question about handling situations where a company name might be Null. He wants to use the first name if there's no company name present but use the company name when it exists. This situation is really common, and it highlights a critical misconception with Nulls in Access.

Null is a unique value. It doesn't mean zero, an empty string, or just a blank field. It specifically means unknown. By definition, something unknown can't be compared directly to anything else—not even to another Null. That's why, when you ask Access if Null equals Null, the answer is always false.

Because of that, you can't just use the equals sign to compare values to Null. Access gives us specific tools for this: special operators and functions designed for Nulls.

In Access, there are two methods for checking for Null. You can use the IS NULL operator or the ISNULL function. IS NULL is typically found in query criteria or SQL statements, like "select * from Customers where CompanyName is null." It is an operator and not a function, and if you're not working directly in SQL, you'd use IS NULL or IS NOT NULL in the criteria field of your query.

Now, ISNULL (spelled as one word with no space) is a function that returns a True or False value. You use it in expressions and VBA. For example, you could create a calculated field in a query, and use the IIF function: "if IsNull(company), then use FirstName, otherwise use CompanyName." The same approach works in VBA. Just remember, you should never use "equals Null" in your expressions or code. That's never correct.

For instance, you shouldn't write "if FirstName equals Null" inside an IF function or WHERE clause. That logic will never be true.

Tim, to answer your question, all you need to do is replace "CompanyName equals Null" with "IsNull(CompanyName)". That's it—no equals sign to Null, ever.

One more detail: if you're working from just one table or query, you don't have to specify the field name with the table or query alias every time. Also, since you don't have spaces in your field names, those brackets Access adds are technically not necessary.

Here's an advanced shortcut: you can use the NZ function. NZ stands for "null to zero," but it's flexible; you can specify the replacement value, so if CompanyName is Null, use FirstName. This is a compact way to write your logic, and you'll see it used a lot in more advanced applications.

To summarize: Never check for equality to Null with an equals sign. Use IS NULL, IS NOT NULL, or the ISNULL function. Keep in mind: Null isn't Null. It will never equal itself or anything else. Always use the correct tools when handling Null values.

I have several other videos on my site that deal with Nulls more deeply, including videos about zero-length strings, Null values in calculations, and the NZ function. These are all free resources available both on my website and my YouTube channel. I'll include links below.

Switching gears, I posted a conversation starter this week: What is one feature in Access you wish Microsoft would improve or update? I got some great feedback from all of you.

Jim mentioned enhancing conditional formatting options in Access. I couldn't agree more. Excel has far better tools for this, and Access absolutely deserves more attention here.

Dom talked about improving the tab control and asked for content on subforms as a replacement. I've covered this in my "Association Database" series, specifically part eight, where I simulate tabbed pages by switching subforms with labels, making for a much simpler and more flexible setup than using tab controls. A similar method is used in the ABCD series, part one.

Another topic raised was automating compact and repair operations. While it's possible to have Access compact and repair on close, I don't recommend doing it this way. I suggest compacting your backend databases manually or with a scheduled event, such as weekly. This helps prevent your databases from becoming bloated over time.

Kevin asked about adjustable font sizes in property sheets and controls. There's supposed to be a zoom feature on the way, which I'm really looking forward to myself.

There were also comments about making Access look less like Access for end users. I have a video series on making a database appear more custom and less like a standard Access file.

Several of you also mentioned wanting AI integration, exporting reports to Word (docx) instead of RTF, creating executables from Access database front-ends, and better Gantt chart support. On that last point, I've built a template for creating a basic Gantt chart in Access. It's not as robust as dedicated project management tools, but it gets the job done for most internal uses.

Andrew brought up the idea of being able to re-sort ID numbers. Remember: AutoNumbers in Access are for internal use—relationships and unique identifiers. If you need custom numbering formats, you'll have to code your own solution. I have videos covering that as well.

There was also discussion of regular expressions in Access. Previously, using Regex required VBScript, but recently Regex support was added as a library in VBA. If you're curious, check the Access Forever article for the latest details.

Several people mentioned that the developer help files could use a major update, and I agree.

Zooming in the Access work area came up again. It remains an outstanding feature request that I hope to see soon.

I also got a lot of feedback about why IT professionals tend not to like Access. Many say it's because Access is not web-based. That's true—Access is for desktop applications only, and the web app features disappeared years ago. It would be a game changer if Microsoft allowed Access forms to migrate to web pages, combined with SQL Server on the backend.

Another common issue is that many companies and IT departments don't want to support Access, fearing the risk of business-critical databases being left orphaned when employees leave.

Someone else asked about native Git support in Access for source control. This isn't present yet, but there are rumors it will be added in the future. Source control is especially useful for team environments.

Regarding the SQL text editor, some of you noticed Microsoft is pushing updates and working on new features, though there are still bugs. Microsoft does encourage those who need advanced data solutions to move toward SQL Server.

And the topic of running Access as a web or cloud-based solution—right now, you can't run it as part of Microsoft 365 in the browser like you can with Word or Excel. Personally, I prefer the desktop tools, but I know many of you want an online version. That would be a huge advance.

To wrap up: Null in Access is never equal to anything, including itself. Always handle it with the special operators and functions provided. Thanks for all your great questions and comments. I really appreciate the interaction and the ideas you send in each week.

You can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends.

For more info please visit:

https://599cd.com/QQ60?key=Blogger

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