The Problem (Q-score 6, ranked #8th of 67 in the Access VBA archive)
The scenario as originally posted in 2009
I am a programmer, and my father uses Access to collect the patients information (my father is a doctor),
He wants me to teach him how to use it.
I don’t like Access (I’m a linux guy), and I cannot find any replacement of it. Do you guys know of any? (it must be easy enough for my father to use)
Why community consensus is tight on this one
Across 67 Access VBA entries in the archive, the accepted answer here holds elite answer (top 10 %%) status — meaning voters are unusually aligned on the right fix.
The Verified Solution — elite answer (top 10 %%) (+21)
Verbal answer — walkthrough without a code block
Note: the verified answer is a prose walkthrough. If you need a runnable sample, check Access VBA entries ranked in the top 10 of the same archive.
Maybe you need to be a bit more pragmatic about this.
I’m not a fan of Access either, but if your father already understands it and he already has the system in place, you need to ask the question, why change? If it aint broke don’t try to fix it.
You may find that a few simple changes in the existing system gives your father everything he needs, it’ll save you a whole lot of time and means you don’t need to retrain your father.
When to Use It — vintage (14+ years old, pre-2013)
A top-10 Access VBA pattern — why it still holds up
Ranks #8th of 67 in the Access VBA archive. The only pattern ranked immediately above it is “Create a query dynamically through code in MSAccess 2003 [VBA]” — compare both if you’re choosing between approaches.
What changed between 2009 and 2026
The answer is 17 years old. The Access VBA object model has been stable across Office 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 365, and 2024/2026 LTSC, so the pattern still compiles. Changes that might affect you: 64-bit API declarations (use PtrSafe), blocked macros in downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), and the shift toward Office Scripts for web-first workflows.