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OpenGate Software Announces First Available User-Level Microsoft Access Menus

OpenGate Software recently released the third edition of UI Builder for Microsoft Access. The Enterprise Edition of UI Builder extends the extensive capability within UI Builder to include menus configurable at the user level, the first commercially available product to do so. With over twenty different menu command options (compared to eight in the Switchboard Manager), UI Builder allows Access developers and non-developers to jump-start their development process. In addition to saving time creating menus, UI Builder enables users to customize the layout and color schemes of their menus, as well as enable application logging without an extensive knowledge of Visual Basic.

“We are excited to extend the power of Microsoft Access to a wider audience by making it easier to create and maintain desktop databases,” said Brandon Smith-Daigle, President of OpenGate Software. After Microsoft chose to keep the Switchboard interface the same in Access 2007, “we saw a definite opportunity to give Access developers tools to provide a better user experience. The Access Switchboard Manager interface has remained the same since first released in 1995, that combined with the fact most experienced Access developers create their own main menu forms in Access, helped motivate us to offer an improvement on an old concept.”

In addition to a more refined user interface, Smith-Daigle says UI Builder provides a unique application framework with tools like a logging API which allows Access developers to create event logs to capture user activity and debugging information without creating the logging functionality from scratch.

When asked what is next for UI Builder, Smith-Daigle says, “we’re looking at many different roadmap options. We have a large customer base building, and it will be primarily driven by what our customers want. Upgrades are always free, and we want to provide the best Access application framework on the market. We’re doing some preliminary work on Microsoft Office integration utilities that will make it easier for users to do Mail Merge and integrate with Outlook.”

UI Builder for Access is compatible with Microsoft Access 2000 and higher. To read more about UI Builder for Access, visit http://www.opengatesw.com/products.aspx. For PR inquiries, please write to support@opengatesw.com.