[dba-Tech] Windows 8: Not!

Salakhetdinov Shamil mcp2004 at mail.ru
Tue May 28 05:22:17 CDT 2013


 Hi Arthur --

Good question. I Have never done that as I do not currently develop any custom MS Access apps. Some Googling and tests results in following procedure I have tested here:

- 1) create short-cut on classic Windows desktop or in any temp folder, set its target as the following.:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\MSACCESS.EXE" D:\MyPrograms\Databases\MyTestProgramDatabase.mdb

IOW the target should be a usual command line to start MS Access with your program database.

- 2) (re)name short-cut as, e.g., 'My Test MS Access APP';

- 3) Copy short-cut (CTRL+C) and paste it into C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder;

- 4) Switch to Win8 START Screen ([WindowsKey]);

- 5) Right-click on any empty space on START screen - you'll see a bar appeared in the bottom - click on 'All Apps' icon in the bottom-left corner;

- 6) Find you short-cut in the list of  Apps;

- 7) Right-click on your short-cut, and select 'Pin to Start' in the left-bottom corner;

- 8) You'll get your MS Access application tile somewhere in the end of all the apps' tiles on the Start sreen - you can then drag&drop it to move it to the group of tiles of frequently used apps.

---------------------

It should be possible to create the tiles by using Win API but I haven't tried to find and use it yet.

---------------------

Another rather simple way to create tiles it to use the OblyTile program:

http://superuser.com/questions/495659/how-to-customize-tiles-change-bigger-icon-change-color-for-desktop-applicatio

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1899865

http://www.xdafileserver.nl/index.php?dir=Other/Oblytile

http://lifehacker.com/5986435/oblytile-creates-fully+customized-windows-8-tiles

It worked well for me to make MS Access database tile on Win8 Start screen.

Nice looking images for test tiles can be acquired from here:

http://www.iconarchive.com/show/windows-8-metro-icons-by-dakirby309.html

Thank you.

-- Shamil


Monday, May 27, 2013 7:37 PM -04:00 from Arthur Fuller <fuller.artful at gmail.com>:
>Ok, I'm persuaded. Next laptop I buy (sometime in June) I'll get one with
>Windows8. But this begs the question, how does one create a tile for some
>custom app? i.e. suppose I deliver an Access app to a client who runs
>Windows8. What do use to create a tile for it? JavaScript or ...?
>
>
>On Mon, May 27, 2013 at 6:57 PM, Salakhetdinov Shamil < mcp2004 at mail.ru >wrote:
>
>>  Hi Arthur --
>>
>> You can even just use [WindowsKey] alone to toggle Win8 Start screen and
>> MS Windows classic desktop.
>> BTW, if you have two displays then you can make one working in Win8 mode
>> and another one working in classic desktop mode.
>>
>> Good Luck!
>>
>> -- Shamil
>>
>> P.S. I do not play computer games - I'm just sometimes watching how my kid
>> is playing them - a lot to learn how to interact with modern technologies!
>>
>>
<<< skipped >>>


More information about the dba-Tech mailing list