Five tips for working efficiently in the Visual Basic Editor

Date: October 4th, 2010
Author: Susan Harkins

If you spend much time in the VBE, you'll appreciate any shortcuts that streamline your work. Susan Harkins shares the tricks she finds most useful.

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When you add code to an Office application, you do so in the Visual Basic Editor. That's where you'll find all the tools you need to write and manage your code. There are numerous shortcuts and tricks for working in the editor, but here are the five I seem to use the most.

1: Copy quickly

Copying portions of procedures (or entire procedures) is a common task for many developers. You can select the code, right-click the selection, and choose Copy, pretty much the same way you'd copy anything in a Windows application. But you can save a few steps using drag and drop. Select the code you want to copy, hold down the [Ctrl] key, and drag the selection. You can even drag from one module to another. Simply open and restore the modules so they're both visible. Then, drag code from one and drop into the other. You can also use drag and drop to move, rather than copy, code. Hold down the [Alt] key while dragging.

2: Double-click title bars to dock and float

To move a docked window, just double-click its title bar. Doing so toggles the window between the docked and floating state. A quick double-click restores the window to its last docked position.

3: Avoid docking madness

Many tips for redocking a window are a bit awkward. The truth is, there are only two easy steps:

• Right-click the window and check Dockable (if necessary).
• Using the title bar, drag the window to the appropriate border.

Here's the secret: The VBE will redock the window when the cursor (the white arrow) — not the window's border — touches a border. In addition, when docking, the VBE will stretch the window between opposite borders, either horizontally or vertically. Dock to the left or right border to dock vertically. Dock to the top or bottom borders to dock horizontally. Even if you're heading toward the left border, if the pointer touches the top border first, the VBE will dock the window horizontally.

4: Get the Project Explorer and the Properties Window to play nice

By default, the VBE window docks and stacks the Project Explorer and Properties Window to the left of the container window (with the Project Explorer in the top-left corner and the Properties window in the bottom-left corner). If you undock and move one of them, you might have trouble restacking them. You'll probably try #3, but it won't work — the VBE will simply dock them both to the same border and position one over the other instead of stacking them.

To restack the windows, redock one of them, if necessary. Then, drag the floating window to the upper-left corner to position the floating window on top. (The position is relative to the docked window's position, but most people seem to prefer the left.) When the cursor — not the window — touches the top-center of the docked window, release the mouse. The editor will dock and stack the floating window on top of the currently docked window. To position the floating window at the bottom, drag it down until the cursor touches the bottom-center of the currently docked window.

5: Toggle between windows

If you use the VBE at all, you probably know that you can quickly launch the editor by pressing [Alt] [F11]. What you might not know is that this keyboard shortcut is a toggle between the application window and the editor. Once you're in the editor, press [Alt] [F11] to return to the application.

Five tips for managing a dispersed project team

Date: October 6th, 2010
Author: Tom Mochal

IT leaders who oversee teams of remote workers have some obstacles to overcome. Tom Mochal offers some practical advice for successfully managing a distributed workforce.

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In the past, a project team usually resided in one location. The reason is obvious: it wasn't easy to communicate and collaborate with people who were not in the same physical location. But now, it's common to have team members physically located in many places. In some cases, you may have team members teleworking from home. In other cases, you may be partnering with a third-party company — perhaps even internationally.

All of this is more common today because of advances in technology and software. People can access your company's computer network remotely with almost the same speed as if they were in the office. Software is available to share documents and make updates available real-time to the rest of the team. The team can get together as needed using phone conferencing, teleconferencing, or video technology over the Web.

That's all good news. The not-so-good news is that it is still easier to manage a team when the members are located together. But even though no technology can take the place of talking face to face, the following ideas can help you better manage a dispersed project team.

Note: These tips are based on an entry in our IT Consultant blog.

1: Make sure people have the right attitude

Both the project manager and team members must be especially diligent and sensitive to collaboration and teamwork concerns when part of the team is remote. It's easy for a remote worker to feel isolated from what's going on with the rest of the team. People who are working remotely must be proactive communicators and must be especially good at working independently and meeting their deadlines.

2: Establish good communication processes

The project manager needs to develop a proactive Communication Plan to ensure that the dispersed team works well together. For instance, if possible, there should be regularly scheduled meetings where the remote workers attend in person. If the team members are in different cities or different countries, look for common times when you can have a video or audio conference.

3: Plan the handoffs

Sometimes, multiple people in different locations are working on the same, or related, deliverables. In these cases, the project manager may need to establish rules for handoffs, especially if different time zones are involved. Don't leave the handoffs to chance. Set up processes to ensure that work on shared deliverables can transition smoothly from one person (or team) to another person (or team).

4: Make sure everyone has the right technology

Provide your remote team members with the right hardware, software, and other equipment to get their work done. For instance, if some team members are working from home, a slow dial-up modem probably won't cut it. Each remote location needs communication equipment, printers, fax machines, phones, and the other basic equipment needed to communicate effectively.

5: Take advantage of collaborative technology

Many products on the market, much of it Web-based, allow for easier collaboration among people who are in different locations. For example, you can get software that facilitates Web meetings, common document editing, discussion boards, and remote testing.

Meeting the challenge

Project managers must recognize that there is inherent risk associated with remote team members. To a certain degree, the risk increases the farther away the team members are because you run into time differences. However, a proactive project manager can work through the difficulties by looking holistically at the people concerns, process concerns, and technology concerns. You can set up a plan to mitigate the risk and ensure that the dispersed team works well together for the common good of the project and the team.

10 hot up-and-coming computer careers

Date: October 6th, 2010
Author: Toni Bowers

Reports from the U.S. Dept of Labor (DoL) and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicate that the top ten fastest growing, high-demand careers between 2000-2014 show a significant number of IT-related jobs.

In addition to the usual tech career areas–network administrator, tech support person, security expert–some more are popping up in unusual places.

Computermajors.com lists some these areas of tech that they think will grow in the next few years:

Environmental Simulations Developer–This is a developer who will both develop accurate environmental models, run simulations, and collect data.

Video Game Developer–This area can only grow. Also, computermajors says that video games will be entering new domains, such as the health and education industries, on much larger scales.

Bioinformatics Simulations Modeling. Bioinformatics is the study of genomes, gene sequencing, protein structures, etc., all of which help advance medical discoveries.

3D Animation Technician–If James Cameron and the likes of his Avatar are any indication, the demand for this kind of technician will grow.

Medical Modeling Systems Developer and Technician–The ever-evolving world of medical science needs advanced computer systems to model new technology.

Digital Film Production Assistant and Technician–According to the computermajors site, "While actual reel film might have its advantages and still be in use, post production-wise the trend is digital - both for movies and TV - using sophisticated computer systems that require a specialized training to use. Add to this the pending widespread use of HDTV (High-Def) broadcasting, and the distribution of content online, and additional technical careers will no doubt be available to be filled."

Training Software Developer–There are opportunities for digital entrepreneurs in building paid membership websites that teach specific topics.

Visual and Audio Content Producers–Online businesses are going to increase the creation of compelling visual and audio content, therefore familiarity with high-level codes like Action Script and the ability to use video screen capture software such as Camtasia Studio will be very marketable.