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Exploring Microsoft Office Access

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Methods of Form Creation

You can create a form using:Form, Split and Multiple Form ToolsDatasheet ToolForm WizardBlank Form ToolPivot Chart and Table ToolsForm Design View

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The Form Tool

One click method Creates a very simple and basic form Can be altered and enhanced in Design view

Drop data field

Form created with Form tool

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The Split Form Tool

Creates a two part form including all fieldsOne section is in Form viewOne section is in Datasheet view

Edits are synchronized

Form View

Datasheet view

Split Form Tool

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Multiple Items Tool

Resembles a datasheet Faster navigation/data entry than normal

forms

Multiple Items Tool

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Datasheet Forms

Identical copy of a form in terms of looks

Has different protection features applied than the original form

To createChoose More Forms

from the Forms groupSelect Datasheet from

the drop down list

More Form command

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PivotTable and PivotChart Forms

Work the same as in query/table view

Create from PivotChart button on the Forms group

OR Click More Forms Tool in the

Forms group Choose PivotTable from the

drop down list

More Form Tool

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Using Design View to Create a Form

Allows for customization and personalization of forms Click the Blank Form tool in the Forms group Drag Fields onto the Design grid

Field List

Design Grid

Get to know Design view

If you want to add or change controls, you want to be in Design view. To get there, click the Design button .

Design view is also where you can format the colors and lettering styles of controls, and where you set control properties, such as borders and margins.

After you add controls, you can set their properties, such as how many characters someone can type in a text box, and change their formatting.

Set control properties

All controls have properties. Properties determine how a control looks and what it does.

A text box, for example, has properties that can specify its size, allow it to grow or shrink, and provide it with scrollbars.

To display a control’s properties, you would select the control and click the Properties button on the Form Design or Report Design toolbar. Related properties are grouped under tabs.

If you clicked a property name or the box next to it, you might see an arrow, and clicking on that would display a list of choices. Or you might see three dots. Those usually mean that Access can help you build a rule for the property, in a dialog box called a builder, which would open if you clicked the dots.

Customize the appearance of controls Appearances matter. The look, size, and

placement of controls have a big effect on their convenience. By customizing controls, you can make them easy to find, easy to read, easy to understand as logical groups. Users of your database will see what they need to do.

You can also help users to see what they need to notice. Conditional formatting changes the look of a control when its data fulfills a certain condition that you specify. If sales rise above a certain number, displaying the sales figure in a bright new color will alert the warehouse to speed shipments to the stores.

Calculate with controls Controls can do more than enter or display data. They

can work with data to produce temporary results, leaving the database unchanged. Suppose, for example, you want a control to divide unit prices by the number of items in a product unit, to show the price per item.

Calculated controls work by means of expressions. An expression combines arithmetic operators, fields, prebuilt formulas, and values to produce a sum. An expression can use data from a table, a query, or another control.

To create an expression, you would select the control, click the Properties button , and select the Data tab. Beside the Control Source property box, you would see three dots. Clicking those would open the Expression Builder dialog box.

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Action Buttons

Allows you to add navigational/other types of buttons

Wizard guides you through the creation

Button toolNavigational Button

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Subforms

Form that exists within another form Updated/viewed separately or with its parent form Normally, a one-to-many relationship exists between

the two forms

Subform (child)

Primary form (parent)