Keeping it simple: Form tools

I have good and bad news about these tools:

• Good news: They’re fast, and they don’t ask any questions or talk back!

• Bad news: They’re extremely inflexible buggers.

  You want a larger font and a different background color? Keep it to yourself. The Form tools decide what font, colors, and layout you get.

After you create a form with a Form tool, you can modify the form. In this chapter, the “Customizing Form Parts” section gives you the straight scoop.

To create a form using one of the Forms buttons, open your database and follow these steps:

1. From the Navigation pane, select the table or query that contains the data your new form should display.

2. Click the Create tab on the Ribbon.

   Several button groups appear on the Ribbon, including the Forms group. (See Figure 8-1.)

3. Click the form button of your choice from the Forms buttons.

   The Simple Form button is labeled Form. The Multiple Items and Split Form buttons are on the More Forms drop-down list.

   The sidebar “Meet the Form tools” shows the best Form tool for your data.

   A beautiful form appears before your eyes (and in Figure 8-2)!

4. To finish your form, follow these steps:

   1. Click the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar.

      The Save As dialog box appears.

   2. Type a name for the form in the dialog box, and click OK.

   Your form name appears on the Navigation pane.

Granting most wishes: The Form Wizard

When you want to control field selection and the style of form design, use the Form Wizard.

As with all Access wizards, the Form Wizard steps you through the creation process. To use the Form Wizard, follow these steps:

1. Open your database file.

2. Click the Create tab on the Ribbon.

   Several button groups appear on the Ribbon, including the Forms group.

3. Click the Form Wizard button. (Refer to Figure 8-1.)

   The Form Wizard springs into action, as shown in Figure 8-3.

4. Using the Tables/Queries drop-down menu, select the source of the form’s fields:

   1. Click the down arrow to list the database’s tables and queries.
   2. Select the table or query that contains the fields you want to view with this form.

   The Form Wizard lists the available fields.

5. Select the fields you want.

   • To select individual fields, double-click each field you want in the Available Fields list. (Again, see Figure 8-3.)
   • If you want to add all the fields from your table or query to your form, click the >> button in the middle of the screen.

   Feel free to select fields from different tables, provided the tables are related properly. The wizard will not let you select fields from unrelated tables. For more on relating tables, see Chapter 5, Table Tune Ups.

   To remove a field that you accidentally choose, double-click its name in the Selected Fields list. The field jumps back to the Available Fields side of the dialog box.

6. After you’ve selected all the fields you want to include on your form, click Next.

   If you selected fields from more than one table, the Form Wizard takes a moment to ask how you want to organize the data in your form. If you choose to organize your data by the parent table (Chapter 5 shows how), you’ll be asked to show the child table data as either

   • Subform: Shows data from both tables on one form.
   • Linked form: Creates a button that, when clicked, will take you to a new form that displays the child table data.

7. When the wizard asks about the form layout, choose one of the following layouts and then click Next:

   • Columnar: Records are shown one at a time.
   • Tabular: Multiple records are shown at the same time with an attractive style applied to the form.
   • Datasheet: Multiple records are shown at the same time in a rather unattractive spreadsheet-like way.
   • Justified: Arranges the fields on the form in a tidy block of rows that have pronounced left and right margins.

   Don’t know which layout is best? Check out the “Giving forms the right look” sidebar.

8. Enter a descriptive title in the What Title Do You Want for Your Form? box at the top of the Form Wizard screen.

   There are good reasons to give your form a descriptive title rather than the default name (which is the name of the data source):

   • Tables and forms that share the same name can become confusing.
   • The name you type is used to save your form. Letters and numbers are allowed in form names. It’s a great opportunity to understand form usage through its name.

9. Click Finish to open the form in Form view.

   Your new form appears onscreen, as shown in Figure 8-4.

   The Form Wizard automatically saves the form as part of the creation process. You don’t need to manually save and name it. All saved forms display in the Forms section of the Navigation pane.

The rest of this chapter shows how to customize forms you’ve created with the Form Wizard and Form tools.

Taking the Layout view

You can make form-design changes in either Design or Layout view.

The sidebar “A form with a view” explains these views.

These instructions concentrate on Layout view because it’s easier to use.

To enter Layout view, follow these steps:

1. On the Navigation pane, right-click the form you’d like to modify.

   The shortcut menu appears.

2. Select Layout View from the shortcut menu.

How can you tell whether you’re in Layout view or Form view? Look at the status bar in the lower left corner of your screen. It tells you the current view for an open form.

The theme’s the thing

After building your new form with the Form Wizard or Form tools, you may not like the appearance that the tools have chosen for your form. Fear not! It’s easy to change the look of the form by using the Theme group of buttons. Here’s how:

1. From the Navigation pane, right-click the form that needs a new look and choose Layout View from the menu that appears.

   The form opens in Layout view.

2. Click the Design tab on the Ribbon.

   Several button groups appear on the Ribbon, including the Themes group. (See Figure 8-5.)

3. Click the Themes button.

   An illustrated list (called a Gallery) of themes opens.

4. Roll the mouse pointer slowly over each theme.

   The form in the background changes to match the highlighted theme.

5. When you’ve found the theme you like, click it to select it from the drop-down list and apply it to the form.

Choose a theme with fonts and colors that are easy on the eyes, such as soft colors and simple fonts. Form users will thank you for it!

Managing form controls

A control is any design element (such as a line, label, or data-entry text box) that appears on a form. The Form Wizard and Form tools do a fine job of constructing forms but often don’t place or size them just right. This section discusses how to take charge of your controls.

Creating controls

Most controls have a Control Wizard associated with them. Once you create the control, the wizard appears and guides you through the process. Here are the general steps to create a control:

1. From the Navigation pane, right-click the form that’s to get the new control and choose Design View.

2. Click the Design tab on the Ribbon if necessary.

   The Controls group appears (see Figure 8-6).

3. From the Controls group, click the appropriate button for the new control (such as combo box) and roll the mouse onto the form.

   The mouse pointer changes to a plus sign and icon of the control selected.

4. Position the mouse at the location on the form where you’d like the new control to appear, then press and drag diagonally to draw the control.

   The control wizard appears if applicable.

5. If you’ve selected a control that has a Control Wizard, follow the steps in the Control Wizard and then click Finish.

   The control appears on the form.

Don’t see a Control Wizard after creating a new control? Control Wizards are turned on by default. If, for some reason, yours are not on, choose Use Control Wizards toward the bottom of the Controls group. Note: Click the More button (dash with down arrowhead button) located at the lower right of the Controls group to see the Use Control Wizards option (see Figure 8-7).

Moving controls

To move a control, enter Layout view (as shown previously in this chapter) and then follow these steps:

1. Put the mouse pointer anywhere on the control that you want to move.

   The mouse pointer changes to a four-headed arrow.

2. Hold down the left mouse button.

   The control is selected, so a thick border appears around it. See Figure 8-8 for an example of a selected control.

   To select additional controls such as a label corresponding to a text box, press and hold the Ctrl key while clicking the additional control. A thick border will appear around all selected controls.

3. Drag the control to its new location.

   A line follows the mouse pointer as you drag up, down, left, or right.

4. When the control is in position, release the mouse button.

   The control drops smoothly into place.

   If you don’t like an adjustment you’ve made, press Ctrl+Z to undo the change and start over from scratch. Access has multiple undo levels, so play to your heart’s content; you can always undo any mistakes.

Navigating and finding records

How do you move between records on the form? The Navigation buttons at the lower left of the form (see Figure 8-9) make it easy to:

• Move between records: Click the right arrowhead (>) to move forward, the left arrowhead (<) to move backward, the right arrowhead with line (>|) to move to the last record, and the left arrowhead with line (<|) to move to the first record.
• Go to a new record: Click the right arrowhead with asterisk (>*) button to go to a new record.
• Search for data: Type a search word in the Search box and Access will find the first record that contains your search word. For example, type “Prince” in the search box and Access will dutifully move to the first record that contains the word Prince.

Saving, clearing, and deleting

Saving is very confusing to those from the Word and Excel world entering the Access world. In most other programs, you enter something new in a document and click Save to save your work. Access is different. The second you move to a new record or close a form, your good friend Access saves the record for you. So, it’s very hard to lose data in Access! Clearing field data and deleting records is not quite so automatic, but that’s a good thing.

If you’re the overly cautious type, you can save a record before moving off of it or closing the form by clicking the Save button in the Records group of the Home Ribbon (see Figure 8-10).

To clear the contents of a field, follow these steps:

1. While in Form view, tab to the field that contains the unwanted data.

   The contents of the field are selected.

2. Tap the Delete key on your keyboard.

   The contents of the field are deleted.

Here’s how to delete an entire record:

1. While in Form view, navigate to the poor record that will meet its demise.
2. Click the Record Selector button located on the left edge of the form (see Figure 8-10).

3. Click Delete Record in the Records group on the Home tab of the Ribbon.

   Access asks you if you want to delete the record and related records if appropriate.

4. Click Yes in the confirmation dialog box to delete the record.

   Adios record!

Deleted records can’t be undone. Confirm you’re on the correct record before you delete, and back up your database file often should you need to restore a deleted record!