Why Create Forms?

As you saw in Lessons 10 and 11, you can do all your data entry and editing in a table, but that may not be the best way. For one thing, unless you set your field widths very wide (see Lesson 12), you probably won't be able to see everything you type in the field. Also, if you have data you want to enter into several tables, you have to open each table individually.

A better data entry method is to create a form. With a form, you can allot as much space as needed for each field, and you can enter information into several tables at once. You can also avoid the headaches that occur when you try to figure out which record you're working with on a table; each form shows only one record at a time.

There are three ways to create a form:

• AutoForm is great when you want an extremely quick, generic form that contains all the fields in a single table.

• Form Wizard provides a compromise between speed and control; you can create a form by following a series of dialog boxes and choose which fields it will contain.

• Creating a form from scratch is the most difficult way, but it provides the most control.

Each of these is explained in this lesson.