Access Lesson 9 Using Advanced Form Features Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced Cable / Morrison 1

Access Lesson 9Using Advanced Form Features

Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Cable / Morrison1

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced2

Objectives

Understand the importance of consistent form design.

Apply a theme to a form. Add a logo. Create command buttons. Add a new field to an existing form.

22

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced3

Objectives (continued)

Create a combo box. Size and align a control. Use a combo box in a new record. Add a calculated control. Change tab order.

33

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced4

Vocabulary

calculated control combo box command button live preview logo tab order theme

44

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Introduction

A consistent design for all the forms in a database is important.

A consistent design can be created with the use of themes.

Themes add borders and colors to forms. A command button can be clicked to move

within a form or to open another form. A new field can be added to an existing form.

5

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Introduction (continued)

A combo box that displays a list of options can be added to a form.

A calculated control that calculates the total of fields can be added to a form.

The order of how you move between the fields in a form, called the tab order, can be changed.

6

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Understanding the Importance of Consistent Form Design

If all the forms in a database share the same design, users will have an easier time using the forms.

Visually appealing forms make working in the database more enjoyable and efficient.

When designing forms, pay close attention to titles, field organization, form layout, and error prevention.

7

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Applying a Theme to a Form

Themes are preset designs that include borders, background colors, shading, and graphic effects.

Themes are available in the Themes gallery on the Ribbon.

8Themes gallery

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Applying a Theme to a Form (continued)

Live preview feature– If you move your

mouse pointer over a theme in the Themes gallery, it is temporarily applied to the form

9

Regional Sales form in Design view

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Adding a Logo

A logo is a graphic or picture that can be placed in a form.

A logo usually represents a company name or identity.

Placing the logo in the same area in each form gives them a consistent look.– Helps users feel comfortable using the form

10

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Adding a Logo (continued)

Employees form with logo

11

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Creating Command Buttons

A command button is a button that users can click to perform common tasks.

Record navigation refers to moving within the records in a form.– Such as, going to the next record or to the

previous record Record operation options let you add a

command button with a task.– Such as, adding a new record

12

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Creating Command Buttons (continued)

Command buttons aligned and resized

13

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Adding a New Field to an Existing Form

When you add a new field, you will need to align the new field with the other fields.

A form field has two parts: the label and the text box.– The label typically appears on the left side of the

field and identifies the information in the field. – The text box displays the actual information from

the table.

14

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Adding a New Field to an Existing Form (continued)

Form with new field in Form view

15

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Creating a Combo Box

A combo box displays a list of values and lets you select one from the list.

Selecting the value rather than typing it in the field helps decrease the chance of making typographical errors.

You can use a control wizard to add a combo box to a form.

16

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Creating a Combo Box (continued)

Combo Box placed in form

17

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Sizing and Aligning a Control

Access makes aligning controls in the form a simple process. – Select the controls and fields that you want to

align– Choose the desired alignment options on the

Ribbon You can resize the controls so that they look

consistent with the fields.

18

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Using the Combo Box in a New Record

A combo box makes it easy to add information into a new record.

By selecting an option from the combo box list and not typing the data, you increase the accuracy of the information.

19

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Adding a Calculated Control

A calculated control can be used to perform calculations on the values in other fields.– You can perform calculations such as addition,

subtraction, multiplication, division, etc. If the values in the fields are changed, the

calculated control recalculates and displays the new values.

20

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Adding a Calculated Control (continued)

Calculated control in the form

21

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Changing Tab Order

Tab order is the order of movement in a record when you press the Tab key. – Can be changed in

Design view by selecting the Tab Order button in the Tools group of the Design tab

22Tab Order dialog box

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Summary

In this lesson, you learned: It is important for every form in a database to

have consistent formatting. Applying a theme to a form in the database

makes changing the form’s appearance quick and uniform.

A logo can be added to a form to enhance design consistency.

23

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Summary (continued)

Command buttons can be added to forms for record navigation, such as moving to the next record, and for record operations, such as adding a new form.

A new field can be added to an existing form. A combo box displays a list of values for a

field. You can size and align controls easily.

24

Access Lesson 9

Cable / Morrison Microsoft Office 2010 Advanced

Summary (continued)

Adding a new record that has a combo box makes data entry easier and more efficient.

A calculated control can be added to perform calculations on fields in a form.

The tab order is how you move from one field to another in a form.

25