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Forms: Getting Started

Learn how to create user-friendly forms, prevent errors, and customize views for different user groups. Explore two form strategies and discover the power of controls and properties. From autoforms to advanced design techniques, this guide will help you optimize your forms for maximum functionality.

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Forms: Getting Started

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  1. Forms: Getting Started • Why use forms? • Make applications easier to use • Prevent errors • provide different groups of users with different views of the database • There are LOTS of details in creating forms • We will just get started on it here -- use your book to learn more if you want

  2. Two strategies for forms • Make an autoform and adjust it • Move the controls around • Remove controls you don’t want • change colors and other properties • Design the form from scratch • Put the controls you want, where you want • Set the properties as you want

  3. Controls and Properties • On forms, everything is called a control • Boxes, buttons, etc… • Controls have properties that govern their appearance, behavior and their connection to the underlying data • Properties are CRUCIAL • the more you know, the more you can do

  4. Making a new form is easy Experiment with autoforms & the form wizard Forms work with both tables & queries

  5. Autoforms include all the fields

  6. Changes to design mode to modify the form

  7. Right-button for colors, alignment, tab order and other properties

  8. To kill that annoying cloud picture, change the form’s “picture” property

  9. And choose a color...

  10. Forms can have validation rules for each control (data field)

  11. Moving controls can be frustrating -- stay calm! Click & drag here to move the LABEL Click & drag here to move the DATA

  12. How to display “one-to-many” data in a way that can be easily edited? Parent form displays unique data from “one” side Subform displays repeating data from the “many” side Examples: Each resume has many prior jobs Each resume has many educations credentials In the ActRep database, each person has many activities Need a form for people and a sub-form for their activities Forms and subforms

  13. Draw the forms and subforms on paper Create the main form first, then the subform Edit the main form to include the subform Link them together Use the properties of the subform control Use the “subform field linker” Adjust everything until you like it Strategy for subforms

  14. Make the main form based on the “people” table This time, try working without the wizard...

  15. A blank form, a list of field, and a toolbox for all the controls

  16. Lots of controls to choose from Hold the mouse over the icon to see what kind of control it is. EXPERIMENT! Buttons, boxes ... … pictures... Tabs (HR/Vantage uses this a lot) Subforms (to include related tables)

  17. Add the controls you want to the parent form 1. First click on the kind of control 2. Next click on the name of the field 3. Drag the field onto the form & move it where you want it

  18. Make the subforms (try the “tabular” autoform)

  19. Needs work, but not a bad start...

  20. Edit the form as necessary • Remove, re-label, and move controls • Note the exact width (e.g., 5-1/2 inches)

  21. Here’s just the subform...

  22. Edit the parent to include the subform

  23. Make it the right size and set its properties Right-button on the subform area to get at the properties

  24. Data properties are critical • Source object is the name of the subform

  25. Use the Subform Field Linker • This determines which fields are linked Read this description of the result if you’re not sure

  26. Adjust things until you like it

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