by   
Laura C. Larsson

Creating and Modifying Forms 

Table of Contents

Introduction 

Forms enable you to enter data into tables much more simply than trying to enter it into the spreadsheet view. You can enter and view one record at a time. Often this is less confusing to the data entry person since there isn't so much information on the page. Forms look nicer and are generally (if well designed) easier to enter data into. You can also customize the forms by changing arrangement, font, font size and color and by changing the background. Most of the forms will correspond to the tables, but not always.  And you might want to incorporate more than one table into a form to make it easier to enter data. 

Forms allow you to select specific fields from the record to display. You can also specify the field order in the Form. If you use the Design view, you can arrange the fields to meet your needs. A well designed form makes entering data and locating records easier. 

Access enables you to set aside portions of your form for calculations, while lines and rectangles used as graphic elements are designed into the form when you create it. We will not be doing serious calculations in any of our forms. 

You can also create a switchboard form which acts as a table of content to your database. The switchboard form enables you to open other forms or reports.  We will not be covering switchboard forms in this workshop, although you have already seen  what a switchboafd form  looks like in the Students and Classes database. 

Although we will not be discussing it here, you can also create a custom dialog box into which you can enter data, and then carry out a process based on the data you entered. 

Before you begin designing forms, you should be sure that you have created appropriate field types in your tables. A text or memo field is going to work much differently than a number field.  Be sure that you have assigned any table properties. Table properties affect the whole table so it's important to get those right. 

It  makes a fair bit of sense to design forms on paper before you work on designing them in the database, or at least have a clear idea of what you want to include. So, rough out where you want which piece of information and redo till the form works out for reading and data entry. Think hierarchically, since the switchboard is really a menu of options. 

I will often create a shadow database (I call it Serials1) where I do my testing of forms. I then redo them in the "good" or "real" version of the database. 

An Example of a Form 

What does this form enable you to do? It enables you to enter various kinds of information about the student such as contact information, classes taken, Instructor, which department they are in, and quite a bit of information on various assignments. This form is put together from several tables. 
 

Parts of a Form

• The form header which is composed of title (label), date, and so on
• A detail section which has the fields and controls and any command buttons that you choose to add
• The form footer for things like page numbers or other footer information
• Rulers (both horizontal and vertical) which show you your location on the page

Planning the Forms for the Serials Database

Creating Forms for the Serials Database

Be sure to read Optimize form and subform performance in Access Help to get a list of suggestions for making your forms run faster 

Creating a Form using AutoForm

From the Database window, click the Tables or Queries tab once and select  the table or query you want to base the form on. Then click the arrow next to the New Object   button on the toolbar, and then click AutoForm.  Access creates the form for you based on the table you select. 

You can also click on the Forms Tab, then Insert | Form, New Form and select the table you wish to base the form on. Forms can also be created from queries. The process is the same. 

 

Assignment 2:   Create one Form each for the following tables using Autoform:    Bindery Table Agent Table Publisher Table Subject Table Be sure to save each table. We will be editing the Publisher form in a bit.

 

Example of the Publisher Table after using Autoform 

Note that Autoform just creates a two column list. We will edit it in a few moments to make it look a little better. 

Creating a Form with a Wizard

Create a Form with Tabs (discussed but not practiced) 

You can use a tab control or a page break control to create a multi-page or tab form. The advantage to a multi-page form is that everything to perform an action is available without having to return to the Database window and locate the next form, open it up and start entering. 

Since the tab control method is the easiest and most effective way to create a multiple-page form, I will give you those instructions. Use Access help to learn how to create a multi-page form. 

Open an existing form in Design view. In the toolbox, click the Tab Control tool   and then click the form where you want to place the control.  Access adds a tab control with two pages. The first page is on top. The pages will be numbered. 

The next step is to add controls to the tab control. You do this by clicking the tab of the page you want to add controls to. Add controls by using one of the methods listed below: 
 

• From the View menu, click on Field List, or click the Field List icon on the toolbar to display the field list and drag one or more fields to the tab page. 
• Select a tool in the toolbox and then click on the tab page. You are allowed to add any type of control except another tab control. 
• Copy controls from another part of the form or from another page. (Note: you are not allowed to drag controls from another part of a form or from another page.) 

If you want to add, delete, or change the order of tabs, click on the border of the tab control with the right mouse button and click Insert Page, Delete Page, or Page Order to make changes. Sometimes the order of controls on the tabbed page needs to be changed for easier movement through the database. To change the tab order of controls on a page, click the page with the right mouse button and click Tab Order. 

To change the font name, font size, font style, and so on, of pages, double-click the border of the tab control to open its property sheet and then set the appropriate properties. You are not allowed to specify different settings for different pages. A font change, for example, affects all pages. 

Make the tab control as large (or small) as necessary. Test each tab to make sure all the controls fit well within each tab. 

Test the controls in Form view. 
 
 

Assignment 3  Creating a Form for Entering Bibliographic Information About a Journal  1. Decide What Constitutes Bibliographic Information  What Tables and Fields should you use to create a form for capturing bibliographic information about the journal?  Suggestions  2. Use the Form Wizard to select tables and fields for the form  3. Make changes to the form  After we cover the next section, Modifying a Form, you will know how to rearrange the form for easier data entry.

 

Creating a Form Using Design View

Then click on OK. The Form Screen will appear. 

The first thing you might want to do is to make the background area where objects will be placed a little larger. Click on the bottom right hand corner of the grey work area, hold the left mouse button down until the cursor changes shape to a four-arrowed icon and drag down and to your right to make the area larger. 

Notice the Toolbox which is a display of the different types of objects that you can put on the background.  (The relations between the Toolbox and the name of the button did not show up as well as expected in the table below, but you can get a better idea by moving your cursor over the various buttons on the Toolbox.) 
 

Left Side	Forms DesignToolbox	Right Side
Select Objects  Label  Option Group  Option Button  Combo Box  Command Button  Unbound Object Frame  Page Break  Subform/Subreport  Rectangle		Control Wizards  Text Box  Toggle Button  Check Box  List Box  Image  Bound Object Frame  Tab Control  Line  More Controls

 

You'll use the Forms Design Toolbox to add and change Labels, add toggles, check and radio buttons, and more. A few of the tools from the toolbox are mentioned in the table below. Study the Access help file for additonal tools and design ideas. 
 
 

Most Important Tools in the Forms Design Toolbox

Image	Tool	Description
	Label	Use for creating a Text Control including headings or report titles
	Option Group	Use for 5 or fewer option buttons
	Text	Use for creating text control objects
	Toggle Box	Creates an on/off situation
	Command	Creates a button that runs a macro such as launching the publisher table for data entry on the Bibliographic Data Entry Form
	Check Box	Creates a check box and a true/false control
	Option (Radio) Button	Used as an option within a group

 
 

Adding a Label (Label Object)

From the Toolbox, select the  (Label) button. The cursor will change to a cross hair and the letter A. Click near the top of the form and type in "Journal Editors". Hit Enter, or click once anywhere on the form (except on the label). 

You now have a label which looks like this: 

Adding a Text Object (Text (Control) Object)

The Toolbox Button

Now take the cursor and click on the box that says "Unbound". Type in "Last Name" and click on Enter. You will be using the white box to type in information. Change the Text4 label to read "Editor's Name". Note how the box enlarges to accommodate the text you keyed in. (Please note that on your computer, Text4 may be a different number. It may be Text1. This is an artifact of my having worked on my database to create other forms.)  
 

The Field List Box

 

Select the Title field by clicking on it with your left mouse button. Hold the key downand drag the cursor below the Editor's Last Name field. Notice what happens. The Text Object and the Label object are filled in automatically for you by Access. The Label Object has whatever field name was in the table. You can change the Label Object by clicking on the Label Object and changing it. 
 
 

Practice  Try adding some other fields to the form. Save the form with the name Editors.

When you are done adding fields and have saved the file, change to the form view and take a look at how your form looks. 

In the example below, we see both the Design View and below that the Form View. 

If we wanted to get rid of the Labels for First Name and Middle Initial, here's how we would do it. Select the Text box for each one theText Boxes you want to eliminate and hit the delete key. 
 
 

Questions:  Note that in the above form we did not include the EditorID.  Will this oversight affect anything? Should we go back and go into design mode to add this field? What will happen if we don't include that field?

 

Modifying a Form

Customizing the Look of a Form

Here's how you can customize your form. You can change the background, move, size or realign controls(and change font style and size), change the current control to another type such as a radio button (for yes/no responses), change a label text, or add a field or control. 

Rearranging Controls and Labels

View of the Redesigned Publisher's Form

 

Creating a Form Table of Content Page Using Switchboard Forms

Here is the Switchboard form from the Students and Classes database for you to look at. 

From the Tools menu, point to Add-ins, and then click Switchboard Manager. When asked if you'd like to create a switchboard, select Yes. Actually, Access will announce that it was unable to find a valid switchboard in this database and then ask if you'd like to create one. 

In the Switchboard Manager dialog box, click Edit. 

In the Edit Switchboard Page dialog box, type a name for the switchboard in the Switchboard Name box, and then click New. 

In the Edit Switchboard Item dialog box, type the text for the first switchboard button in the Text box, and then click a command in the Command box. 

Depending on which command you click, Microsoft Access can display another box below the Command box. You may want to select an item in this box. For example, if you clicked Open Form In Edit Mode in the Command box in step 5, you will need to click the name of the form you want to open in the Form box, and then click OK. 

Repeat these steps until you've added all the menu items to the switchboard. 

If you want to edit or delete an item, click the item in the Items On This Switchboard box, and then click Edit or Delete. If you want to rearrange items, click the item in the box, and then click Move Up or Move Down. Click on the Close button to stop editing the switchboard. 

You can use the Switchboard Manager to create a switchboard that branches to other switchboards. Choose the Go To Switchboard command in the Command box, and then specify the switchboard you want to go to. 

To make the switchboard form open automatically, select the switchboard name in the Switchboard Manager dialog box and make it the Default. 
 

For More Information 

Next: Data Entry 

Back: Building Relationships