Microsoft Access Programmer Des Moines, Iowa

How Microsoft Access Programmers Use Forms

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The material below originally appeared in Alison Balter's book Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2007 Development, reprinted here with author's permission. There may be references to "Figures" or "Chapters"that are not reprintable and are not used on this page.

Creating A Form From Design View

Although the Form Wizards are both powerful and useful, in many cases you'll prefer building a form from scratch, especially if you're building a form that's not bound to data. To create a form without using a wizard, click to select the Create tab. Then click the Form Design button in the Forms group. The Form Design window appears (see Figure 5.9).

Working with the Form Design Window

You can use the Form Design window to build and customize a form. Using this window, you can add objects to a form and customize them by using the property sheet. You can also build and customize a form using Layout View. The section of this chapter titled "Working in Layout View" covers this process in detail. Microsoft has supplied many form and control properties. After gaining a command of these properties, you can customize the look and feel of your forms.

Understanding and Working with the Form Design Tools

Even the best developer needs the right tools for the job. Fortunately, Microsoft has given you tools to help you build exciting and useful forms. The Form Design window includes the Ribbon and the actual form you're designing. Other tools are available to help you with the design process, including the Field List window and property sheet.

Two additional tabs appear when you're in a form's Design view: the Design tab and the Arrange tab. The Design tab has buttons you use to switch views, add controls, add fields, and work with control and form properties. As its name implies, the Arrange tab contains tools that allow you to control the layout of controls on the form. It contains tools used for control alignment, control layering, control sizing, and more.

Toggling the Tools to Get What You Want

A few windows are available to help you with the design process when you're in a form's Design view. If you don't have a high resolution monitor, you'll probably find it annoying to have all the windows open at once. In fact, with all the windows open at once on a low-resolution monitor, the form is likely to get buried underneath all the windows. This is why Microsoft has made each window open and close in a toggle-switch–like fashion. The Design tab has buttons for the Field List window and property sheet, and each of these toolbar buttons is a toggle. Clicking once on the button opens the appropriate window; clicking a second time closes it. Furthermore, you can show or hide the Navigation Pane.

Figure 5.10 shows a form with the Field List window, Navigation Pane, and property sheet open. Although you can size each of these windows however you like, the design environment in this low-resolution display is rather cluttered with all these windows open. One of the tricks in working with Access is in knowing when it's appropriate to have each set of tools available. The goal is to have the right windows open at the right time as often as possible.

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Author Attribution

The preceding material originally appeared in Alison Balter's book Mastering Microsoft Office Access 2007 Development and is reprinted here with the author's permission.

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Expert Microsoft Access Programmer In Des Moines, Iowa

Need help with Microsoft Access programming in Des Moines, Iowa? Reach out to MS Access Solutions at (323) 285-0939. We've been supporting businesses with database development for more than 25 years.

Examples Of Industries We've Served

We've built and maintained Microsoft Access systems for a wide range of industries, including:

• Medical clinics and hospitals.
• Local, state, and federal government offices.
• Military departments.
• Public and private schools, colleges, and universities.
• Farms, ag cooperatives, and food producers.
• Insurance brokers and underwriters.
• HR teams and employment services.

We Fix Mcrosoft Access Problems

We also work with smaller projects, offering dependable day-to-day support for common Microsoft Access issues, including the following:

• Fixing Access forms that aren't opening or displaying correctly.
• Adjusting reports that show incorrect results or crash.
• Repairing queries that fail, run too slowly, or give bad data.
• Streamlining macros to reduce manual work.
• Cleaning up or rewriting VBA code that no longer functions properly.
• Migrating Excel-based tracking sheets into Access for better structure.
• Troubleshooting file corruption or unexpected errors.

Whether it's a small repair or a complete system rebuild, our goal is to make sure your database performs reliably—and fits your day-to-day workflow.

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Find out more about our Microsoft Access programming services on the Microsoft Access Programmer Peoria, Illinois web page.

Question: What is Microsoft Access and how is it different from Excel?

Answer: Microsoft Access is a database management system (DBMS), a powerful tool designed specifically for organizing, storing, and retrieving large amounts of related information. Think of it as a digital filing cabinet for all your critical business data, such as customer details, product inventories, and order histories. Unlike Microsoft Excel, which is a spreadsheet program optimized for calculations, charting, and managing single, flat lists of data, Access excels at managing complexity. The core difference lies in its relational structure. In Access, you can create multiple tables of information—one for customers, one for orders, one for products—and then build relationships between them. This means you only have to enter a customer's address once; every order they place can be linked back to that single, correct entry. This relational model drastically reduces data redundancy, minimizes the chance of errors from re-typing information, and ensures data integrity across your entire business operation. While Excel is perfect for a simple sales tracker, Access is the superior choice for building a comprehensive system to manage all aspects of your business, from contacts to sales to inventory, all in one interconnected place.

Question: Can my team use our Access database at the same time?

Answer: Yes, your team can absolutely use an Access database at the same time, which is a critical feature for any growing business. However, to make this work effectively and safely, the database must be set up in a specific way known as "splitting." This process separates the database into two distinct files. The first is the "back-end," which is a single Access file containing only your data tables. This back-end file is stored in a central, shared location that all authorized users can connect to, such as a network server. The second part is the "front-end," which contains all the user interface elements—forms for data entry, queries for asking questions of the data, and reports for analysis. Each member of your team gets their own personal copy of this front-end file on their computer. Their copy then connects across the network to the shared back-end data file. This architecture is the industry standard for multi-user Access environments because it provides significant benefits. It improves performance, as only the necessary data travels over the network, not the entire interface. Most importantly, it dramatically reduces the risk of database corruption and makes updates and maintenance much easier.

Question: Is my data secure in Microsoft Access?

Answer: Microsoft Access provides several layers of security suitable for many business environments. The most straightforward method is setting a database password. When you apply a password, Access encrypts the entire database file, making it unreadable to anyone who tries to open it without the correct credentials. This is a strong first line of defense against unauthorized access to the raw data file. For more granular control over what users can see and do, you can use a split database architecture. By distributing only the front-end file to users, you prevent them from directly accessing the back-end data tables, which adds a significant layer of protection. You can then build logic into the forms and reports in the front-end to restrict certain actions based on the user. For businesses with even more stringent security or regulatory compliance requirements (like HIPAA or GDPR), Access can be used as a front-end application that connects to a more robust and secure database server, such as Microsoft SQL Server or SQL Azure. This hybrid approach combines the rapid application development environment of Access with the advanced, enterprise-grade security features of a dedicated server, giving you the best of both worlds.

Have a question not listed here? Call (323) 285-0939 or request a consult.