1. 1 Chapter 3 Reviewing Forms, Reports, and Data Access Pages

2. 3 Chapter Objectives Design easy-to-use forms and data access pages that facilitate the entry of valid data Bind forms, reports, and data access pages to tables and queries Create expressions that display the result of calculations Create groups within the database window that contain related forms, reports, and data access pages

3. 3 Reviewing Forms, Reports, and Data Access Pages In addition to table and query datasheets, Access offers three ways to display data: forms, reports and data access pages These objects contain:  Sections  For example, header and detail sections in forms, page and group headers in reports, and captions and headers in pages  Controls  For example, text boxes and check boxes

4. 3 Reviewing Forms, Reports, and Data Access Pages Forms, reports, data access pages, and their corresponding sections and controls have properties  Property sheet  A window in which you can modify the properties of an object  Used to specify the format of an object  Used to specify valid input

5. 3 Forms, Controls, and Properties Professionally styled Access applications have users enter and view data through forms (or pages on the Web) Forms  Can be customized to mirror other documents in the work environment  Help enforce data integrity by restricting the data that the user may enter

6. 3 Components of a Form A form control  Refers to any object that is placed on the form Form Header  Contains column headings for a form Form Footer  Contains controls that summarizes values in Detail section Detail section  Values displayed change depending upon the record that is currently being viewed

7. 3 Components of a Form Figure 3-1 Design view of frmProspects

8. 3 Unbound and Bound Forms Bound form  Form that is tied to, or associated with, either a table or query Record source  Table or query with which the form is associated-that is, the source of the data RecordSource property  Listed in the Data tab of the form’s property sheet  May contain the name of the table, the name of a query, or an SQL statement

9. 3 Unbound and Bound Forms Unbound form  Form that is not tied to any table or query Splashscreen  Displays one or more brief messages to the user that automatically appear and disappear Switchboard  Do not display data, but rather contain command buttons that open reports or other forms

10. 3 Controls ControlSource property  Located in the Data tab of the control’s property sheet Unbound controls  Controls that do not have a value for their control source property

11. 3 Properties A property sheet contains five tabs Properties in:  Data tab  Specify the record or control source  Format tab  Control the aesthetics of the object  Event tab  Used to link an object to a VBA procedure or macro

12. 3 Properties A property sheet contains five tabs (cont.) Other tab  Contains miscellaneous properties such as the name of an object  Name property  Used in VBA procedures and macros to refer to object All tab  Displays all of the properties specified

13. 3 Form Style Tips that facilitate good form style:  Use a consistent color and formatting scheme  Use a consistent button, menu, and toolbar scheme across related forms  Restrict the amount of text and pictures on a form to a volume that a use can easily comprehend  Use a soft coloring scheme that is easy to look at for long periods of time

14. 3 Form Style Tips that facilitate good form style (cont.):  Build an application that helps the user remember valid data entries  Test the user interface for understandability of the graphics and for cultural sensitivity  Determine the type of monitors that will be used in conjunction with your application

15. 3 Form Style Tips that facilitate good form style (cont.):  Use shortcut keys or access keys to allow the selection of menus, toolbars, and command buttons through keystrokes  A shortcut key is a keystroke that executes a menu item or command immediately  An access key moves the focus to an item in the menu

16. 3 Working with Forms You can place a background image on a form by specifying the path to a picture in a form’s Picture property Background colors of controls and from sections are set through the BackColor property The text color of a control is set using a control’s ForeColor property

17. 3 Working with Forms Table 3-1 Common form design tasks

18. 3 Working with Forms To remove the navigation buttons that appear on the bottom of the form:  Select No in the form’s NavigationButtons properties To remove the record selector that appears on the side of the form:  Select No in the form’s RecordSelector properties

19. 3 Working with Forms Table 3-2 Form design wizards

20. 3 Working with Forms Table 3-2 Form design wizards (continued)

21. 3 Controls That Organize: Tab Controls and Subforms When you use a Tab Control control instance to organize controls on a form, the user can click a tab to display the controls that are located within the particular tab Subform control instance  Allows a form (referred o as the main form ) to display the contents of another record source

22. 3 Controls That Organize: Tab Controls and Subforms The property sheet of the subform identifies the fields that link the main form (Link Master Fields property) to the subform (Link Child Fields property) Source Object property  Contains the name of the form displayed by the subform

23. 3 Controls That Display and Update Data When you modify a form or create an unbound form, you can place controls on a form by:  Clicking a control on the toolbox and then dragging the mouse on the form to indicate the location and size of the control  If the toolbox is not displayed, click the Toolbox button in the toolbar Field list  Contains a list of fields in a form’s record source

24. 3 Controls That Display and Update Data Table 3-3 Data entry and display controls in Access

25. 3 Controls That Display and Update Data Calculated control  A control with an expression RowSource property  Contains an SQL statement or the name of a table or query that contains the values to be displayed in the combo box  May return more than one field

26. 3 Controls That Display and Update Data BoundColumn property  Identifies the field that will become the value of the combo box after the user selects an item  Contains an integer that corresponds to the order of the column ColumnWidths property  Indicates the size of the fields to be displayed within the combo box  Occasionally, a width is set equal to zero

27. 3 ActiveX Controls ActiveX controls  Similar to Access controls, except they have been developed for other applications Clicking More Controls in the toolbox  Displays a list of ActiveX controls

28. 3 ActiveX Controls Spin button  Allows a user to click on an arrow to increase or decrease the value of a field  Amount of the increase is set up in the control’s SmallChange property  Contains the Maximum and Minimum properties that restrict the valid values that can be entered

29. 3 Option Groups Option group  Displays a group frame containing toggle buttons, option buttons, or check boxes  Ensures that the user will select a valid value

30. 3 Working with Property Sheets to Enforce Data Validity To allow users to change the data on a form, you must set the form’s AllowEdits property to Yes  Set AllowDeletions to Yes to allow users to delete records  Set AllowAdditions to Yes to allow users to add new records

31. 3 Working with Property Sheets to Enforce Data Validity To change the value displayed through a control, set the Locked property to No and the Enabled property to Yes A way to distinguish controls is to change the BackStyle property to transparent

32. 3 Working with Property Sheets to Enforce Data Validity Input Mask, Validation Rule, Validation Text, and Default Value are important properties in the Data tab of a control  Similar to the field properties with the same names found in the table’s Design view  Access automatically uses them when these values are set as field properties within the control’s ControlSource property

33. 3 Creating Conditional Formats Conditional Formatting dialog box  Opened from the Format menu  Specifies the conditional formats Field Value Is condition  Sets the format when the value of the corresponding control meets certain conditions

34. 3 Creating Conditional Formats Expression Is condition  Allows you to change the properties of one control while testing the values of different controls Field Has Focus condition  Allows you to change properties when the user places the cursor in the control ForeColor, BackColor, and Enabled properties  Can be changed when the condition is True

35. 3 Form Design Considerations That Influence Maintenance Organization and standards are half the battle when creating easy-to-maintain systems One standard that facilitates programming and maintenance is consistent use of object naming conventions These naming conventions require tags to appear in front of all object names

36. 3 Creating Reports Reports  Provide access to data in tables and queries  Read-only access  Means that the report cannot modify data in its record source  Normally, reports are printed on paper

37. 3 Report Sections Controls in the Report Header appear once at the beginning of the report Controls in the Report Footer appear at the end of the report Page Headers and Page Footers display controls at the beginning and end of the page, respectively

38. 3 Report Sections Report group  Set of records that share a common value for a particular field Controls in a Group Header appear at the beginning of a report group Controls in the Group Footer appear at the end of a report group

39. 3 Report Sections Figure 3-10 rptEmployer

40. 3 Report Sections Figure 3-11 rptEmployer in Design View

41. 3 Report Wizards Simplest way to create a report is through report wizards  Similar to form wizards  Available from the shortcut menu prompts for the tables and queries for the record source

42. 3 Data Access Pages Data access pages  Special Web interface supported by Access  Stored as an HTML file HTML files do not physically reside inside an Access mdb file  Icons within the Page tab of the Database window point to the HTML file  The HTML file contains a reference back to the database

43. 3 Creating a Data Access Page Header sections  Display records from a table or query RecordSource property  Identifies table or query used to supply data to section Bound HTML control  Similar to a locked text box, but is preferred because it displays data more efficiently Controls that display or update data have a ControlSource property

44. 3 Creating a Data Access Page You can add bound controls to a section by dragging a field from the Field List window Figure 3-13 Field list window of a data access page

45. 3 Creating a Data Access Page Figure 3-14 Page view of pagCitizenships

46. 3 Creating a Data Access Page Figure 3-15 Design view of pagCitizenship

47. 3 Creating a Data Access Page Footer  Displayed at the end of a group Caption  Contains labels that appear prior to the data in the Header Navigation section  Contains controls that allow the user to navigate through various displayed records

48. 3 Creating a Data Access Page Sorting and Grouping window  Specifies whether these sections are created Data Page Size text box  Located in the Sorting and Grouping window  Indicates the number of records that should be displayed at one time

49. 3 Creating a Data Access Page Figure 3-16 Sorting and Grouping window

50. 3 Creating a Data Access Page To create a new group, click the control to promote it and then:  Click Promote or  Click Group by Table in the toolbar  Creates a section that will contain all of the fields in the table Clicking Demote removes a section

51. 3 Chapter Summary Forms, reports, and data access pages are the system from an end user’s point of view Forms  Principal interface of an application  Display data and allow the user to update data  Should be designed to help the user enter valid data Reports support printed reports Data access pages support interaction through the Web

52. 3 Chapter Summary Most forms, reports, and data access pages are bound to a table or query through the RecordSource property Wizards are frequently used to create an initial version of a form, report, and data access page Forms, reports, and data access pages should obey proper design characteristics