1. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 51 Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 5 – Enhancing a Table’s Design, and Creating Advanced Queries and Custom Forms

2. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 52 Create a Lookup Wizard field in a table To make a form easier to use, you will often add a Lookup Wizard to the form. Instead of remembering a particular value, you can pick the value from a list. This approach insures that you cannot enter an invalid value. When you create the Lookup Wizard, you will provide a list of acceptable values from which other users will make a selection.

3. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 53 Start the Lookup Wizard process To start the Lookup Wizard process: –Start Access and open the database to be modified –Open the desired table in Design view –Find the field you want to modify as a Lookup Wizard –Click on the right side of the Data Type text box for the field, and then click the Lookup Wizard option –The first Lookup Wizard dialog box will appear

4. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 54 Lookup Wizard dialog box 1 This dialog box allows you to specify a list of allowed values for the selected field that already exist in a table or query in the database. You can also type in the values if you wish to do so. Click the first option button, then click the Next button.

5. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 55 Lookup Wizard dialog box 2 This dialog box lets you select the specific fields from the table you have already selected. In this case, two fields have been selected. Click on a field to highlight it. Then click the select button to move it to the right-hand pane.

6. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 56 Lookup Wizard dialog box 3 This dialog box allows you to adjust the width of the lookup field. Field values for the lookup field from the database table are shown here. Position the cursor and double-click to adjust field width, then click the Finish button.

7. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 57 A lookup field in Datasheet view When the user selects a description, Access will return the correct code that corresponds to the description. This figure below shows what the Lookup field looks like in the table datasheet. In this example, the NAICS description is displayed. When you select a description, Access will lookup the code that goes with the descriptions.

8. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 58 Display related table records in a subdatasheet You can form a relationship between two tables based on a common field. You can display the data from the related table as a subdatasheet in the primary table's datasheet. To see the subdatasheet, simply click the expand indicator in the row for which you'd like to see the subdatasheet.

9. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 59 Illustration of a subdatasheet The figure below illustrates how a table would look when a subdatasheet has been expanded. Notice that this figure shows the Employer information in the main datasheet and that the subdatasheet contains related records in the Position table.

10. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 510 Create an input mask for a table field Some fields require special characters to make them more readable. A phone number, for example, often includes parentheses and/or dashes. You can create an input mask that will display these characters as a predefined format. This predefined format can be used to enter or display data in a field. You can set up literal display characters that will automatically appear in a field. When you provide literal display characters, the user will not need to enter those characters. The Input Mask Wizard makes it easy for you to create an input mask.

11. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 511 An input mask for a phone number field A phone number, for example, often requires parentheses around the area code and a dash after the first three digits of the number. The input mask in the figure below shows where these parentheses and dashes will be placed.

12. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 512 Input Mask character descriptions This figure shows the input mask characters that are available and the meaning of each character.

13. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 513 Define data validation criteria You may want to view only records that match a particular criteria. You can do this by creating a query that uses a pattern match. You can use the like comparison operator using the asterisk (*), the question mark (?), or the number symbol(#). These wildcard characters allow you to create much more flexible patterns. You can also create a List of values match by creating a list of valid values and then using the In comparison operator to define a condition with two or more values. The non-matching values select records that do not match the criteria specified.

14. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 514 A design grid with a pattern match field This figure illustrates a criteria that specifies that only records whose phone numbers begin with 508 will be included in the datasheet. Notice that the * following the ‘8’ creates a wildcard, meaning that anything that follows the 508 is acceptable.

15. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 515 Use a list of values to expand the selection possibilities This design grid shows a field with a list of values. As long as the State value in any record is one of those in the list, the record will be included in the datasheet.

16. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 516 Use both the And and Or logical operators in the same query There will be circumstances where you will want to use both the And and Or logical operators in the same query. The In operator naturally creates an Or condition. You can also use the key word Or in the criteria row to create an Or condition. Placing two conditions on the same row of the Criteria in the Query design grid creates an And condition. Placing two conditions on separate rows in the Query design grid creates an Or condition.

17. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 517 Sample design grid with And and Or conditions in the same query Placing conditions in the same criteria row creates an AND condition. In this example, both criteria also create OR conditions, resulting in a match condition using AND and OR.

18. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 518 The query result for the combined use of And and Or The figure below shows the datasheet for the previous design grid. The criteria for the State field specified that the State must be either MA or NH. The second criteria, for the Position Title field, specified that the values must be Waiter/Waitress or Kitchen Help. The criteria, in this case, uses the Or operator. This criteria could have also been created by placing the two positions on separate lines in the query design grid.

19. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 519 Create a parameter query Sometimes when you create a query, you don't know exactly which records the user might want to see. To allow flexibility in the query, you can create a parameter query. The parameter query will prompt the user to enter the value they want to use to select records. Once the user has supplied this information, those records that match the value will be displayed in the query datasheet.

20. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 520 Defining a parameter query The figure below shows a parameter query placed in the criteria row. Note that the parameter query is enclosed in brackets. This text will be the user prompt when the query is run. When the parameter query is run, a dialog box will be displayed asking the user to enter a value that they want to specify for the criteria.

21. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 521 Design and create a custom form You can create a custom form by modifying an existing form or creating a new form. Either way, the custom form is created in the Form Design window. You can create a simple form or a much more complex form with multiple pages. You place objects on the form, called controls, that will be either bound or unbound controls. Bound controls are linked to a particular field in the underlying table. Unbound controls are not linked to any particular field. –An example of an unbound control is a label control that is on the form simply to provide some information on the form

22. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 522 Plan your custom form first When designing a custom form, its a very good idea to draw your design on paper before you begin. The developer of this design has placed X's on the design to indicate not only where the fields will be placed, but also how long each field will be. This design shows a multi-page form.

23. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 523 Add, select, move, resize, delete, and rename controls You can add and delete controls as you wish. When you add a bound control to the form, you will see both a text box and a label. –The text box is where the data will appear when the form is displayed –The label will contain the name of the field To move a control, you must first select it: –When a control is selected, sizing handles will be displayed on the control –The handle on the upper-left side of the control is its move handle. Drag the move handle to the position you want to place the control –Click on any of the remaining sizing handles and drag to the position you want to resize the control You can rename the control by changing the control's name property to the name you wish to assign to it

24. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 524 Resizing and moving controls In order to move or resize a control, you must have that control selected. In the figure below, the EmployerName text box is selected and has just been moved and resized. When you see the sizing handles, the control is selected and can be moved around on the form.

25. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 525 Add Form Headers and Footers To create a form header, you must add a form header and form footer section to the form. To add these sections to your form, select Form Header/Footer from the View menu. –If you do not want to have one or the other (the header or the footer section), you can reduce its height to zero, which will eliminate it from the form's display Once you have these sections, you can add labels to them to document the form. When creating a title on the form, you will often want to change its font size and weight to make it stand out on the form.

26. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 526 Form Design view with header and footer sections shown Add header and footer sections by clicking View on the menu bar and then clicking Form Header/Footer. To eliminate the Header or Footer sections, drag the bottom line of that section so that its width is zero

27. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 527 Add a graphic image to a form To enhance the appearance of a form, you may choose to add a picture to the form. The image tool on the toolbox will allow you to create a control that contains a graphical image. When you draw the image control on the form, you will be prompted to supply a name of a valid graphic image file. Whatever size you set for the control will determine the size of the picture on the form.

28. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 528 A form with a graphic image inserted This form has had an image inserted into the Form Header section.

29. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 529 Use Control Wizards to create a multi- page form with a subform Because Access is a relational database you will often want to create multi-page forms. You can insert a page break control or a tab control to accomplish this task. The tab control places two tabbed pages, by default, on your form. Once the tab control is in place, you can add controls to any of the tabs just as you would to the form. If you want to add a form to one of the tabs, you can use the Subform/Subreport Wizard.

30. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 530 A multi-page form with tab controls In this figure, a tab control has been added to the form. Each tab contains information from whatever table(s) you choose.

31. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 531 A Form tab with controls added This figure shows controls added to the first tab of the tab control. More tabs can be added if needed to display more information. In this case, Employer data will be displayed on the first tab, and Positions data on the second tab. Positions data will appear as a subform on the second tab. This provides a great deal of information on a single form. The user can click the tab for the data they want to see.

32. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 532 Use Filter By Form Filter By Form can be used to specify which records should be displayed in the forms. When you click on the Filter By Form button, a blank form is displayed. In this blank form, you can enter values that will become the criteria that will determine which records are displayed. You can save the filter as a query that can be used to view the information later. When the filter has been saved as a query, you can reapply it to a form as desired.

33. XP New Perspectives on Microsoft Access 2002 Tutorial 533 Filter By Form example In this figure, the user specified they want to see records whose State field contains RI or whose NAICSDesc field contains Tour Operators. When the Apply Filter button is clicked, only those records that match this criteria will be displayed in the forms.