Working with Dialog Boxes and Menus
You can create your own dialog boxes and menus. Using the tools presented in this tutorial, you will make your macros behave very much like Access itself--using menus and dialog boxes to improve the user's interface. By the time you finish this tutorial, you will understand the following key concepts: how to use message boxes, how to design dialog boxes, how to create a switchboard menu and how to add custom menus to your forms and reports.

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How to: Display a Custom Dialog Box When the User Deletes a Record
When you select a record on a form and delete it, Access displays a dialog box asking the user to confirm the deletion of the record. Learn how to use the BeforeDelConfirm event procedure to display a custom dialog box when the user deletes a record.

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Use custom dictionaries to add words to the spelling checker
When you use the spelling checker, it compares the words in your document with those in the tool's main dictionary. The main dictionary contains most common words, but it might not include proper names, technical terms, or acronyms. In addition, some words might be capitalized differently in the main dictionary than in your document. Adding such words or capitalization to a custom dictionary prevents the spelling checker from flagging them as mistakes. What do you want to do? * Enable custom dictionaries * Open the Custom Dictionaries dialog box * Create a custom dictionary * Add an existing custom dictionary * Add, delete, or edit words in a custom dictionary * Change the language associated with a custom dictionary * Change the default custom dictionary to which the spelling checker adds words.

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Synchronizing Combo Boxes on Forms in Access 2007
When you build custom Microsoft Office Access 2007 applications, there are often situations where it is useful to synchronize two combination boxes (combo boxes) on an Access 2007 form so that when you select an item in the first combo box, that selection limits the choices in the second combo box. For example, it might be necessary to limit the products that are displayed in a combo box based on the category that is selected in another combo box. The Access 2007 combo box control generates the AfterUpdate event when an item in the combo box is selected. This article illustrates how to use the combo box AfterUpdate event to synchronize two combo boxes on an Access 2007 form.

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Examples of Microsoft Access data-entry forms, switchboards, and dialog boxes
In Access, you can enter data directly into the tables in a database. However, you can make the process of entering and working with data much easier and more accurate if you use forms. You can create three types of forms in Access: Data-entry Forms, Switchboards, Custom Dialog Boxes.

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Video Tutorials: Creating a Custom Switchboard in Access 2007
This screencast from Matthew MacDonald, author of Access 2007: The Missing Manual, guides you through creating a custom switchboard in a Microsoft Access database.

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Use existing custom toolbars and startup settings in Access 2007
This topic explains how custom toolbars and menu bars that you created in earlier versions of Access behave when you open those older databases in Microsoft Office Access 2007. This topic also explains how to turn off the Ribbon so that you can use just your custom toolbars and menu bars. The Ribbon is part of the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface. In this article: * How earlier version databases behave in Office Access 2007 * Open and use an earlier version database that contains custom toolbars * Open and use an earlier version database with custom startup behavior * Turn off the Ribbon and use just your custom menu bars

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How to Do an Access 2007 Delete Query
Access 2007 is a database program that is a part of Microsoft Office 2007. A delete query is a action available in Access that allows users to delete entire records from a database. Doing a delete query in Access 2007 is an easy task that can be completed in just a few minutes.

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Startup options
You can use startup options to control how a Microsoft Access file looks and behaves when it opens. The startup options apply only to the current Access file. The startup properties don't override the property settings for a specific toolbar, menu bar, shortcut menu, form, or report. For example, the Menu Bar and Shortcut Menu Bar options in the Startup dialog box don't override the property settings for specific forms or reports that have a custom menu bar or shortcut menu. Thus, when you open a form or report, Microsoft Access displays the custom menu bar attached to the form or report instead of the global menu bar specified in the Startup dialog box. You can also create an AutoExec macro to carry out an action whenever an Access file opens. You can use the Startup dialog box instead of or in addition to an AutoExec macro. An AutoExec macro runs after the startup options have taken effect; therefore, you should avoid any actions in an AutoExec macro that change the effect of the startup option settings. For example, if you specify a form in the Display Form/Page box in the Startup dialog box, and you also use the OpenForm action in an AutoExec macro, Microsoft Access first displays the form specified in the Startup dialog box, then immediately displays the form specified in the OpenForm action.

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Use Existing Custom Menus and Toolbars
This topic explains how custom toolbars and menu bars that you created in earlier versions of Access behave when you open those older databases in Microsoft Office Access 2007. This topic also explains how to turn off the Ribbon so that you can use just your custom toolbars and menu bars. Learn how to use menu and toolbar customizations of databases created in earlier versions of Access.

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Creating custom Help
There are several ways to add custom Help to a Microsoft Access form, report, or control: Display tips for controls and toolbar buttons, Display text in the status bar, Display custom Help.

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Creating User Prompts in Access 2007
In Microsoft Office Access 2007, by default, users are not prompted to confirm changes after modifying and saving records on a form. But often you might want to prompt users to confirm their changes before the record is saved. You can use a BeforeUpdate event procedure to display a confirmation prompt and handle a user's response to either cancel or continue with the save. This visual how-to topic illustrates how to display a custom dialog box to prompt users to cancel or continue with saving changes to a record.

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Set or change Access 2003 user-level security in Access 2007
If you created a database in a previous version of Access and you applied user-level security to that database, those security settings remain in place when you open that file in Microsoft Office Access 2007. In addition, you can start the security tools provided by Microsoft Office Access 2003 - the User-Level Security Wizard and the various user and group permission dialog boxes - from Office Access 2007. This article explains how the Access 2003 security features work, and it explains how to start and use them in Access 2007.

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Set display and editing languages
Microsoft Office 2007 Language Settings turn on language-specific options in 2007 Microsoft Office system, such as options available for a particular language in the Ribbon and dialog boxes. For example, when you turn on the language options for Japanese, the Phonetic Guide and Enclose characters language options are turned on. What do you want to do? * Enable language-specific options * Set the primary language * Change the user interface language for the Ribbon, menus, dialog boxes, and Help * Issues enabling a language * More information

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Adding Tabs and Controls to the Office Fluent Ribbon in Access 2007
Microsoft Office Access 2007 offers the ability to customize the Ribbon in your application. The Ribbon provides a new user model for exposing commands, and it provides easier, more discoverable navigation. You can create a custom Ribbon for an Office Access 2007 database by using only Ribbon extensibility markup XML and macros.

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Adding (All) Options to Combo Boxes or List Boxes in Access 2007
Learn how to add an (All) entry to the list of items displayed in a list box or combo box in Access 2007. Developers frequently use list boxes and combo boxes in Microsoft Office Access 2007 forms to let users specify selection criteria. Adding an (All) option to the list of items can be helpful in scenarios when users might want to select all the items in the list. This Office Visual How To illustrates how to add an (All) entry to the list of items displayed in a list box or combo box in Access 2007.

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Add a place to store your files
The My Places bar is on the left side of some dialog boxes, such as Save As, Open, and Insert Picture, that allows you to specify a folder where you want to store your files. You can use the My Places bar to help save time getting to your folders and help make it easier to access your files in your various folders. After you update the My Places bar in one dialog box, the changes are available in the other dialog boxes with the My Places bar.

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Create and manage custom categories and groups in the Navigation Pane
Microsoft Office Access 2007 provides a new feature called the Navigation Pane. The pane replaces an older tool - the Database window. You use the Navigation Pane to start and manage the objects in a database - the tables, forms, queries, and so on. You can also use the Navigation Pane in place of switchboards. To do so, you create custom categories and groups that provide shortcuts to only the objects that you want users to see. The information in this topic explains how to create and manage custom categories and groups in the Navigation Pane.

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Customizing the Office Fluent User Interface in Access 2007
Learn how you can create a custom Office Fluent Ribbon for an Access 2007 database by using only Office Fluent extensibility markup XML and macros. Discover how to create a command space without writing any code and also learn about more advanced scenarios that require code. The ability to customize the Office Fluent Ribbon in applications is one of the most exciting new developer features in Access 2007. In this article, you learned how to create a custom Office Fluent Ribbon for an Access 2007 database by using Office Fluent extensibility markup XML and macros. You also learned about more advanced scenarios that require VBA code. The Office Fluent Ribbon provides a new user model for exposing commands and application navigation that is more discoverable and easier for users of the application. Taking advantage of this new UI and its extensibility features can also help make your applications look fresh and new.

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Create a toolbar
Learn: Create a toolbar for all Microsoft Access data files, Create a custom toolbar, Create a toolbar from a macro, Create a custom menu bar for the current Access data file, Create a custom shortcut menu, Create a storage toolbar.

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Creating Custom Forms
In this lesson, you will learn how to use Access forms for data input and editing. Forms let you go one giant step beyond regular data entry. In short, forms provide custom interfaces that let you work with data in the most natural way. For example, if you are working with an employee database, you can create a form that matches an employee record. Depending on your company, you may have several different departments that use employee records. Using Access forms, you can create a custom interface for each department. Each department's form, in turn, will present only those fields that employees in that department need to use.

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Create a custom field template for the Field Templates pane
Sometimes it is easier to choose from a predefined list of fields than to manually create a field. You can use the Field Templates pane to choose from a list of predefined fields. You can also create your own custom defined field templates and then add them to the Field Templates pane. Microsoft Office Access 2007 comes with a set of built-in field templates that can save you considerable time when you create fields. To create a new field by using a field template, you display the Field Templates pane and then drag one or more templates to a table that is open in Datasheet view. This article introduces field templates and explains how to insert a field that is based on a prebuilt template into your table. The article then provides detailed instructions about how to create and insert your own custom field templates. In this article: What is a field template? Add a field by using a field template, Create a custom field template.

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Access Tips
Adding the Database Name to a Report in Access, Automatically Compact and Repair Access Databases, Change the Default Working Folder in Access, Combining Text from Two Fields in Access, Create a Vertical Control in Access, Define a Default Field in an Access Database, Deleting Duplicate Records in Access, Display Tabbed Documents in Access 2007, Displaying Highest or Lowest Values in an Access Query's Results, Import Access Tables into Excel, Insert Time/Date in Excel or Access, Navigation Pane in Access 2007, Number Entries in an Access Report, Report Layout View in Access 2007, Techniques for Creating Forms and Reports in Access, Upgrading to Access 2007, Using Validation Rules to Restrict Data in Microsoft Access

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Don't Delete Your Old Versions of Access / Office Accidentally
If you are a Microsoft Access developer and are about to install Microsoft Office 2007 on a computer that already has an earlier version of Microsoft Access, read these instructions carefully or you may delete your old versions of Access. This article is important because the Office 2007 setup wizard deletes old versions as a matter of course.

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Add a custom title or icon to a database
Customizing your Microsoft Office Access database with a meaningful title or icon can help make it easier for users to identify the database. What do you want to do? * Add a custom title * Add a custom icon

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Dialog Boxes
A dialog box is a rectangular object that is used to host or carry other controls: A dialog box is primarily characterized by two features: its title bar and its body. The title bar, on top of the dialog box, can have a title and has the system close button.

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Specify how data displays by using custom formatting
Sometimes you want the data in a field to appear in a particular format so that it is easier to read or perhaps make the data display more prominently, and you can achieve this by applying suitable custom formats. If you use a custom formats, the changes only apply to how the data displays, and does not affect how the data is stored in the Microsoft Office Access database or how users can enter or edit the data. Applying a custom format becomes an option when you work with data types that either do not have a predefined Access formatting option or when the predefined formats do not meet your needs. You can apply custom formats by entering sets of literal characters and placeholder characters to a field. When you apply a format to a table field, that same format is automatically applied to any form or report control that you bind (link) to that table field. This article describes the types of literal and placeholder characters that you can use with specific data types and shows how to apply the formatting. What do you want to do? * Learn more about custom formats * Specify a format for Number and Currency data types * Specify a format for Text and Memo data types * Specify a format for Date/Time data type * Learn more about how to format options

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Delete a toolbar, button, or command
Delete a custom toolbar, menu, custom shortcut menu, toolbar button, menu command.

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Calendar and Toolbars
We will look into the following points and how to deal with them: 1)Advantages & disadvantages of Custom Toolbar Button & Shortcut Menu Button for displaying the Calendar Control and whey we need both? 2)When there is no need for a Calendar Control on a Form how to disable the Buttons? 3)When the Target Control is not a Date type field how to prevent the Calendar from appearing? 4)Do we need the Custom Toolbar or Shortcut Menu Button to display the calendar, is there any other method?

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Troubleshoot spelling
Learn: The spelling checker didn't find specific errors. The spelling checker questions text that is correct. I can't select language-specific spelling options. I can't add a word to the custom dictionary. I added words to a custom dictionary, but the spelling checker still questions them. Microsoft Access prompts me to create a new custom dictionary when I try to add a word.

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9 ways to get ready for the new 2007 Office release user interface
In this article * Using the Ribbon * Command Tabs * Command Sets * Contextual Tools * Dialog Box Launchers * Galleries * New File Menu * Quick Access Toolbar * New View Controls From the moment you launch any of the applications in the 2007 Microsoft Office system, you will notice a dramatic difference. The entire user interface has been redesigned to be more intuitive, easier to navigate, and better suited to the task at hand. When the developers of the 2007 Office release began brainstorming about the new user interface, they decided to go back to the drawing board and create an interface based on the way people use their computers today. The result is a simplified, smart system that brings you just the tools you need, when you need them. No more clicking through menus, submenus, and nested dialog boxes. Now the commands you need come to you, depending on the type of object you select and the application you are using. This article introduces the new elements in the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface so that you'll recognize the features as you begin to use the applications.

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Use queries to delete one or more records from a database
This article explains how to delete data from an Microsoft Office Access 2007 database by using update and delete queries. You use an update query to delete individual fields from the records in a database, and you use a delete query when you need to remove entire records from a database, including the key value that makes the record unique. As you proceed, remember that Access also provides a number of ways to delete part or all of a record manually. For more information about deleting records manually, see the article Delete one or more records from a database. In this article * Understand using queries to delete data * Plan the deletion * Stop Disabled Mode from blocking a query * Delete partial records (one or more fields) * Delete entire records * Sample criteria for select queries

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Create custom menus and shortcut menus by using macros
You can use Access macros to create custom shortcut menus that appear when you right-click forms, reports, or individual controls. You can also create custom menus that appear on the Ribbon for specific forms or reports.

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Create Relationships in Access 2007
A database should be designed to minimize data redundancy by dividing the data into tables so that each fact is only represented once. A relationship between tables allows Office Access 2007 to bring this data back together by displaying information from more than one table at a time. The following steps will show how to create a relationship in Access 2007.

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Create a custom toolbar
Create a custom toolbar in Microsoft Access 2003.

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Check boxes on the form
This is my first time on this site. I am a beginner to access. My questions is, i am using access 2000 and i am trying to put several check boxes on an access form to filter down the project status (approved, not approved, registered etc....). I have 13 check boxes on the form for different project statuses and i am trying to pull out a report based on only one of the check boxes checked. How do i make this check boxes work? Can it be directly done in Access? OR Do i have to use VB code? If so, could you please send me a sample code for check boxes?

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Define a custom format for a Date/Time field in a table in Access 2007
In Access 2007, I have a table with a date field in it. When I view the table, I'd like to see the date value displayed as "mm/dd/yyyy hh:nn:ss" format. How can I do this?

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Disable Form
I've made a custom form that allows users to input data. This form pops up when a button is pushed on another main form. Now when the custom form pops up, the previous main form is still visible to the user. If the user chooses, they can select the previous form, which I don't want. Is there a way to disable/gray out this form such that the user's focus is only on the custom form? If I used the inputbox function, it has the effect that disallows users to select a previous form while the inputbox is open. I was wondering if this functionality can be translated to the custom form in VB code or some other means.

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Sort records in custom order
There may be times when you want to sort data, not by alphabetical or numerical order, but by user-defined order (also called custom or logical order). This topic covers three different procedures for sorting records in custom order: 1)Sort records based on a small, finite number of values in a table, query, or form. 2)Sort records based on a large number of values in a query or form. 3)Allow users to sort records in custom order in Page view.

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Advanced Programming Concepts
Learn Scoping and Object-Naming Compatibility; Custom Methods and Properties; Improvements in Compilation Performance; Macro Actions and Methods of the DoCmd Object; Using Enumerated Constants in Microsoft Access 2002 and Later; Comparison of Data Types; Call Procedures in a Subform or Subreport; Program with Class Modules.

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