Microsoft Access Custom Form Navigation

Customising Microsoft Access forms, adding your own menus and command buttons is part of creating a Microsoft Access database application and designing an Access graphical user interface. Microsoft Access forms can contain the built in Access navigation buttons and record counter, or you may wish to add your own.

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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.

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.

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.

Splash Screens in Microsoft Access
When Microsoft Access opens, the first object that opens up by default is the database window. Most of the time you would not like to give your users access the this window, so you can hide this and display your own form or switchboard. To enable you to show your own Microsoft Access form when the database opens you should create an unbound form and use the Access Start Up options to set this form to open up whenever the database is started.

Use custom colors from another application
The colors of an image as it appears in a form or report might not be the same as the colors of that image in the application where it was originally created. To ensure that an image appears in the original colors, you can specify a custom palette for the form or report. The custom palette replaces the Microsoft Access default palette only for that form or report.

Switchboard Forms in Microsoft Access
A switchboard is essentially a Microsoft Access form that allows you to facilitate navigation or perform tasks within your database application. This form is basically a customised menu that contains user-defined commands; using either buttons, labels, images or hyperlinks, that invoke actions that will automatically carry out tasks for you such as opening other forms, running queries or printing reports. The form will typically contain various command (buttons), which your users can then click on to carry out the pre-defined actions that you have associated with these commands.

Microsoft Access Articles
Topics: Distributing a Microsoft Access Application, Creating a Resolution Independent Microsoft Access Application, Custom Menus, Toolbars and Pop-Up Menus, repair/recover a corrupt database, use DAO with Microsoft Access 2000 or higher, handling images with Microsoft Access.

Displaying Custom Dialog Boxes for Custom Delete Actions in Access 2007
In Microsoft Office Access 2007, when the user selects and deletes a record on a form, Access displays a dialog box that asks the user to confirm that she wants to delete the record. In some cases, you may want to suppress this dialogue box.

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.

Showing or Hiding Microsoft Access Subforms
You can hide or display a Microsoft Access subform in various ways, by using an event of the form or a form control, using a command button or using a toggle button. In many cases, your computer monitor's screen estate may be at a real premium, with many elements and form controls vying for position. In this case, the simplest and most convenient solution may be to hide objects or controls until they are required. This article shows a simple approach of hiding a Microsoft Access Sub Form if the object is not required.

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.

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.

Viewing a Live Web Page on Microsoft Access Form
With so many companies and individuals having presence on the internet, it is more likely that your customers could have their own web sites. If we build a Microsoft Access table that will store our Customer information, this table can easily save each Customers web site address in a single field that stores the URL. If we want to have immediate access to the web sites as you view your customer data in a Microsoft Access form, we can view it in a Web Browser control that we place on the form design.

Designate a global menu bar or shortcut menu
By using your own global menu bar, you control what tasks users can perform in your Microsoft Access file by limiting and customizing the menus and commands that are available. The global menu bar replaces the built-in menu bar for all Microsoft Access windows, except where you've added a custom menu bar for a form or report. You also can define a global shortcut menu to replace built-in shortcut menus for datasheets, forms, form controls, and reports.

Four Things to Love About Microsoft Access 2007
For many years now, Microsoft Access has been one of the most popular of all desktop database programs. Along with its bigger cousin, Microsoft SQL, Microsoft Access has helped form the core of database development for many small, medium and large businesses, and with the new version, Microsoft Access 2007, on the horizon it is important for workers to learn about the new features and benefits of this new program. Those who have been using Access 2000, Access XP or Access 2003 will recognize much of the interface of Microsoft Access 2007, but there are some notable differences, and a new look as well. It is important for those considering upgrading to the new version to understand the unique features and benefits of the 2007 version of Microsoft Access.

How to create a User Login Form in Microsoft Access
In my Microsoft Access database I have a table of Users, each with a user name and password, and a login form set up. I want the user name and password entered into the login form to be compared against those stored in the Microsoft Access table. If a match is found the user is allowed to access to the system, if not the system should exit. Answer » The following details one procedure that could be applied to this scenario. There are many more approaches to this and also other areas that will need to be secured within your database environment. You should also look into Disabling/Enabling the Shift Bypass Key.

View and manage objects by using the Navigation Pane
Overview of the Navigation Pane, Select a category view, Display and sort objects, Find objects in a database, Create and modify custom categories and groups, Add objects to a custom group, Remove and restore shortcuts in custom groups, Hide objects and groups, Unhide objects and groups.

A Custom Made Form Wizard
Want to know how Form Wizards work? We will build one of our own and try it out. Perhaps, you may ask why we should do this when MS-Access already has a Form Wizard. Very true and I thought on those lines for some time, before I decided to give it a try and create the one that I need.

Form Design
A form appears to be the most regularly used object of a Microsoft Access database. Although there are various means of quickly creating a form, as we saw with the Form Wizard or AutoForm and their variations, at times you will need to further customize the appearance of a form to the user as this can affect the overall understanding of your product.

Hiding Microsoft Access Database Forms
I have a Microsoft Access form with four command buttons that display specific forms using the DoCmd.OpenForm action. I want to hide the main database switchboard form whenever one of the four buttons is clicked on and then restore the main form when the user closes the form opened by the command button.

Form Basics in Access 2007 (page 1 of 12)
What is a form? A form is an Access object. It generally serves three purposes: 1) To allow users to perform data entry. Data can be inserted, updated, or deleted from a table using a Form object. 2) To allow users to enter custom information, and based on that information perform a task. For example, you may want to ask a user for parameters before running a report. 3) To allow users a method of navigating through the system. For example, you may create a form where a user can select a form to load, a report to run, etc.

Create custom Help
You can display custom help using WinHelp for a form, report, or a control. Your Help topics will be displayed when a user presses F1. Additionally, you can add a What's This button to a form.

Microsoft Word documents from a Microsoft Access Form
From my Microsoft Access form I would like to hyperlink to a Microsoft Word document. At present each record contains a document name and a full file path to where the document is stored. I would like to open Word and view the specified document.

Demo: Meet the Navigation Pane
In Access 2007, the Navigation Pane has replaced the Database Window as the main way to get around in a database. This demo shows you how you can use the Navigation Pane to organize the objects in a database into categories and groups. Categories help you arrange the items in the Navigation Pane, and groups are used to filter the categorized items. This demo also shows you how to begin working with the built-in categories and groups, as well as how to manage custom categories and groups. Watch the demo to get acquainted with the Navigation Pane!

Using Your Data with Word and Excel
Access is designed to work well with other Microsoft Office programs. You can use Access with these programs to perform very powerful operations with your data. For example, you can use information in your Access tables with documents you have created in Word. Specifically, you can use Access and Word to create a mail merge that places the values stored in an Access table into appropriate locations within a Word form letter. In this way, you can quickly create a custom letter for each of your accounts.

Getting to Know Microsoft Access 2003, Part 4
In this lesson we'll cover some basic but important concepts: entering data, working with data, navigation, making data entry more efficient, and changing the appearance of your tables' datasheet views. TOC: Getting to Know Microsoft Access 2003, Part 4; Navigation; Lookup Fields; Changing Datasheet Appearances.

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.

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

Microsoft Access Tutorial
This tutorial consists of the following lessons: About Microsoft Access; Create a Database; Create a Table; Adding Data; Create a Form; Modify a Form; Create a Query; Modify a Query; Create a Macro; Convert Access Database to Excel; Microsoft Access versus SQL Server.

Form Basics in Access 2003/XP/2000/97 (page 1 of 12)
A form is an Access object. It generally serves three purposes: 1) To allow users to perform data entry. Data can be inserted, updated, or deleted from a table using a Form object. 2) To allow users to enter custom information, and based on that information perform a task. For example, you may want to ask a user for parameters before running a report. 3) To allow users a method of navigating through the system. For example, you may create a form where a user can select a form to load, a report to run, etc.

Access 2007 Tour
If you're switching to Microsoft Access 2007 from an earlier version, you're bound to immediately notice some major changes in the user interface. Microsoft modeled the Access 2007 look-and-feel after the Windows Vista model, providing the application with a clean, high-tech look that could dramatically alter your workflow. In this article, we walk through the new interface. We'll explore the Ribbon, the Microsoft Office button, the Navigation Pane and other features of Access 2007.

Displaying Subform Totals in a Main Form in Microsoft Access
In this article we are going to show you how to display totals taken from your subform, and display these in controls in your main form. We need to be able to reference the subform control from the main Microsoft Access form. If you attempt to sum a subform field by using a calculated control on a main form, you may receive an error message in the main form control.

Apply a Custom Ribbon to a Form or Report
The Ribbon uses text-based, declarative XML markup that simplifies creating and customizing the Ribbon. With a few lines of XML, you can create just the right interface for the user. Access provides tremendous flexibility in customizing the Ribbon UI. Learn how to display a custom ribbon when a particular form or report is opened.

AutoExec Macro in Microsoft Access
In Microsoft Access you can use startup options to specify, for example, what form to display, whether toolbars can be customized, and whether shortcut menus are available in your Microsoft Access file. You can also use a special macro named AutoExec to carry out an action or series of actions when your database first opens. When you open a database, Microsoft Access looks for a macro with this name and, if it finds one, runs it automatically.

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

Create a form to enter and view your data
Make data entry and data viewing easier and safer with Microsoft Access forms designed and customized for user convenience. After completing this course you will be able to: 1) Create a form with the Form Wizard, with an AutoForm, and in Design view. 2) Customize a form's appearance and tab order to suit frequent users and usual data. (Microsoft Office Access 2003)

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.

Free MS Access Tutorials
In Microsoft Access you can create different views of data using a select query, create a form in Microsoft Access and use it to enter and edit records, re-organise records in datasheet view using sorts and filters, create tables in Microsoft Access 2000 and few hints and tips about designing your database table.

Show or hide the Navigation Pane
By default, the Navigation Pane appears when you open a database in Microsoft Office Access 2007, even if the database was created in an earlier version of Access. In an open database, you can hide or show the Navigation Pane at any time. You can also set the default option in an open database so that the Navigation Pane does not appear the next time the database is opened.

Microsoft Access Custom Form Navigation

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