Jan's Access Basics: Database Toolbar

Displays in MS Access program window, not in the Database Window.

Click a button to jump to its description or just scroll the page.

Button: Handle

At the left end of a toolbar is an area called the handle, which looks a bit different in different versions of MS Access. Hover over this area and the mouse pointer changes to the Move shape

. Drag while in the Move shape and the toolbar will move. If you drag perpendicular to the bar, it will undock and float. Drag to another edge of the window and the toolbar will dock there.

Button: New

The New button opens the New File task pane. From the task pane you can choose how you want to create a new database. The menu File | New... also opens the same task pane.

New Object: To create a new object instead of a whole new database, use the New Object button

on the Database bar, which shows the icon of the last new object created.

Or select a category of objects in the Database Window and click the New button

on the Database Window toolbar, which changes to show the icon that matches the category.

Button: Open

You can navigate to a different folder. You can change the Files of type: box to show another file type or All Files. The menu | opens the same dialog.

Button: Save

The Save button is used to save the current object that is open for editing.

It does not save the whole database. It does not save a record. The button is grayed out

in the Database bar since there is no object selected to be saved.

Saving records automatically: By default, MS Access automatically saves a record when you switch to a new record, or when you close the active object where you were adding or editing records, or when you close the database or Access itself.

Save immediately: The menu command | will save the current record before you leave it. SHIFT + ENTER is the key combo to save a record immediately.

Saving database with new name: To make a copy of a database with a new name is rather awkward.

Button: Search

The Search button opens the Basic Search task pane. In this pane you can search your computer or network locations for files, especially Office documents.

Button: Print

The Print dialog does NOT appear. Do not use this button unless you are SURE that the print settings are what you want. Be sure that you want to print the whole thing!!

Button: Print Preview

The Print Preview button changes the view to show how the current object will look if printed.

Button: Spell Check

Buttons: Cut, Copy, Paste

The Cut, Copy, and Paste buttons work as usual for database objects, the contents of fields, and design elements for forms and reports.

Cut removes the selected item and copies it to the Windows Clipboard.
Keyboard shortcut CTRL + X

Copy leaves the selected item in place and copies it to the Windows Clipboard.
Keyboard shortcut CTRL + C

Paste inserts the contents of the Windows Clipboard.
Keyboard shortcut CTRL + V.

The Windows Clipboard can only remember one thing at a time, but the Office Clipboard task pane can remember the last 24 items copied from MS Office programs.

Task Pane: Clipboard Options - Collect without showing

The Office Clipboard task pane has to be active, either by being displayed on screen or the Collect Without Showing Office Clipboard option must be on, at the bottom of the Clipboard task pane.

Buttons: Undo/Redo

The Undo and Redo buttons let you change your mind about what you just did. These buttons are gray when there is nothing in the action list.

Design view: Undo or redo the 20 most recent actions.
The down arrow opens the full list of actions. All actions above the one you pick will be undone or redone. The list of actions is cleared when you leave Design view.

Editing Records: You can undo actions only for the current record. The Redo button does not show.

There is no list of actions, but clicking the Undo button repeatedly will back up through the changes you made for this record. You cannot redo what you have undone for records. The Undo list is cleared when you move to a new record or apply a filter or switch to a different window.

Undo with menu:
| The Edit menu will show at the top of the menu list the last action, like Undo Move or Undo Property Setting. The last action that you did with Undo will show as .

If you leave a record, you can Undo Saved Record only if you have not made a change in another record.

Editing Form/Report - Revert with menu: For a form or report, you can revert to the last saved version after making changes to the form/report. Use the menu |. You cannot redo those changes. This is handy for dumping a whole set of changes that you made since the last save.

Button: Office Links

It can be handy to export data directly to Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. The icon on the button shows which feature you used last.

Merge It with Microsoft Word command starts the Mail Merge wizard in Word and lets you use fields from the current datasheet in the merge document.

Publish It with Microsoft Word exports the datasheet or report to Word as a table.

Analyze It with Microsoft Excel exports the datasheet or report to Excel as a spreadsheet.

Button: Analyze

You can improve the performance of your database and document what you have done with tools on the Analyze button list.

Analyze Table: Starts a wizard that makes recommendations for better table structure.

Analyze Performance: Starts a wizard that makes recommendations to improve speed of database

Documenter: Prints the defining information about the selected object. You have options for what to include in the print-out.

Button: Code

The Code button opens the window for Microsoft Visual Basic where you can see and edit any Visual Basic code that is associated with the selected object. Database programmers write a lot of code but ordinary users do not!

Button: Microsoft Script Editor

The Microsoft Script Editor shows you the HTML code behind a Data Access Page, or any web page saved by an Office program. In this script editor you can create scripts for web pages in Visual Basic or JScript (a variation on JavaScript). A script manages things that make a web page dynamic, like making the page react when the mouse clicks or hovers over a particular spot.

Button: Properties

The Properties buttons opens a dialog of the various properties available for the selected object. Objects in the Database window do not have many properties. But objects in the Design view of a form or report often have dozens of properties that can be changed from the defaults. These properties include formatting choices as well as event procedures that control what shows or is hidden and what is calculated.

Button: Relationships

The Relationships window shows only the tables that have had relationships defined. A join line connects the matching field or fields between two tables. Relationships are a critical part of the way a relational database works.

Button: New Object

The New Object button shows the icon for what you chose the last time. The arrow opens a list of links.

The AutoForm and AutoReport choices will create a basic form or report for the table or query that is currently selected. You can, of course, change the layout and the formatting afterwards.

The remaining choices open the New dialog for the object type or the Design view for macros and modules.

Button: Help

The Help button looks and behaves differently in Access 2002 than in Access 2003.

Opens the Help dialog with tabs for Contents, Answer Wizard, and Index.

Dialog: Help (2002)

Opens the Help task pane.

Task Pane: Help (2003)

Button: Toolbar Options

The down arrow at the far right of a toolbar opens a cascading menu: Add or Remove Buttons. You can customize the toolbar by adding or removing buttons.

A double arrow above the down arrow tells you that the window is too narrow to show all of the buttons on the bar. Clicking the arrow in this case will open a palette of the hidden buttons, in addition to the menu Add or Remove Buttons.

All Office programs display the most recently used buttons when there is not room for all of them. As you continue to work in a small window, which buttons are showing will change. This can be confusing!