Forms & Reports:
Form View

Step-by-Step: Form Views

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What you will learn:

to observe how Access sizes windows to use Properties to control window position/size to change the tab order for Form View to remove a control from the tab order to disable a control to make the form read-only to create a data entry form

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Start with:  ,  resource files, worldtravel.mdb from the previous lesson

Window Size

1. Open the form Clients-header from the Database Window directly to Form Design View.
    The window is automatically sized to show all of the controls and sections.
    
2. Switch to Form View.
   The window is far larger than is needed.
   
    
3. Close the form.
    
4. Open the form Clients-header from the Database Window directly into Form View.
   The form is automatically sized to show the entire record, leaving space for scrollbars.
   
   Form Scrollbars: The form view will allow space for scroll bars, even if you don't need actually need any scrollbars at the current window size. Access is trying to help you out. The size of a record in the form can change if controls are allowed to Grow! You would need scrollbars to get to the controls that got pushed out of sight at the bottom of the form.
    
5. Switch to Form Design View and inspect the window.
   The window size stayed the same. The bottom part of the form is out of sight. <sigh>
    
   This is not a problem once you have finished designing a form. Just remember: If you enlarge the window in design view, it will be enlarged in form view also while you work.
    

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Form View: Window Position

When you save from Form View, the window's size and position are saved. But... there are some properties that may override your choices: Auto Resize and Auto Center.

By default AutoResize is set to Yes and Auto Center is set to No.

1. Switch to Form View.
    
2. Resize the window narrower and taller by dragging its edges.
    
3. Move the form window to the far left of the Access window.
    
4. Save the form and close it.
    
5. Reopen the form directly into Form View.
   The position was saved but the size was not.
    
6. Experiment: Play around with the size and positions. Can you find a combination where the width is saved?
   Hint: try the far right.
    
7. Open the Properties dialog, if it is not already open, by clicking the Properties button .
   The dialog shows the properties of whatever is selected. It is probably the first control on the form.
    
8. Click on the record selector bar at the left of the record.
   The Properties dialog changes to show properties for the whole Form.
   
    
9. Change Auto Resize to No and Auto Center to Yes.
    
10. Size the window so that it is NOT at the default size and move it.
     
11. Save the form and close it.
     
12. Reopen the form in Form View.
    It should have remembered the size but not the position. It should be centered in the window.

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Tab Order

First you should experience the existing tab order, then you can change it to work better.

1. Switch to Form Design View.
    
2. Click on the unbound control World Travel Inc. in the header.
    
3. Press the TAB key on your keyboard move to other controls, observing carefully how the focus is moving through the form, until you cycle back to where you started.
   In this view ALL controls are part of the tab sequence, including labels, lines, rectangles, and pictures.
   The rectangle was selected last before starting over. It was the last object added to the form.
   In Form View with the default properties, using the TAB or arrow keys will eventually move you to the next record.
    
4. Press the right arrow key.
   Whoops! The selected object moved! Clearly you cannot use the arrow keys in Form Design View to change the focus.
   If you experiment with the arrow keys, be sure to use Undo to get the controls back in position.
    
   Problem: Moved controls and Undo does not get them back in position
   Why: Only 20 actions are remembered for the Undo list. Happily, you just saved the form.
   Solution: Close the form without saving changes and reopen it.
    
5. Switch to Form View.
   The data control that has the focus has its data selected. It is normally the first control at the top of the form.
    
6. Press the TAB key repeatedly until you have moved through all of the data controls and the insertion point is in the Date Updated control. The labels and rectangle were not in the tab order in this view.
    
   If there is data in the control, it will be selected. Any typing would replace that data. If there is no data, the insertion point will show at either the left or right edge of the control, depending on how the data is aligned in that control. This can be hard to see when there are no characters in the control!

    

   Text data type aligns left. Number or Date data type aligns right.
    

7. Press TAB once more.
   The form changes to the next record.
    
   Problem: Pressing TAB did not change record
   What happens when you leave the last control in the tab order is controlled by the Cycle property in the Properties dialog for the Form. The default is All Records, which will move the focus to the next record. Other choice are to go to the top of the current record or to the top of the current page (used for tabbed forms).
    
8. Switch to Form Design View.
    
9. From the menu select  View |  Tab Order...
   The Tab Order dialog appears.
   
   The AutoOrder button sets the tab order as from left-to-right and top-to-bottom. So TAB would move you across first and then drop down a row. That is NOT what we want for this form.
   
   The logical tab order for this form would be down the first column, then down the second column, and finally down the third column.
    
   You will change the order by selecting a control's name in the Custom Order list and dragging it to a new position.
    
10. Scroll the list of controls in the dialog until you see Birthdate.
     
11. Move the mouse pointer over Birthdate until it turns into the Select Row shape , a black arrow that points to the right.
     
12. Drag to select Birthdate, Nationality, and Hobbies.
    You added those fields to the form at the same time, though they were not neighbors on the Field List.
     
13. Move the mouse pointer over the selection squares to the left of the selected items, until it turns into the Select shape .
     
14. Drag the selected names up. A black line shows where they will drop.
     
15. When the black line is below Title, drop.
    The selected items move.
    
     
16. Similarly, move HealthIssues and Notes upwards until they are below Country in the list.
     
17. Click on OK to close the dialog and accept the changes.
     
18. Switch to Form View.
    The first control has its data selected, which shows that it has the focus.
     
19. Press the TAB key to move from one control to the next to verify that the order is now correct.

    
     

20. If necessary, make any corrections with the Tab Order dialog.
     
21. Switch to Form Design View.
     
22. Click on the label at the top left of the form.
     
23. Press the TAB key to move from one control to the next again.
    The tab order that you just set did not apply! You always move through the controls in the order that they were created in Form Design View. This can be quite a pain!

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Remove from Tab Order

The Properties dialog includes properties that keep a user from being able to TAB into a control and also to disable the control entirely. This is useful for calculated or AutoNumber fields.

1. In Form Design View, double-click on the ClientID control to select it and to open the Properties dialog at the same time.
   
   If the Properties dialog is already open, it will not close when you double-click a control. It will close if you click the Properties button when the dialog is already open.
    
2. Change the Enabled property to No.
    
3. Change the Tab Stop property to No.
    
4. Click on another property to save the last change.
    
5. Switch to Form View.
   The ClientID control is now grayed out and the next control has the insertion point in it. The user cannot edit ClientID .
    
6. Save the form. (Clients-header)
    

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Apply Your Skills: Revise Staff-formated Form

Use the skills you have learned to create a logical tab order for the form Staff-formatted.

1. If necessary, open the form Staff-formatted in Form Design View.
    
2. Change the Tab Order to go down the columns and then the Photograph control and then the controls below the line.
    
3. Disable the StaffID field.
    
4. Save the form. (Staff-formatted)

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Create a Read-Only Form

Sometimes there are users who need to see data, but they don't need to edit the records.

The Properties dialog for the form is your friend for this task. Just a few changes and the whole form becomes read-only. In fact, you could create a database that links to your tables but which only has forms that are read-only. That would certainly keep "accidents" from happening to your records. Keep in mind that a user can still copy data and paste it to a different document.

1. While in Form Design View for the form Staff-formatted, save the form as Staff-Read Only.
    
2. If necesssary, open the Properties dialog for the whole form.
    
3. Click on the Data tab.
    
4. Open and read the Access Help article for the following properties:
      Allow Edits
      Allow Deletions
      Allow Additions
      Data Entry
    

   The first three properties act as expected. "No" means that the action is not allowed.

   But Data Entry is not really about entering data on a form. It is about whether the form will show existing records or will it open with a blank form ready for you to enter new records. The default choice is No, which is what you want for a Read-Only form, for sure!  
    

5. Set the value to No for all four properties.
    
6. Switch to Form View.
    
7. Try to make a change in a value.
   If you made the changes above, you can select data but you cannot make any changes.
8. Save the form. (Staff-Read Only)

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Create a Data Entry Form

A data entry form is a form that is specifically designed for entering new records. Sometimes you need a special form to keep things simple for the person entering the data. The order that data for new records comes in is not the order that you want for viewing it later. Two different logics may be at work. Using two different forms is the solution!

Besides having a different order for the controls, a data entry form should open directly to a blank record. That is what the form's Data Entry property is for!

1. Switch to Form Design View.
    
2. In the Properties dialog for the form, change the property Data Entry to Yes.
    
3. Save the form as Staff-Data Entry
    
4. Switch to Form View.
   Whoops. The form has no controls for entering data. That would be because we left the Allow... properties at No!
    
   The Properties dialog should still be open. You do not have to switch views to fix this problem!
    
5. Change the properties Allow Edits, Allow Deletions, Allow Additions to Yes.
   When the last change is made, all of the controls pop into view!
   
   Now you can use this form to enter new records.
    
   Notice the navigation buttons at the bottom of the form. There are no other records available! This form will only show the records entered in the current session.
    
6. Save the form. (Staff-Data Entry)