An autoform is a quick way to create a basic form that you can then edit and format. But there are some tricky bits that are not very obvious at first.
A simple autoform is very easy to create using the Form button. (This button was called AutoForm in previous versions of Access.)
There are a number of things you could do to improve the layout, but for this lesson we mostly will settle for what Access provides. Later you will learn how to change all the characteristics of a form.
Access 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016 create very similar forms. There are some small differences in spacing between controls and the size of the controls. The form icon in the form header is different in each version. The illustrations will use Access 2010 unless there is an important difference between versions. If an image has an error, I will usually replace it with an image from my current version.
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Step-by-Step: Create a Form with AutoForm |
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What you will learn: | to create a form with AutoForm to navigate records and fields in a form in Layout and Form views to switch to Form view to use a form to add records to create a hyperlink with display text to use a form to edit records to select a record in Form View to copy a record and paste in Excel and Word |
Start with: ,
, mytrips-Lastname-Firstname.accdb from previous lesson
Back up this database now.
You can use this good copy to use if you need to start over.
This works well while the database is small.
Access 2007:
> Manage > Back Up Database
Access 2010: File > Save and Publish > Back Up Database > Save As button
Access 2013, 2016: File > Save As > Back Up Database > Save As button
In the Navigation Pane, if necessary, click on the table Trips to select it, but do not open the table.
This table
will be the source of records for the new form.
Click the Create ribbon tab and then on the Form button.
The screen may blink while Access creates the form.
The new
form will open automatically to the first record in Layout View.
Your screen may not show the property sheet.
Save: Click the Save button
on the Quick Access Toolbar.
A dialog appears asking you to name the new form.
Save As dialog is different: This Save As dialog is not like
the one you see in programs like Word and Excel because you
are saving your form inside the database file, not as a separate file.
Name the form Trips AutoForm and click on OK.
The form has the same Navigation Bar that datasheets have. You can also move through the records using the Page Up and Page Down keys on your keyboard. (The TAB, Home, and End keys move you between the controls on a form.)
Problem: Records out
of order or missing:
The table was saved with a sort and/or filter still active. The form is using the same sort and/or filter.
Simple Solution: Start over
Close the form. Delete the form. Open the underlying table in Table Datasheet View, remove
any sorting or filters, add any sorting or filtering that you need, save the table. Recreate your
AutoForm.
If you made a lot of changes to the form before noticing the sorting and filtering, you may want to use the Advanced Solution below.
Advanced Solution: Edit Property Sheet
Open the form in Design View or Layout View. Show the Property Sheet for the Form.
Remove or edit the entries in the 'OrderBy' and 'Filter' properties. (This is the 'advanced' part!) Save the form again.
Changes to the table's datasheet sorting and filtering that you make after the form was created will not be used by the form automatically.
It is awkward to switch back and forth between the mouse and the keyboard. So how do you change from field to field with the keys?
Tab Order: In an AutoForm
the tab order for the fields is easy to understand - straight down the one
column of fields. This is the same as the order of the fields in the table datasheet. This tab order can be changed. When you create a form
yourself or move controls around, you may need to change the tab order so that the order you wind up with is logical.
Now that you can get around in the records, it's time to add some more records.
Problem: Typing is not accepted in field
You are in Layout View instead of Form View. You cannot edit or add records in Layout view.
Solution: Change to Form View.
TripName | Ireland |
---|---|
PhotoLink | |
DateStarted | 6/4/1992 |
DateEnded | 6/17/1992 |
Description | Took the girls with us to convention in Ireland. Toured western Ireland. |
Cost | $2,000.00 |
Travel Agent | Jorge Martinez, World Travel Inc, jmartinez@worldtravelinc.net |
Diary | Arrived at Limerick airport. Rented a car. Hit the outside mirror on a dump
truck before we got out of the airport! They drive on the left in Ireland.
Terrifying!! As we drove, we kept seeing old ruined castles and abbeys. Beautiful scenery. Took the girls to see the Blarney stone. They kissed it. You have to bend over backwards! Had dinner at a restored medieval castle. Low doors, small rooms. Stone everywhere. Little furniture. They must not have had many clothes at all. |
TripName | Italy |
---|---|
PhotoLink | Use Italy as the Display Text Edit the hyperlink to use the URL below: http://jegsworks.com/Lessons/images/trips/italy/italy.htm |
DateStarted | 5/11/2001 |
DateEnded | 5/21/2001 |
Description | Toured Rome and Pompeii and Venice. |
Cost | $6000.00 |
Travel Agent | Hector Chavez, World Travel Inc, hchavez@worldtravelinc.net |
Diary | Saw the Trivi Fountain, ate gelato (ice cream). Toured St. Peter's Basilica
and the Sistene Chapel. Huge! Gorgeous now that most parts are restored. Pompeii was covered in volcanic ash for centuries. Many buildings have been excavated. Painted murals and mosaics abound. Venice has waterways for streets. Many tiny ones. Water taxis and gondolas. Did not ride a gondola. The water taxis are faster! |
Most people find that it is easier to enter data on a form than directly in a datasheet. What do you think?
Everyone makes mistakes when entering new records. Fingers do their own thing sometimes. Even after you have carefully entered the information, it can be wrong one day. People get new phone numbers or move. Postal codes and telephone area codes change. At least it is easy enough to edit an existing record.
Click on Change to accept the correction.
There are a number of corrections to make as Spell Check goes through all of the records, if you typed what you were told to type or if you copied and pasted. Yes, there were deliberate errors included!!
Some "errors" may not really be errors so read carefully what the original was and what correction is suggested.
Click the Save button make sure your last spelling correction is saved.
The record selector is much taller than in a datasheet since the fields are now arranged vertically instead of in a row.
Click on the Record Selector, the tall bar at the left of the form. The bar turns black, indicating that the whole record is selected.
Be
careful what you do while a record is selected! Deleting a record cannot be
undone.
The only reason to select a record is to do something with it! Deleting is easy. Just press the DELETE key. Copying and pasting are easy, but you must paste to the right kind of place - another table with the correct fields in the same order or to a blank document in another program, like a spreadsheet. Copy and paste is often the easiest way to move a small number of records between programs.
Open Excel or another spreadsheet program to a blank spreadsheet.
Click in the first cell at the top and paste with the key combo CTRL + V.
Quite a mess but easy to fix. The columns are all the same width so the Memo/Long Text fields make the row very tall.
Access 2007:
> Manage > Back Up Database
Access 2010: File > Save and Publish > Back Up Database > Save As button
Access 2013, 2016: File > Save As > Back Up Database > Save As button