Project 2: Access Basics
Toolbars

There are 29 toolbars and 16 built-in menus in MS Access. It's a good thing that they do not all show at once!

Which menu items and bars are displayed depends on what kind of object you are working with and in which view, Design, Datasheet, Form, or Preview. We won't try to identify all of the bars and buttons, just the basics.

When the Database window is active, the Database bar shows in the program window and the Database Window bar shows in the Database window. Most of your choices on the Database bar affect the database as a whole or create a new object. The buttons on the Database Window bar affect the selected object. These are described in the previous lesson, Database Window

MS Access toolbars

The program window's bars may jump to different positions in different views. This is startling when you don't expect it!

Program Window Toolbars

Click on a button in the image of the a bar below. A short explanation about what the button does will appear in a separate window. You can switch back and forth between that window and this one, or you can use the Next button in the new window to go through all the buttons in order for that toolbar.

OR

You can view all the descriptions for the buttons on a single page by clicking the name of the bar.

In the main Access window

   Database Bar

The Database bar appears at the top of the program window, not the Database Window which we looked at in the previous lesson. Many of its buttons apply to the database as a whole, but not all. It can be rather confusing!

   Status Bar

The Status Bar is at the bottom of the program window. It's main purpose is to tell you the status of the current window and its objects. The right side usually shows only one or two mode indicators at a time.

In Datasheet/Form View:

   Same toolbar for -
   Table Datasheet
   Query Datasheet
   Form View

These three views are used to display records, so the toolbar is the same for all three. It includes buttons for sorting, filtering, finding a record, adding and deleting records.

In Design View:  

Each object in the Database Window has its own Design view. Most of the buttons are the same, but not all!

   Table Design Bar

   Query Design Bar

   Form Design Bar

   Report Design Bar

Adds one new button to the Form Design bar - Sorting & Grouping .

   Formatting Bar (in Form/Report Design view)

   Toolbox Bar (in Form/Report Design view)

Usually docked vertically at left edge of the window. These buttons create the various kinds of controls on a form or report. A control is an object that displays data or controls an action or is a decoration like a line or an image.

(The Design view for data access pages has different controls available.)

In Print Preview:

   Print Preview Bar

~~  1 Cor. 10:31 ...whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  ~~

Last updated: 30 Apr 2012