CS224 Chapter 6 Notes: Form Development

• ❑ Forms: Definition, Use and Function
• ❑ Forms are used to enter new data and edit existing data
• ❑ Forms can be used to extend the data validation rules through queries, value lists, and other input control devices
• ❑ Forms are used to tie together the database components through menu structures and enable the applications designer to control database access paths
• ❑ Form Prerequisites
• ❑ A form may be based on one or more tables. The tables must exist before the form is created.
• ❑ A form may be based on one or more queries. The query (or queries) must exist before the form is created.
• ❑ A form may be based on a combination of tables and queries
• ❑ If the form is based on multiple tables, the relationships between those tables must be established before you try to create the form.
• ❑ A form may be based on an unbound control. (An unbound control is one that does not have a data source attached to it. These are usually used to create input spaces, labels and instructions.)
• ❑ Forms such as dialog boxes and menus don't use any record source. Such forms are created by selecting the Blank Form option from Access
• ❑ Creating a Form with the Form Wizard
• ❑ pgs. 217-218
• ❑ Modifying the Form's Presentation Format
• ❑ Using labels to designate form components or to make sure that the form name stands out.
• ❑ Enhancing the font size and format
• ❑ Removing the screen's Min, Max and Restore buttons
• ❑ Add color to brighten the screen's appearance and separate the record's logical groupings
• ❑ Help users enter appropriate and correct data.
• ❑ Labels and Text Boxes
• ❑ pgs. 220 - 235
• ❑ Color and Form Organization
• ❑ pgs. 235 - 243
• ❑ List Boxes on Forms
• ❑ Forms can be created without specifying a data source at the time of their creation. These can be used to show query results, listing more than one record at a time.
• ❑ They will also enable us to use the query results as input for another form, report or even a query
• ❑ pgs. 243-246
• ❑ Main Form/Subform Creation and Use
• ❑ Forms may be linked to other forms to show data relationships
• ❑ These forms are based on a main form to represent one side of the relationship, while the subform represents the other side of the relationship.
• ❑ pgs. 247-248
• ❑ Creating the INVOICE Main Form
• ❑ pgs. 248-252
• ❑ Dialog Boxes
• ❑ Dialog boxes based on forms make things friendlier and less error-prone to the end-user
• ❑ pgs. 252-254
• ❑ Command Buttons and Query Modifications
• ❑ pgs. 254-257
• ❑ Menus
• ❑ Help make the DB application system user-friendly
• ❑ Control access by providing only those options the allow people to do their jobs efficiently
• ❑ Provide an environment in which system-level database security is easier to create and manage
• ❑ Create an environment that is tailored to specific types of applications and end users.
• ❑ Creating a Menu Form
• ❑ Menus are basically forms that contain labels and command buttons
• ❑ Use the blank form as a starting point
• ❑ pgs. 258-260
• ❑ Embedded and Linked Objects
• ❑ A linked object maintains its ties to the originating software. Thus, if the original object is updated then change will automatically update all object copies attached to other objects
• ❑ An embedded object no longer has ties to the software from which it was generated
• ❑ If the object is dynamic (changes frequently) then object linking is a better choice
• ❑ A linked object in Access resides in a bound object frame
• ❑ Embedded objects are generally used when the objects are not likely to change often, if at all. They're also known as static objects.
• ❑ An embedded object resides in an unbound object frame.
• ❑ pgs. 260-263