Getting Started with Access

Transcription

1 MS Access Chapter 2

2 Getting Started with Access Course Guide 2

3 Getting Started with Access The Ribbon The strip across the top of the program window that contains groups of commands is a component of the new Microsoft Office Fluent user interface. The Office Fluent user interface provides a single home for commands in Microsoft Office Access 2010 and is the primary replacement for the menus and toolbars in earlier versions of Access. As you begin to build more advanced applications with Office Access 2010, you might decide that you want to customize the Office Fluent Ribbon in order to make an application easier to use. For example, you can hide some or all of the default tabs so that users cannot use certain commands, and you can create new, custom tabs that contain only the commands that you want to be available. The QAT The Quick Access Toolbar is a customizable toolbar that contains a set of commands that are independent of the tab on the ribbon that is currently displayed. You can move the Quick Access Toolbar from one of the two possible locations, and you can add buttons that represent commands to the Quick Access Toolbar. Add a command to the Quick Access Toolbar - On the ribbon, click the appropriate tab or group to display the command that you want to add to the Quick Access Toolbar. Right-click the command, and then click Add to Quick Access Toolbar on the shortcut menu. Add a command to the Quick Access Toolbar that isn t on the ribbon Click Customize the Quick Access Toolbar > More Commands. Customize Quick Access Toolbar by clicking More Commands In the Choose commands from list, click Commands Not in the Ribbon. Find the command in the list, and then click Add. Course Guide 3

4 Backstage View - After you click the File tab, you can see the Microsoft Office Backstage view. The Office Backstage view is where you manage your files and the data about them creating, saving, inspecting for hidden metadata or personal information, and setting options. In short, it is everything that you do to a file that you don't do in the file. The File tab in Microsoft Office 2010 replaces the Microsoft Office Button and File menu used in earlier releases of Microsoft Office. Navigation Pane - The Navigation Pane, new in Microsoft Office Access 2010, is a central location from which you can easily view and access all your database objects, run reports, or enter data directly in tables. The Navigation Pane replaces the Database window, which was used in earlier versions of Access. When you open a database in Office Access 2010, the Navigation Pane is displayed to the left of any open database objects or the workspace. In the Navigation Pane, all the objects that are defined in the database are displayed as categories. In the preceding figure, All Access Objects is the category, and Tables, Queries, Forms, and Reports are the groups. Each category is organized into groups that are displayed as bars. Group names change, based on the category view that is selected, and a group can contain one or more database objects. Use the Navigation Options dialog box to create and manage custom categories and groups. The dialog box displays a list of all the categories that have been defined in the database, and shows the groups for a selected category. Course Guide 4

5 Create a custom category - When you create a new custom category, groups named Unassigned Objects and Custom Group 1 are created for that category. By default, Office Access 2010 does not put any objects in the Unassigned Objects group. Instead, all the objects in a category that are not assigned to any group are displayed in the Unassigned Objects group in the Navigation Pane. To create a new category, right-click the menu at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then click Navigation Options. Under Categories, click Add Item. A new category appears under Categories in the Navigation Options dialog box. Type a name for the new category, and then press ENTER. Create a custom group To create a new custom group, right-click the menu at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then click Navigation Options. Under Groups for category name, click Add Group. Type a name for the new group, and then press ENTER. To add or move objects in the database into a custom group, click the dropdown arrow at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then click the custom group that you created. Under Unassigned Objects, right-click the object that you want to add or move. Click Add to group on the shortcut menu, and then click the custom group that you want to add the object to. Display and sort objects You can select the way in which the objects in the database are displayed in the Navigation Pane. For example, you can include the creation or modified dates, or display objects as icons or lists. By default, Access sorts the objects in the Navigation Pane by object type in ascending alphabetical order, but you can also change the sorting to suit your needs. To specify how objects are displayed and sorted, do the following: Course Guide 5

6 Right-click the top of the Navigation Pane to display the shortcut menu, and then do any one of the following: To change how the objects are displayed, point to View By, and then click either Details, Icon, or List. To view all the groups in the database, click Show all groups. To change the sort order for the objects, point to Sort By and then select a sorting option. To sort manually and customize the display order, click Sort By, and then click Remove Automatic Sorts. Find objects in a database While you type text in the Search box, Office Access 2010 searches within the category for any groups that contain an object or object shortcut that meets your search terms. Any groups that don't contain a match are collapsed. NOTE Access searches for objects only in the categories and groups that are currently displayed in the Navigation Pane. TIP To search the whole database for a specific object, select one of the predefined categories in the Navigation Pane, such as Tables and Related Views or Object Type. This helps make sure that all the groups are visible in the Navigation Pane. Navigation form:- Create a navigation form - Open the database to which you want to add a navigation form. On the Create tab, in the Forms group, click Navigation, and then select the style of navigation form that you want. Add a form or report to a navigation form - If the Navigation Pane is not already displayed, press F11 to display it. Ensure that the navigation form is open in Layout View by right-clicking it in the Navigation Pane, and then clicking Layout View. Drag the form or report from the Navigation Pane to the [Add New] button. Course Guide 6

7 Edit the label at the top of the navigation form - When you create a new navigation form, Access adds the label Navigation Form to the form header by default. To edit this label: Open the form in Layout View by right-clicking it in the Navigation Pane, and then clicking Layout View. Click the label in the form header once to select it, and then again to place the cursor in the label. Edit the label to suit your needs, and then press ENTER. Edit the form caption - The form caption is the text that appears on the document tab above the form (or in the window title bar if you have set the database to display objects as overlapping windows). To edit the form caption: Open the form in Layout View by right-clicking it in the Navigation Pane, and then clicking Layout View. Right click on the form header near the top of the form, and then click Form Properties. In the Property Sheet task pane, on the All tab, edit the Caption property to suit your needs. Apply an Office Theme to a database - Office Themes provide a quick way to change all of the colors and fonts that are used in a database. These themes apply to all objects in the database, not just the one you currently have open. Open any form or report in Layout View by right-clicking it in the Navigation Pane, and then clicking Layout View. On the Design tab, use the options in the Themes group to apply different color and font themes to the database. To only change colors without affecting fonts, choose an item from the Colors gallery. To only change fonts without affecting colors, choose an item from the Fonts gallery. Course Guide 7

8 To change both colors and fonts, choose an item from the Themes gallery. In this gallery, you can hover over each item to see a live preview of the theme, and then click one to apply it. Set the navigation form as the default display form - Because a navigation form is often used as a switchboard or home page for a database, it makes sense to display it by default each time that the database is opened. Also, because the Access Navigation Pane is not available in a browser, specifying a default Web Display Form is a very important step in creating a Web database. Use this procedure to set the navigation form as the default display form - On the File tab, under Help, click Options. Click Current Database. To set the default form that is displayed when you open the database in Access, under Application Options, select the form from the Display Form list. To set the default form that is displayed when you open the database on a SharePoint server, under Application Options, select the form from the Web Display Form list. Course Guide 8