Access Cookbook, 2nd Edition [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Chapter 9. User Interface

No matter how much you do behind the scenes to create a solid and
robust application, the users of your application see only your user
interface. Certainly, perfecting the database and application design
is crucialbut once that's done, it pays to
devote considerable time to designing a user interface that is
workable, aesthetically pleasing, and helps the users get their work
done. By implementing the ideas and techniques in this chapter,
you'll be on your way to creating an interface that
has ease of use and productivity written all over it.

You'll learn how to take full advantage of special
keystrokes to help users navigate through a complex application.
You'll also learn how to create forms that have no
menus or toolbars and how to create a map-based interface that lets
users navigate by pointing to and clicking on various parts of a map.

Next, you'll learn how to ease data-entry pain with
forms that let users mark their place while they peruse other
records, and how to add shortcut menus to forms.
You'll also see how you can create forms that carry
data forward from record to record, how to hide complexity from your
users with a dialog that expands on request to reveal complex
options, and how to use a combo box not just to select from a list,
but also to maintain that list with new entries as they are needed.

Finally, you'll learn how to create and use two
generic, reusable components: a pop-up calendar form for entering
dates that makes use of an ActiveX control, and a custom-built status
meter form complete with an optional Cancel button.

Several of the examples in this chapter take advantage of the DAO type library, rather than the default ADO library used by Access 2002 and Access 2003. Even though it's less "modern," DAO provides greater functionality, and generally better performance. In addition, using DAO makes it possible for these demonstrations to work in earlier versions of Access. If you want to try these techniques in your own applications, make sure you add the DAO reference to your project using the Tools References menu item from within VBAit won't be added by default.