Microsoft Access Tricks and Tips

Easy ways to get more from Access

1 : Forms and Reports

Can I convert my Form into a Report?

If you have a form that you wish to save as a report open that form in Design View, then select FILE and SAVE AS REPORT.

How do I load my Report into MS Word?

Open up your report, or from the Database window, click the name of the report you want to save and load as a Word document. Select TOOLS, OFFICE LINKS, and click Publish It With MS Word. The output is saved as a Rich Text Format (.rtf) file in the folder where Microsoft Access is installed. Word will automatically start up and opens the document. You can then treat the document like any other Word document. You can also follow this method to load the output of a datasheet or form into Microsoft Word, or just a selection of a datasheet.

How can I automatically set left to right top to bottom tab using auto order?

As above, first select VIEW, TAB ORDER and then select the SECTION that you want to change. Then simply click AUTO ORDER and then OK

What are the Techniques used for Rapid Forms and Reports?

There are 3 main techniques used. It can take a rather long time aligning controls to get forms and reports looking tidy. These are the three main tips which are quick and easy to use. Aligning controls with menu = Highlight the controls you want to align and use Format, Align and then choose left, right, top or bottom. Create Alignment toolbar = Even better than above, create a "Speedy Forms" toolbar, that has 4 buttons covering the 4 alignment options mentioned above. Enable this toolbar when you are looking to tidy your forms and reports. It really does save you a lot of time. Keyboard shortcuts for moving Controls = It’s often much easier to align the Controls when you use the keyboard to "nudge" the object into place. Highlight the Control, hold down the Ctrl key and then use the navigation arrows to move in the required direction.

How do I hide tables for security reasons?

If, for security reasons, you don't want your Access tables to appear by default in the Database window, there is an easy way to hide them. To do this, rename the table you wish to hide with the prefix usys. This converts the table into a system object, which cannot be viewed in the Database window. If you need to see or access the table again, you can choose to show system objects in the Database window. What you do is, On the Tools menu, click Options, click the View tab, under Show, select the System Objects check box and Click OK.

How do I add a horizontal line to a report?

Open the report in Design view, Click the Line tool in the toolbox and draw a horizontal line from left to right in the section in which you want display a line. Note If you add a line at the top or bottom of the detail section, you will see a line either before or after every detail record. In the preceding illustration, the line is at the bottom of the header section.

How can I Change the Default Working Folder?

Whenever you create a new Access database (.mdb) file or open an existing one, Access saves it to or opens it from the default working folder. You can change the default working folder for Access database files to any folder on your computer by typing the path for the new folder in the Default database folder box on the General tab of the Options dialog box (Tools menu).

How can I hide the New Object Shortcuts?

Access provides shortcuts in the Database window that you can use to create new database objects quickly. For tables, queries, forms, reports, and data access pages, there are shortcuts for using a wizard to create the object and for opening the object in Design view. You may want to remove these shortcuts from the Database window to allow more room for your own database objects. To do so, clear the New object shortcuts check box on the View tab of the Options dialog box (Tools menu).