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Quick reference

Creating a Form - Form Wizard

Use the Form Wizard to create a form so that users can interact with the database. 

When to use

Create a form whenever you want users and those maintaining the database to have an easy way to view and modify information. 

Instructions

Forms are how users interact with the database. They provide a user-friendly way of viewing, searching, and editing information. Forms can be created in several ways in Access. In this lesson, we will use the Form Wizard to create a form to help us maintain the list of companies. 

Creating a Form using the Form Wizard

  • From the Create tab, in the Forms group, select Form Wizard. 

First, we need to select which fields we want to display on the form. You do not always need to display all fields so think about which fields are relevant to users. 

  • Select the Company field in the left-hand pane. 
  • Click the single chevron to move it to the Selected Fields pane. 
  • Click Next. 

Now, we need to choose the layout of our form. 

  • Choose Tabular from the list. 
  • Click Next. 

Next, we need to give our form a name. As this is a form, we are going to use the prefix, 'frm'.

  • Type 'frmCompanyTabular'. 
  • Select Open the form to view or enter information. 
  • Click Finish.

Adding, Editing, and Deleting Records

Forms can be highly customized to our needs. 

Deleting Records
  • Select the record and press the Delete key. 
  • OR, from the Home tab, in the Records group, click Delete. 
Editing Records
  • Click in the field and start typing to modify the record. 
Adding Records
  • Scroll to the bottom of the table. 
  • Click in the blank field in the last row and add 'Discover Inc'. 

Tables by default are sorted in alphabetical order but any new records you add will not be sorted. We will look at this a bit later on.

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  • 00:04 In this section of the course, we're going to switch our focus from tables to forms.
  • 00:08 And forms are basically a user friendly way that your users or
  • 00:12 customers interact with your database.
  • 00:15 Because if somebody needs to make a change to a record or maybe add a new record,
  • 00:21 it's a lot simpler and nicer for them to use a nicely designed form.
  • 00:25 As opposed to coming into the Access database into data sheet view and
  • 00:30 having to have access skills in order to be able to update those records.
  • 00:34 Forms make it simple for users to do those things.
  • 00:37 So in this first lesson we're going to take a look at an example of a basic form.
  • 00:41 And we're going to create our first form to help us maintain the company list.
  • 00:47 And the company list is basically all of the companies that we have listed
  • 00:51 in Tubo Company.
  • 00:52 And we're going to create our first form using the Form Wizard.
  • 00:56 So, let's go up to the create tab.
  • 00:58 In the forms group notice that we have lots of different types of ways that
  • 01:03 we can create forms.
  • 01:04 And we're going to be using most of these throughout this course.
  • 01:08 But in this first lesson, let's use the Form Wizard because that's going to guide
  • 01:12 us through the process of creating a form.
  • 01:15 Now because I was clicked on table company in the navigation pane, when I clicked on
  • 01:19 the Form Wizard, it's assumed that is the table that I want to use.
  • 01:23 Now, in this case, it is.
  • 01:26 If that's not correct then you can click the drop down and
  • 01:29 change the table that you want to use.
  • 01:31 Now, I only have one field in this table.
  • 01:34 So this is the only field I can use in my form.
  • 01:37 Let's click on next.
  • 01:39 Now I get to choose the layout of my form.
  • 01:42 Now, the columnar layout and the justified layout are pretty similar.
  • 01:48 They're going to display the data in columns across the page.
  • 01:52 Whereas something like Tabular Veiw is going to have our column headings at
  • 01:56 the top and then our data and then data sheet view.
  • 01:59 We've got our column headings and our row headings and then our data.
  • 02:03 So which layout you choose for your form is entirely up to you.
  • 02:07 Now, I'm going to choose tabular and click on Next.
  • 02:10 Now I get to give my form a name.
  • 02:13 So I'm going to stick with my naming convention.
  • 02:15 Now this time we're creating a form.
  • 02:17 So I'm not going to use table TBL, I'm going to use FRM for form.
  • 02:23 And this is going to be company Tabular.
  • 02:27 Do I want to open the form and view it or do I want to modify the forms design?
  • 02:32 Well, at this stage, I just want to open the form.
  • 02:35 Let's click on Finish.
  • 02:36 And there we go.
  • 02:37 Now a couple of things have happened here.
  • 02:39 Notice over in the navigation pane, I now have a new category for forms,
  • 02:44 and there is my form listed underneath.
  • 02:47 My form is open in the main window, and it's simply listing out the values
  • 02:52 from the field that I selected, which was the company field interval company.
  • 02:58 Notice the name of the form up here is the name that I gave the form.
  • 03:02 Now, this isn't particularly user friendly.
  • 03:04 I'm probably going to want to change that in a moment.
  • 03:06 Now, notice that as soon as we're working in forms, if we right click,
  • 03:11 we now have different views that we can select from.
  • 03:14 Notice that we no longer have datasheet view when we're working in a form.
  • 03:18 We have form view, layout view and design view.
  • 03:23 And form view is the view that you go to whenever you want to see how your form is
  • 03:27 going to look to your users.
  • 03:29 Pretty much everything works exactly the same.
  • 03:31 I can use my record selector to select the different records.
  • 03:35 So if I want to delete a record, I can simply choose it and then use the Delete
  • 03:40 command on my ribbons or I can press the Delete key on my keyboard.
  • 03:45 If I need to edit a record, I can click in the field and make changes.
  • 03:49 I can even add a new record on the bottom.
  • 03:52 Now, notice one thing.
  • 03:54 If I add a new company, so let's just add Discover Inc.
  • 04:00 Notice that it doesn't automatically arrange it in alphabetical order.
  • 04:06 So my existing records are in alphabetical order but
  • 04:09 I've added a new one which is effectively D.
  • 04:12 It should be much further up this list, but it's not.
  • 04:15 So new records that you add won't automatically be sorted unless you've
  • 04:19 changed one of the property settings.
  • 04:22 And we're going to do that a little bit later on.
  • 04:24 But for now,
  • 04:25 that is how you can very quickly create a form using the Form Wizard.
  • 04:29 In the next lesson, we're going to delve a bit further into form properties.

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