When working in the Microsoft program it is very common to use the form controls, It should be noted that they can be found different types of controls available, although these will also vary depending on the version of Access you are using.
These elements are considered as a very important part for a report or form, and it is that they are used to be able write, modify and display the data you are working with. This means that power adjusting and organizing them becomes a very important activity.
Fortunately, Access has a lot of elements and functions that allows its users to work easily and in a much more professional way. This is how we are going to teach how you can quickly and easily start adjusting and organizing controls on a formTo do this, follow in detail everything that we will teach you next in the post.
What are Access form controls and what are they for?
As mentioned above in the post, form controls are used for write, modify and display the data with whom you are working on the database. It should also be mentioned that there are different types of controls you can work withEven on many occasions these elements are used without knowing it.
This is how a text box is a very popular control and used by the vast majority of Access users, it allows display data in report or serve to enter and display data in forms. While others Access controllers usually include command buttons, combo boxes, drop-down lists, and check boxes.
What should we keep in mind when adjusting the controls of a form in Access?
Before starting adjust controls on a form it is very important to take into account some important aspects, as it is the type of control you are working with. exist three controls what can you handle in this database program, as they are independent, calculated or dependent controls.
Therefore, here we explain what each of them means:
Dependent controls
A dependent control is one whose data source is a field in a table or query. Being able to use these controls will allow you show values that come from the fields of the database, in the same way these values can be dates, numbers, text, Yes / No values, graphics, images, among some others.
So that you can understand this a little better we give you an example of a text box where they are shown the surnames of the customers of a store. Thanks to this information there you can obtain the last name of an exact customer taking it straight from the field "Surnames".
Independent control
Here is the opposite of the previous case, this time there is no data origin, that is, a field or expression, so it is called as independent controls. These controls are mostly used to display information, lines, rectangles or images and it can be seen applied in the labels that teach the title of a form.
Calculated control
The calculated controls are those where their data source is a expression and is not a field. In these cases you specify the value you want to use as data source in control by defining an expression. These expressions can turn out to be a combination of operators as it would be (= and +), field names, control names, functions that return a single value, and constant values.
So that this can be understood much better, there is an expression where calculates the value of one or more items and which has a 25% discount, so i know multiply the field value "Unit price”By a constant value of 0.75%. This would be as follows: (Unit price) * 0.75%
Learn step by step how to organize the controls on a Microsoft Access form
Achieving differentiation the types of controls available in Microsoft Access, the following will explain how can you start organizing them in a form.
To do this, follow in detail everything that we will teach you below:
Create a new layout
If you already have an existing form, you can start creating a new control design by simply following each of these steps:
- The first will be to choose the control you want add to design.
- If what you want add more than one control to the same design, then you must hold down the key "Shift" while you are selecting them one by one.
- Now in the tab "Organize" and in the section "Table" you must select "Tabulate or Stacked".
- Automatically the program will create the layout and add each of the previously selected controls.
Modify a stacked or tabular table layout
In the event that you want to change or modify an entire layout, whether tabular or stacked, then you need to follow these steps:
- to get started you must choose a cell in the layout that you want to modify.
- Since the token "Organize" and in the section of "Rows and column" you must click "To select".
- Again in the tab "Organize" and now from the section "Table" you must select the type of design you want to change either "Tabulate" or "Stacked".
- Then Access will reorganize the controls in the type of design you have selected.
Split a design in two
Control layouts can be divided into two as follows:
- For this the first will be hold down the key "SHIFT" on your keyboard while you are selecting the cells what do you want to move for him new design.
- Now on the tab "Organize" and in the group of "Table" you must select the type of design you want, either "Tabulate" or "Stacked".
- After of this the program system will create the new controls layout and I will add the controls that have been previously selected.
Add columns or rows to a layout
- For this case you must select a cell adjacent to where you want add the new row or column.
- Again from the tab "Organize" and in the group of "Rows and columns " you must select the option "Insert above" or "Below insert ”, this will allow you to insert a new row either above or below the current row.
- You must also select the option "Insert to the left" or "Insert right", this will allow add the column to the left or right of the current column. This way you can change the location to existing controls on the form.
Rearrange controls in a layout
- It is also possible rearrange controls within a layout, for this you can move a control within the design simply dragging it to the new location you want to give it. While drag the field, a horizontal or vertical bar it will indicate where the control will be placed once you release the mouse.
- You can also move a control from one design to another design of the same type. That is, a control is dragged from a stacked layout to pass it to another also in a stacked format and not to a tabular one.
Remove controls from a layout
You may also want remove a control from a layout.
To do this, you must follow these steps:
- The first thing to do is select the control you want remove, if you want delete multiple controls to select it you must hold down the key "SHIFT" on your keyboard while you are selecting those you want. If you want to select all layout controls you must click on the selector box located in the upper left of the layout.
- The next thing will be to go to the tab "Organize" and in the section of "Control design" you must click on the option "Remove".
- Then click on one of the selected controls and there choose the design and finally click on "Remove".
- After that Access will remove the controls that have been previously selected.