Today, one of the best existing programs to manage databases professionally, it’s about Access. Which, by default, belongs to the renowned office suite of Microsoft and is characterized by having various tools with which allow you to search, organize, improve and present any kind of information, technically.
In that sense, it is considered as a software that guarantees agile and intuitive data collection, in addition to offering users the possibility of personalizing their experience to the maximum. Added to this, Microsoft Access provides different elements with which it is easy to enrich files, such as: tables, queries, forms and reports.
So, in the case of reports, Microsoft Access in its databases supports the possibility of apply conditional formatting to existing controls on them. This, with the aim that the reports created are much easier to read and discern. Therefore, it is worth knowing what this conditional formatting is about and how it can be used in the controls of a report in Access.
What is conditional formatting and what is it for in Microsoft Access?
It is no secret to anyone that, one of the most important peculiarities of the databases of Access, make reference to its ability to store large amounts of data, keep them organized and manage them correctly. However, on certain occasions, it is difficult to highlight some texts or numbers in a file with a large flow of information.
That is why, the utility known as “conditional format” which basically serves to set or set some rules for each available field in a form. This, in order to highlight certain values based on those conditions, automatically.
Thus, the conditional format of Microsoft Access consists of an element that accepts the application of different formats, depending on the conditions indicated by the user. Therefore, it is ideal for format a control according to a particular condition that manages to satisfy the requirements of the user who is preparing a report in this software, in favor of highlight the really important areas of it.
Learn step by step how to apply conditional formatting to report controls in Access
Now, to establish the rules in the controls of a report in Access in order for the values to be automatically highlighted to distinguish the most relevant information from the rest of the data, it is essential that you know how to apply conditional formatting to them.
Therefore, below, we detail the steps to follow in these cases:
- To start, you have to open the report in the database program, specifically in sight Design. Which can be chosen in the lower bar of Access.
- After that, proceed to select the control on which you want to apply conditional formatting in order to highlight the information it contains.
- Next, go to the software ribbon and in the section “Report presentation tools”, proceed to click on the tab that says “Format”.
- Now, in the Format controls group, you have to press the option “Conditional Formatting”.
- After that, in the dialog box corresponding to the Administrator conditional formatting rules, proceed to click on the button “New rule”.
- Once the above is done, from the new box that is shown, you have to choose a type of rule to apply. In addition, proceed to choose an option in the box “Edit the description of the rule”. Apart from that, once you select the format to apply in Color of the bar, click ok.
- If you then want to add a new rule to the same controls in your report Access, you have to repeat the same procedure from the customization made in Edit the rule description.
- Finally, just confirm the action, pressing the Accept button twice as required; in order to save the changes made.
Among other details, it should be noted that, if you want to set the same formatting guidelines for various controls in your report, you need to hold down the “Ctrl” key and click on each of them, when starting the process explained above. On the other hand, if you need format a single control when you are about to select the “Conditional Formatting” option, you need to click on the arrow in the field that indicates “Show formatting rules for”.