TUTORIAL 3 - Forms

User Interface

The means by which the user and a computer system interact. The part of the program that a user sees, which hides all of the complexity of actual program.

Graphical User Interface

A GUI is an interface with a graphical component. It's a UI that looks nice, at least in theory.

In a way, crafting a database with Access is sort of like writing a computer program. One of the most important parts of writing a program is to create an interface for anyone who might use your program. This user interface is how your users will interact with your database. Specifically, Access has a system of Forms that protect your database from users who might not know how the database works, and make it easier and more intuitive to add new records or search for existing records.

Creating the Artists and Genres forms

The first thing we will need to do is create forms for adding new artists and genres to their respective tables. So, open records the database that we've been working on. Ensure that you have completed all of the tutorials up until this point. You should have three tables for Albums, Artists, and Genres and they should all be linked with relationships. If you don't know what this means, you may wish to review the previous tutorials in this chapter.

1. Go to the Create tab. In the Forms group, click the Form Wizard button. This will open a dialog that will walk us through the process of setting up a new form.

   

2. In the Tables/Queries dropdown, select Table: Artists. Add both fields by clicking the double chevron button (>>). Click Next.

   

3. Select the Datasheet style for this form. and click Next.

   

4. Change the title to “ArtistsForm” and click finish.

   

   This will allow you to easily add more artists to the table without having to go into the table itself. You also will not have to worry about ID numbers are they can be added at will here as well.

   

5. Now, perform the exact same procedure again, only create a “GenresForm”.

   

Creating the Album Form

Now, we need to create a new form for our actual Albums. This will involve several more steps, as the table has more fields and we have to deal with foreign keys, but follow along and you will see how it works.

1. You can close the Artists and Genres forms. Go to the Create tab and start the Form Wizard again.

2. This time select Table: Albums from the Tables/Queries dropdown, but only add AlbumID, AlbumName, and ReleaseDate fields to your form.

   

   Make sure they are in this order.

3. In the next page of the wizard, choose the Columnar style.

   

4. Name it "AlbumsForm" and press Finish.

Adding Combo Boxes

The base form is there, but it's not quite ready yet. We can't add an album without an artist and a genre. For this, we'll use a Combo Box.

1. You should be in the Home tab. Click the View button at the top left to get to Layout View.

   

2. Now, you'll be in the Form Layout Tools: Design tab. You should see a menu of Controls in the middle of the ribbon. Find the Combo Box control and select it.

   

3. Click somewhere in the form (you'll have to reposition this control later). The Combo Box Wizard will appear. Select I want the combo box to get the values from another table or query. Click Next

   

4. Select the Artists table to get the values from. and click Next.

   

5. Add both fields to the list, but make sure they are in this order:

   

6. Sort by ArtistName and click Next.

   

7. Ensure that Hide Key Column is selected.

   

8. Next, select Store that value in field: and select ArtistID. This is how we will show the artist's name, but the form will remember the ID key.

   

9. Name the field "Artist" and click Finish.

10. Now, reposition and resize the box until it fits and looks nice:

    

11. Next, we need to change one of the Combo Box's properties. Right-click on the ComboBox and select Properites. The properties sidebar should appear.

    

12. In the Property Sheet, in the List Items Edit Form, select ArtistsForm.

    

13. Repeat this entire process once again to create a genre's Combo Box and the form will be complete and functional.

    

Add A Couple Buttons

Lastly, let's add some buttons so we can edit and add new records to the the table with a nice, clean, intuitive interface.

1. With the AlbumsForm still open, click on the Button control in the Form Layout: Design tab.

   

2. Place the button underneath the Genre Combo Box. The wizard will open. To select this button's function, selec the Record Operations category, and Add New Record Action.

   

3. On the next page of the wizard, leave the button image as the default (though truth be told, you really should find a different image, this one is small and kind of ambiguous). Hit Next.

4. Name it AddNewRecord and hit Finish. Now you have a button.

   

5. Create two more buttons. One with the Save Record action and one with the Delete Record operation. Use the same procedure and give them suitable names. Lastly, add a fourth button with the Find Record action from the Record Navigation category. Now, your form has controls.

6. Go to the Arrange tab and play around with the layout grid until you have something that looks reasonably decent and organized. Here's what I came up with:

   

Go to the Form View. Try to add a few new albums. Use artists and genres that are not already in the database and see what happens. Try searching for a record using the buttons and use different filtering options. When you are finished. Save, everything. Compact & Repair your database. Upload it to the class portal.

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