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An input form is an easy, effective, efficient way to enter data into a
table. Input forms are especially useful when the person entering the data
is not familiar with the inner workings of Microsoft Access and needs to
have a guide in order to input data accurately into the appropriate fields.
Microsoft Access provides several predefined forms and provides a forms
wizard that walks you through the process of creating a form. One of these
predefined forms will be used in the example below. You can also create
your own customized forms by using Microsoft Access form design tools.
To use one of the predefined forms click Forms in the Objects
section of the "Database name: Database" dialog box and click on the New
button (see Figure 1, below).
FIGURE 1. Dialog boxes showing
"Forms" choice and "New Form" options |
In the "New Forms" dialog box (see Figure 1, above), click Autoform:
Columnar to select this predefined form. Click on the down-arrow button
to show the list of tables and click on the table name to be used with
this form. Click the OK button.
Save the form by clicking on the Save button on the toolbar (or
by clicking on the File menu item in the menu bar and then clicking
Save
As). Enter the name of the new form and then click the OK button.
(For more information about naming your file, please see the section entitled
"Naming Conventions".)
To use the form once it has been defined click on the Forms tab
in the "Database name: Database" dialog box and choose (click) the desired
form name. Then click the Open button to get to the data entry dialog
box (see Figure 2, below).
FIGURE 2. Dialog boxes showing
"Forms" selection and data entry text boxes |
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