The Access 2007 Environment

The initial Access screen, after creating a new database, is shown in Figure 34-6. Along the top of the screen is the Access ribbon, which replaces the toolbars and menus seen in previous versions of Access. The ribbon is divided into a number of groups. We’ll be looking at each of the groups and the controls in each group as we work our way through the next several chapters.

At the left side of the screen is the Navigation Pane containing the names of all of the different types of objects in the Access database. In Figure 34-6, the Navigation Pane displays the names of tables in the database, but could just as easily show queries, forms, reports, and other Access object types. The Navigation Pane can even display a combination of different types of objects.

The right side of the screen shows a blank table, ready to be filled in with the details necessary for the table to be used in the new Access database.

The Navigation Pane

The Navigation Pane, at the left of the screen, is your primary navigation aid when working with Access. By default, the list is filled with the names of tables in the current database but can also display other types of objects by clicking on the drop-down list in the Navigation Pane’s title bar to reveal the navigation options (see Figure 34-7).

The navigation options are:

• Custom: The Custom option creates a new tab in the Navigation pane. This new tab is titled Custom Group 1 by default and contains objects that you drag and drop into the tab’s area. Items added to a custom group still appear in their respective “object type” view, as described next.

• Object Type: The Object Type setting is most similar to previous versions of Access. When selected, Object Type transforms the selection list to display the usual Access object types: tables, queries, forms, reports, and so on.

• Tables and Related Views: The Tables and Related Views setting requires a bit of explanation. Access 2007 tries very hard to keep the developer informed of the hidden connections between objects in the database. For instance, a particular table may be used in a number of queries, or referenced from a form or report. In previous versions of Access, these relationships were very difficult to determine, and, before Access 2007, no effective tool was built into Access to help you understand these relationships.

  Figure 34-8 shows how the Tables and Related Views works. The Shippers table has been expanded to show that it is related to six other objects in the Northwind Traders database. This information helps a developer to understand that changing the Shippers table affects a number of other objects in the database.

  Figure 34-8. The Tables and Related Views setting is a powerful tool for analyzing an Access database.

  

• Created Date, Modified Date: These options group the database objects by either the created date or the modified date. These settings are useful when you need to know when an object was either created or last modified.

• Filter By Group: The Filter By Group option filters the selected object type (tables, forms, and so on) by a number of grouping options. The grouping option is determined by the navigation category chosen in Navigate To Category selected at the top of the Navigation pane. For instance, selecting Created Date changes the options under the Filter By Group to the following options: Today, Yesterday, Last Week, Two Weeks Ago, and so on.

  The Filter By Group option is really only helpful when you have a fairly large number of objects in your Access database. If you have an Access database containing several hundred different forms, you’ll find it very useful to filter by forms that were modified within the last week or so. But when there are only a few objects in a database, the Filter By Group option has little effect.

• Unrelated Objects, All Tables: These options appear in Figure 34-7 because the Tables and Related Views is selected as the primary navigation option. The Unrelated Objects is the opposite of the Tables and Related Views. When selected, the Unrelated Objects option shows you all of the objects that are not related to the selected table, query, or other Access object.

The All Tables setting is the default when choosing to view tables in the database.

The Ribbon

The Access Ribbon occupies the top portion of the main access screen. The Ribbon replaces the menus and toolbars seen in previous versions of Access. The Ribbon’s appearance changes depending on what task you’re working on in the Access environment. Figure 34-9 shows the Datasheet Ribbon seen when you’re working with Access tables. A very different Ribbon appears when working with forms or reports.

The Ribbon is divided into a number of groups, each containing any number of controls. In Figure 34-9, the Data Type and Formatting group is selected. The Data Type and Formatting group includes options for selecting how a datasheet appears on the screen, while the Fields and Columns group contains commands for modifying and specifying the fields within the table.

The other groups on the Datasheet tab (Views, Fields and Columns, and Relationships) contain controls that perform other tasks commonly associated with Access datasheets. For instance, the View control in the Views group changes the datasheet view of the table to design view, making it easy to update the table’s design.

Instead of explaining each of the groups and controls within groups on the Ribbon, we will study each relevant Ribbon command in the proper context in this chapter and chapters that follow.

Other relevant features of the Access environment

The Access environment includes a number of other important features. In the far-right lower corner are two buttons that enable you to quickly change the selected objects in the middle of the screen from Design view to the object’s Normal view. For instance, in the case of an Access table, the Normal view is to display the table as a datasheet, while a report’s Normal view is to display the report in Print Preview.

Figure 34-10 illustrates one of the more interesting changes for Access 2007. A common complaint among some developers with earlier versions of Access was the fact that, when multiple objects were simultaneously opened in the Access environment, the objects would often overlap and obscure each other, making it more difficult to navigate between the objects. For instance, in Access 2000 you might have a form open in Design view and a table open in Datasheet view at the same time. Invariably, one of these objects would overlap the other and, depending on how large the object was, might completely obscure the other object.

Microsoft has added a tabbed user interface to Access, preventing objects from obscuring other objects that are open at the same time. In Figure 34-10, the contacts (tblContacts) table is currently in use. Two other database objects (frmIndexTest and tblZipCodesIndexed) are also opened in the Access work area. Clicking on a tab associated with an object, such as frmIndexTest, instantly brings that object to the top.

When an object such as tblContacts is put into Design view (by clicking to the last word, right-clicking the tab, and selecting Design View) the data sheet is replaced with the Table Designer (see Figure 34-11). The Access 2007 environment is highly adaptable to whichever tasks you are currently performing in your database.