How to create a Menu
Driven Form
in
MS Access
Step 1: creating a blank Form
A menu driven form is one that allows you to navigate your way through different levels of a system. An example of this would be a DVD menu. This Document will take you
through one method of creating a Menu Form
Start by opening the database you want to use to create the form
Now select the ‘CREATE’ tab at the top
Choose ‘Blank Form’
Step 2: Customising the look of the form
To customise the form you star by clicking on the ‘VIEW’
icon and choosing the ‘DESIGN VIEW’ option
by clicking on the main body of the form
the editing tools will become visible. You
can now change elements such as the back
ground colour and add a label
Step 3: Creating buttons to open different parts of the
database
Once you have you have changed the back ground colour of the form and added a label
you are ready to get started in the buttons
Adding Buttons to the form will
allow you to control the different
elements you have created.
Once you select the ‘BUTTON’
tool and draw a Button on the
screen this wizard Menu will appear.
You will choose from the following
options depending on which element you want to control
Form Operations– to control a
form
Report Operations—to control a
report
Miscellaneous– to run a query
Step 3: Creating Buttons to open different parts of the
database continued
Once you have selected the
category you want you can
then move on to choosing the
action you want to take
For example– if you choose to
perform a report operation,
the following action choices
will appear
Once you have gotten to this stage the rest is fairly simple. You basically click on ‘NEXT’ and follow the instructions. After you finish
going through the wizard you will have to preview the form in
‘FORM VIEW’ and check your button to see if it works.
Task Tips: To complete your task it will be up to you to decide which buttons
you need to add to your menu form in order to meet the success criteria
given.
Step 4: Getting the Menu form to run
Automatically continued
When the Access Options window appears, click on the ‘Current Database’ option on
the left.
Then under the ‘Display Form’ option, select your menu form from the drop down
list. Then click on the OK button.
Now when you open your
Access database, the
Menu Form should start
up automatically
Task Tip: There is another way to create a menu form. This is done by using the
switchboard manager tool
You can explore this by going to : Database Tools /Switchboard Manager