Forgotton what that table was all? Not to worry-right clicking on a table in the table list opens a Properties sheet. One of the properties, Description, is a free-form memo field that lets you jot down anything you need to remember about that table. You'll never be at a loss again.
While editing a data field, you can get an exploded view of the field by pressing Shift + F2.
In the Datasheet view, pressing Ctrl + " (quotation mark) in a cell will insert a copy of the contents in the cell above it. Press Ctrl +: (colon) to insert the current date.
To export data from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet into Access, first open both programs. Highlight the data in Excel and grab the edge of the highlighted data, then drag it to the Windows Taskbar and drop it on the Access icon. Access will automatically accept the data.
If you've made many structural or data-entry changes to a database, select Tools>Database Utilities>Compact Database to clean up, streamline and make it compact.
Are you an Access 97 user who runs macros or does VBA programming? if you are, you can take command of the cursor. To change the cursor into the hourglass or 'please wait' cursor, use the VBA command DoCmd.Hourglass True. To restore it to normal, use DoCmd.Hourglass False.
With a record selected in the Datasheet view, you can select an entire row by pressing Shift+spacebar. Press Ctrl+Shift+spacebar to select the entire datasheet; Press Ctrl+spacebar to select an entire column.
It's easy to move a Microsoft Access table into a Microsoft Word Document. Minimise Word and drag a table to the Word Button on the Taskbar. When Word opens, without releasing the mouse button, drop the table into the document.
One of the new features of Access 97 is the ability to import HTML tables as data. Select File>Get External Data and import, and then choose the HTML document to import from. If there's more than one table in the document, the import wizard will ask you to select a table.
The Documenter in Access97 can be used to publish detailed reports about the construction of your database.
Here's how you can get a grid for the number of pages to preview: right click while in Print Preview. It is more detailed than the list of pages available from the menu
To delete all instances of a chunk of data from your current recordset, right click on data in a Form/Datasheet and choose Filter Excluding Data.
You can duplicate a database object quickly without using Copy/Paste. Just drag and drop it within the database window while pressing the Ctrl Key
You can Bind data directly to a control by clicking on the control, then dragging and dropping the desired field from the field list.
While working in Visual Basic for applications, You can make your code easier to read. Go to Tools/Options/Module and pick different colors for different kinds of code including keywords, comments and so on. Put some color into that boring database.
What happens when you tab past the last field in a form?. The new Cycle property helps you determine whether you dvance to the next record or the next page, or return to the first control on the form.
Editing the bitmap on a button is a snap! Go into customise mode,right click on the button and choose Edit Image.
Wouldn't it be more efficient to view all the code in a module in one long continuoussheet rather than one sub at a time? You can do exactly this by going to Tools/Options, selecting the module tab and checking the 'Full module View' box.
On a form, change from one control to another by right-clicking on the control. You don't have to delete and recreate from scratch.
You can attach notes to tables in Access 97. Right clicking on a table in the Table list brings up a Properties dialog. Enter your note here in the box labelled "Description."
The Performance Analyzer can tell yiu how tom speed up the way your database works.
When in the Database, pressing Ctrl+" (quotation mark) will insert a copy of the contents of the cell above the current one. Similarly, Pressing Ctrl+: (colon) inserts the current time while Ctrl+;(semicolon) will insert the current date.
Publish dynamic and static HTML documents simultaneously by using Access's Publish to the Web Wizard. Call it up by selecting File>New, and then choose it from the list of wizards.
While importing or linking to an HTML table in Access, leave it alone. Access makes local copy of the original file, so the data is strictly read-only.
More to come...