Form Short Cuts

This tip on Form Short Cuts covers some of the short cuts I take when creating forms. Hopefully, some of these will save you some time and a bit of frustration. If you like using the keyboard instead of the mouse, then you will find some of these especially useful:

1) To remove labels from being associated with a text box, then just drag your mouse over the labels and delete them (Ctrl X), then paste them back (Ctrl V). They now will not be linked to specific text boxes, so you can move them around freely without having to worry about the text box following.

2) To make all your controls the same size, select the controls you wish to make the same size by dragging your mouse over them; then, on the Menu bar, click on the followig Format - Size - Widest (Narrowest) or Format - Size - Tallest (Shortest).

3) Use this same Menu bar to align your controls; Format - Align - Left (Right, Top, Bottom); do not forget to select them all first.

4) You can use the keyboard for adjusting the size and position of the controls on your form. Select the control(s) you wish to move (change the size of). Then, hold down the Ctrl Key and click on the Arrow keys to move in the direction you wish. If you wish to change the size of the control, hold down the Shift key and use the arrows to change the size of the control. The Right Arrow makes the control wider, whereas the Left Arrow will make it narrower. The Up Arrow makes the control taller whereas the Down Arrow makes it shorter.

5) To toggle between Design view and Form view easily with the use of your function keys, create a macro and call it AutoKeys (this is a specially named Macro that has a specific function which is to keep Auto Keys or Hot Keys). Type in the Function Key you wish to use to toggle and the appropriate commands, i.e:

{F1} – RunCommand – FormView

{F2} – RunCommand – DesignView

Remember to remove these if you are distributing the database, otherwise your security maybe compromised.

6) If you include and ampersand “&” in front of the name of a label i.e. &Close, this will then display the label as Close the user of your database can then use Alt and C to close the database.

7) To select all the controls in a row or in a column on your form, just click on the horizontal or vertical ruler to select all the controls in that path. You can also drag your mouse along the ruler to select many controls.