The Characteristics of a Windows Control

The Design of a Windows Control  

The Caption of a Windows Control

We studied how to get controls from the Ribbon to add them to a form or a report. Here is an example of a few controls added to a form:

Notice that some controls display a string, such as Text1 or Command0. Some other objects, such as the toggle button or the rectangle, do not display a string on their body. For a Windows control, a caption is the word or group of words that the user sees on top of the control. As mentioned for the columns of a table, the caption of a control is not necessarily the same as its name.

When designing a form or report, if you select columns fields from a Field List and add those fields to a form or a report, Microsoft Access refers to the caption that was given to the column either in the Datasheet View or in the Design View of the table. If you had created the column in the Datasheet View only, its name and its caption would be the same and that's what Microsoft Access would use. If you had created the column in the Design View and specified a caption that was different from the name, Microsoft Access would display that caption for the control on the form or report.

Remember that not all controls have or display a caption. The controls that have a caption have a property named Caption in the Properties window.

If you create a form using the Form Wizard or a report using the Report Wizard, Microsoft Access would display the caption of each field the same way it was created in the Datasheet View of the table or the way the caption was set in the Design View of the table If you select a table in the Navigation Pane and use the Form button from the Create section of the Ribbon to create a form, or if you click the Report button in the Create section of the Ribbon to create a report, by default, each caption of a control would be appended a colon ":" If you use the Field List to add a field to a form or a report, the caption of its control would be equipped with a colon ":"

Whether you added a control from the Controls section of the Design tab of the Ribbon or you added a field from the Field List, you can change the caption of the control (independent or regardless of its name). To change the caption of a control on the form or report, first display it in Design View:

• For a label, you can click the label on the form or report. Then click it again. This would put the label into edit mode. You can then change its caption as you see fit
• Click the control and access its Properties window. In the Properties window, click either the Format or the All tab, and change the text in the Caption field

Practical Learning: Setting Objects Captions

1. Start Microsoft Access
2. Open the Fun Furniture database you created in Lesson 5
3. To create a new form, on the Ribbon, click Create and, in the Forms section, click Blank Form
4. If the Field List is displaying, close it.
   To save the form, right-click the Form1 tab and click Save
5. Set the name to Employees and click OK
6. To switch the form to Design View, right-click the middle of the Employees form and click Design View
7. On the Ribbon, click Design if necessary.
   From the Controls section, click Text Box   and click the top section of the form (no need for precision)
8. Right-click the label on the left side of the Unbound text box on the form and click Properties.
   In the Properties window, click the Format tab
9. Click Caption
10. Type Employee #: and press Enter
11. On the form, while the Employee # label is still selected, position the mouse on its right border and, as we learned in Lesson 7, drag its right border so its whole caption can display
12. In the Controls section of the Ribbon, click the Text Box and click the middle section of the form (no need for precision)
13. On the form, click the new label (that is on the left side of the new text box you added)
14. Click that label again to put it into edit mode
15. Edit it to display First Name: and press Enter
16. Save the form

In Lesson 6, we saw how to select an object from the Controls section of the Ribbon and place it on a form or a report. After adding a control like that, it receives a (somewhat random) default name. Most of the time, you will want to change that name. To change the name of a control on a form or a report, first switch to Design View and access the Properties window for the control. In the Properties window, you can click the Other or the All tab:

• To change the name of a control, click Name and type the desired string
• To edit the name of a control, either click Name and press F2, or click the name itself, use the Delete, the Backspace, and the arrow keys to edit it

Also in Lesson 6, we saw that you could use items from a table, using the Field List, to add controls to a form or a report. If you add a control from the Field List, it uses the name of the column from the table. You can (and strongly should) keep that name. Otherwise, you can change it the same way you would change the name of a control added from the Controls section of the Ribbon.

Practical Learning: Naming Objects

1. On the form, double-click the top Unbound text box
2. In the Properties window, click the Other tab and click Name
3. Type txtEmployeeNumber
4. On the form, click the other Unbound text box
5. In the Properties window, click the All tab, click Name and type txtFirstName
6. Save the form

If you create a form or a report based on a table, such as an Automatic Form or a report created from the Report Wizard, its Windows controls would be linked to the original table where they would get their data from. In Lesson 6, we saw how to use the Field List to add a table's fields to a form or report. Also, in Lesson 6, we saw how to add Windows controls that were independent of any table. If you add an object from the Controls section of the Design category of the Ribbon to a form or a report, the object is not directly linked to any field of a table.

To link a control to a field of a table, first switch the form or report to Design View and make sure you had set the form or report's Record Source property to the table that holds the field. Double-click the control to access its Properties window. In the Properties window, you can click either the Data or the All tab. Click the Control Source field and select an item from its combo box. In the same way, you can add as many controls as possible from the Controls section of the Ribbon to a form or report, and link those you want to the table as the Record Source of the form or report.

Practical Learning: Setting Control Sources of Objects

1. The Employees form of the Fun Furniture database should still be opened in Design View.
   Double-click the button at the intersection of the rulers of the form
2. In the Properties window, click the Data tab and click Record Source
3. Click the arrow of the Record Source combo box and select Employees
4. On the form, click the Unbound text box on the right side of the Employee #: label
5. In the Data tab of the Properties window, click Control Source.
   Click the arrow of the Control Source combo box and select EmployeeNumber
6. On the form, click the Unbound text box
7. In the Data tab of the Properties window, click Control Source and type f
8. On the Ribbon, click Design if necessary and, in Tools section, click the Add Existing Fields button
9. From the Field List, drag the following fields: LastName and Title
10. Using the techniques of control design we studied and reviewed in Lesson 5 (control moving, resizing, and aligning) and caption, design the form as follows:
     
    
11. Save the form
12. To preview it, right-click the Employees tab and click Form View
13. Print the form
14. To switch the form back to Design View, right an empty area of its body and click Design View

When you have added a control to a form or report, it is visible and can be displayed to the user. An object is referred to as visible if it can visually be located on the screen. A user can use an object only if it is visible. Most of the time, you will not be concerned with this aspect. Still, there are situations that will lead you to create a control but hide it from the user.

Depending on the host of the object(s):

• To hide a Windows control of a form or report, you can double-click it to access its Properties window, click either the Format or the All tab, and set its Visible property to No
• To hide a group of controls of a form or report, first select them, right-click any of the selected controls and click Properties. In the Properties window, click either the Format or the All tab. Set the Visible property to No

If a control was previously hidden and you want to reveal it to the user, set its Visible property to Yes.

In order to use a control on a form or a report, the object that is hosting the control must allow it. For example, the user cannot type text or change the value of a text box if this action were not made possible. This aspect is controlled in two different ways. If the value of a text box is set by an expression, the user cannot change it. There is another technique. It involves a Boolean property named Enabled.

By default, the Enabled property is set to Yes for most controls, which means it is available. Otherwise:

• To disallow the use of a control from a form or report, after displaying it in Design View, access the Properties window for the control. Click either the Data or the All tabs and set the Enabled property to No
• To disallow the use of various controls on a form or report, select them and right-click one of the selected controls and click Properties. In either the Data or the All tab of the Properties window, set the Enabled property to No

If a control is disabled and you want to enable it, set the Enabled property to Yes.

Practical Learning: Disabling a Field

1. The Employees form should still be opened in Design View.
   On the form, double-click the EmployeeNumber text box
2. In the Properties window, click the the Data tab and double-click Enabled to change its value from Yes to No
3. Save the form

During data entry, a user usually clicks an object to give it focus and starts typing. Some fields get an automatic number set and controlled by Microsoft Access. Some other fields use data created from an expression. These types of fields do not support data entry and their content cannot be changed directly by the user. In some other circumstances, you will create fields but would not like the user to be able to change their value. In such a case, you can lock the control. When a control is locked, the user cannot change its value or content. This characteristic is directly related to data entry and is therefore available on controls positioned on a form or report only (not on a table).

To lock a control, after selecting it in Design View, access its Locked property in the Properties window and set it to Yes. If the control was previous locked, you can unlock it by setting this property to No.

Practical Learning: Locking a Field

1. On the form, make sure the EmployeeNumber text box is still selected.
   In Data tab of the Properties window, double-click the Locked combo box to set its value to Yes
2. Save the form

Providing Basic Help on Windows Controls

A tool tip is a small border-less box that appears when the mouse is positioned on top of a control for a few seconds. It is a fast means of providing help to the user. Because only the form displays controls in a manner suitable for them, a control can display a tool tip only on a form.

To create a tool tip for a control, while in the Design View of the form, access the Properties window for the object. In the Other or the All tab, enter a string in the ControlTip Text field.

Practical Learning: Setting Tool Tips

1. The Employees form should still be opened in Design View.
   On the forms, click the EmployeeNumber text box if necessary.
   In the Properties window, click the Other tab
2. Click ControlTip Text
3. Type Unique staff member number and press Enter
4. On the form, click the Title text box
5. In the Other tab of the Properties window, click ControlTip Text and type Employee's current position within the company
6. Save the form

In Lesson 8, we saw that when a cell of a table received focus, you could display a sentence on the status bar. In the same way, when the focus moves to a control on a form, you can provide some guidance or suggestion to the user using the status bar. Because not all controls can receive focus, not all controls can display text on the status bar when they receive focus.

To create a status bar text for a field on a form, while in Design View, access the Properties window for the control. In the Other or the All tab, enter a sentence in the Status Bar Text property.

If you create a form whose data is based on a form, the controls would receive the status bar text for the controls that had the Description property set in the table design. If a column did not have its Description property specified, the corresponding Windows control would not show some text on the status bar. In this case, if you want the control to display text on the status bar, you must create it.

Practical Learning: Setting Status Bar Text for Fields

1. The Employees form of the Fun Furniture database should still be opened in Design View.
   In the form, click the EmployeeNumber text box
2. In the Properties window, click the Other tab, click Status Bar Text, and type
   Number specified by the company management
3. Save the form

The Font on Windows Controls

We introduced and reviewed the fonts in the previous lesson. The characteristics of fonts can also be applied to the Windows controls of a form or report with even more flexibility. As mentioned for tables, Microsoft Access uses some default fonts to display the Windows controls on forms and reports. If you decide to change the default font on the controls of a form or report, avoid using fancy fonts. If you plan to distribute your database, use the most common fonts found on most computers. If you apply an unusual font and distribute your database, when it is installed on someone else's computers, the operating system would try to find the closest font match to your selection. It may find and apply a font that is not exactly what you intended. As a result, the forms and report may not appear the same way you wanted to display them.

When you add a control or field to a form or a report, Microsoft Access applies a default font to display the captions and texts of the different controls. To make the form or the report more attractive, you can keep or change that font. Unlike a table, you can set or change the individual fonts of controls. This means that each control or each group of controls can have a font of your liking.

To change the font of a control, first display its form or report in Design View:

• On the Ribbon, click either Home or Format. In the Text Formatting section of the Home tab or in the Font section of the Format tab, click the Font combo box and select the name of the desired font
• Access the Properties window for the control. In either the Format or the All tab, click Font Name, click the arrow of the combo box and select the desired font

The font you apply to any control on a form or a report doesn't have any influence on the columns of the base table.

Practical Learning: Specifying the Fonts of Controls

1. The Employees form of the Fun Furniture database should still be opened in Design View.
   On the form, click inside the horizontal ruler above the Employee # label to select the labels
2. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Text Formatting section, click the arrow of the Font combo box and select Verdana
3. Save the form

To change or set the size of the font used to display the characters of a label or a field on a form or a report:

• After clicking the control or selecting the group of controls, on the Ribbon, click either Home or Format. In the Text Formatting section of the Home tab or in the Font section of the Format tab,  click the arrow of the Font Size combo box and select the desired tab
• Access the Properties window for the control or the group of controls. In either the Format or the All tab, click the arrow of the Font Size combo box and select the desired size

The font you apply to any control on a form or a report doesn't have any influence on the columns of the base table.

When a font is installed, a set of font sizes is created in the Font Size combo box. You can use those numbers but you can also set a new one. To do this, instead of selecting a value in the Font Size combo box, type the desired number and press Enter or Tab. The operating system would calculate the size and apply it.

Practical Learning: Setting the Font Sizes of Controls

1. The labels should still be selected on the form (otherwise, select them).
   On the Ribbon, click Format
2. In the Font section, click the arrow of the Font Size combo box and select 10
3. Save the form

Besides the font applied to a control and the size specified for its text, you can also use a style. This allows you to make the text bold, to italicize, or to underline it. The font style applies only to a control that can display text. When you add a text-based control to a form or a report, by default, Microsoft Access applies the Regular font style to it. you can change this characteristic if you want.

To change the font style of a control, switch the form or report to Design View. Select the control or the group of controls. On the Ribbon, click either Home or Format. In the Text Formatting section of the Home tab or in the Font section of the Format tab, click the button that represents the desired style: Bold , Italic , or Underline .

You can specify more than one style on a control. To do this, click the button of the desired style. When a style is valid for a control and if you click that control, the style button is highlighted: , , or . To remove a style, click the undesired button. To add a style to another style, simply click the desired button. Based on this, you can one, two or three buttons highlighted in the combination of your choice.

Instead of the buttons on the Ribbon, you can apply a style or a combination of styles using the Properties window. To do this, access the Properties window for the control. If you want to apply the style to many controls, select them and access the Properties window for the group of selected controls. In the Properties window, click either the Format or the All tab:

• To set a bold style, click the arrow of the Font Weight combo box and click its arrow to select one of the following options: Extra Light, Light, Normal, Medium, Semi Bold, Bold, Extra Bold, and Heavy
• By default, text is not italicized. This aspect it controlled by the Font Italic Boolean property whose default value is No. To italicize a text, set this property to Yes
• By default, the text of a new control is not underlined. This characteristic is controlled by the Font Underline Boolean property and its default value is No. If you want to underline the control or the text of the selected controls, you can set this property to Yes

As reviewed for the style buttons on the Ribbon, you can apply various styles using the Properties window. To do this, access the Properties window for the control or the group of controls and use the Font Weight, the Font Italic, or the Font Underline properties to set the styles as desired.

Practical Learning: Setting the Font Style of a Control

1. The Employees form should still be opened in Design View.
   On the form, click the EmployeeNumber text box to select it
2. On the Ribbon, click Home and click the Bold button
     
   
3. Save the form

Most fields or controls of a database display text. This includes labels, text boxes, and combo boxes, etc. To enhance the appearance of the fields or controls, you can specify the alignment of text of a control. This property has three values: left, center, or right.

By default, the alignment of text-based fields, including any caption on a label, is set to the left (following US English). The alignment of fields that display numbers or dates is set to the right. If you don't like these suggestions or for any other reason, you can change the text alignment of a field or control.

There are various ways you can change text alignment. To assist you with aligning text of a control, the Ribbon is equipped with the Text Formatting section in the Home tab and the Font section in the Format tab. After selecting a control and while in Design View, to change the alignment of its text, in the Text Formatting section of the Home tab or the Font section of the Format tab of the Ribbon, you can click:

• The Align Text Left button (this is the default button of the section) to position the text to the left
• The Center button to position the text to the center
• The Align Text Right button to position the text to the right

Instead of the Ribbon, you can use the Properties window. To do this, you can double-click the control to access its Properties window. If you want to apply the alignment to more than one control, select the group of controls and access the Properties window for the group. In the Properties window, click either the Format or the All tab. Click the arrow of the Text Align combo box and select the desired option.

The Colors on a Windows Control

In the previous lesson, we saw how the colors can be used to aesthetically enhance the appearance of a table. As their characteristics are available on Forms and reports, the Windows controls go even further. For example, when you change a color aspect on a table, the color is applied to all the columns. On the other hand, each control of a form or a report is treated as an individual object. Furthermore, each control presents various categories of colors that can be applied to different parts of its body, including its background or its borders.

Most controls on a form or report are meant to accept or display some text to the user. To enhance the appearance of such a control, you can customize the color of its text. By default, a control displays its text in black. If you want, you can make it display in another color:

• To specify the text color of a control, on the form or report, select the control
• To specify the text color of various controls, on the form or report, select them

Then:

• In the Text Formatting section of the Home tab or the Font section of the Format tab of the Ribbon, click the arrow of the Font Color, and use the Font Color window as we reviewed in Lesson 8 to select the desired color
• In the Properties window, click Fore Color
  • To select one the pre-defined colors, click the arrow of the combo box and select from the list
  • To select a custom color, click the ellipsis button and use the color window as we reviewed in Lesson 8 to select the desired color

Alternatively:

• To change the font color of one control, right-click it, position the mouse on Font/Fore Color and click the desired color
   
  
• To change the font color of various controls, first select them. Then right-click one of the selected controls, position the mouse on Font/Fore Color and click the desired color

Practical Learning: Setting Text Font on Fields

1. The Employees form of the Fun Furniture database should still be opened in Design View.
   On the form, click inside the horizontal ruler above the Employee # label to select the labels
2. On the Ribbon, click Home if necessary.
   In the Text Formatting section, click the arrow of the Font Color button and select Dark Blue (Standard Colors section: 4th column - 1st row)
3. Save the form

You can enhance the appearance of a control by changing its background color. This aspect can be applied only to the object that is selected or to the controls that are selected:

• To change the background color of a control, on the form or report, select the control
• To set the background color on many controls, on the form or report, select them

After selecting the control(s):

• In the Text Formatting section of the Home tab or the Font section of the Format tab of the Ribbon, click the arrow of the Background Color button, and use the Background Color window to select the desired color
• In the Control Formatting section of the Format tab of the Ribbon, click Shape Fill and select a color or compose one
• In the Properties window, click Back Color
  • To select one the pre-defined colors, click the arrow of the combo box and select from the list
  • To select a custom color, click the ellipsis button and use the color window to select a color

If you don't want a control to be painted with a particular color, you can make it transparent. To do this, first select the control(s) on the form or report. Then:

• In the Text Formatting section of the Home tab or the Font section of the Format tab of the Ribbon, click the arrow of the Background Color button and click Transparent
• On the form or the report, right-click a control or one of the selected control, position the mouse on Fill/Back Color, and click Transparent
   
  
• In the Properties window, click the Back Style field, then click the arrow of its combo box and select Transparent

Practical Learning: Setting Background Color

1. The Employees form should still be opened in Design View.
   Click the Detail bar on the form
2. On the Ribbon, click Home. In the Text Formatting section, click the arrow of the Background Color button and select Tan Background 2 (Theme Colors section: 3rd column - 1st row)
3. On the form, click the EmployeeNumber text box
4. On the Ribbon, click Format
5. In the Text Formatting section, click the Background Color button (the Tan Background 2 color should be selected already; if not, click the arrow of the Background Color button and select Tan Background 2)
6. Save the form

You can enhance the appearance of a control by painting its borders with a color of your choice. First select a control or a group of controls. Then:

• On the Ribbon, click Format. In the Control Formatting section, click the Shape Outline button. In the window that would come up, click a color of your choice
• In the Format or the All tabs of the Properties window, click Border Color. If you click the arrow of its combo box, you can select one of the pre-defined colors. Alternatively, you can click its ellipsis button to display the color window

Special Effects

 

Classic Special Effects

Besides the font and colors, the appearance of a control can be enhanced with various special effects. Microsoft Access (2010) presents two categories. Some special effects have been available since Microsoft Access 97. We refer to them as classic. They make a control appear raises or sunk, etc.

To apply the classic special effects, first select a control or a group of controls. Then:

• On the form or report, right-click a control or one of the controls of a selected group, position the mouse on Special Effects, and click one of the options

• In the Properties window, click Special Effect button, then click the arrow of its combo box and select one of the options

The available options are:

Practical Learning: Using Special Effects

1. The Employees form of the Fun Furniture database should still be opened in Design View.
   On the form, click the EmployeeNumber text box if necessary.
   On the Properties window, click Format
2. Click the arrow of Special Effect and click Chiseled
3. On the form, click the First Name text box
4. Press and hold Shift
5. Click the Last Name and the Title text Boxes
6. Release Shift
7. In the Format tab of the Properties window, click Special Effect and click the arrow of its combo box. Select Shadowed
8. To preview the form, right-click its tab and click Form View
    
   
9. Save and close the form

Enhanced Special Effects

Microsoft Office Access 2010 brought new special effects available to some controls. To apply these new special effects, first select a control or a group of controls. Then, on the Ribbon, click Format. In the Control Formatting section, click the Special Effects button, position the mouse on one of the options and click the desired effect:

The Borders of a Windows Control

 

The Thickness of a Border

To indicate its limits, a control is surrounded by a border. By default, the border appears as a solid line. If you want, you can control how the border of a control is drawn. To specify the thickness of the borders of a control or a group of controls, first select it or select them. Then:

• On the Ribbon, click Format. In the Control Formatting section, click Shape Outline, position the mouse on Line Thickness and click the desired width from the list

• In the Format or the All tab of the Properties window, click Border Width, then click the arrow of its combo box and select from the list

The Line Type of a Border

Besides the thickness, you can control the border of an object with a certain style. To do this, first select the control or a group of controls. Then

• On the Ribbon, click Format. In the Control Formatting section, click Shape Outline, position the mouse on Line Type, and select from the list

• In the Format or the All tabs of the Properties window, click Border Style and click the arrow of the combo box to select from the list

The available options are:

The Border Style characteristic can be used in combination with the Special Effect property. Some of these effects depend on the Special Effect value and may not appear as expected.

The Border Color property can be used to control the color used to draw the border of a label or a field. It is used as we described for the Fore Color property.

The Border Width property is used as the Line/Border Width button of the Formatting toolbar.