Using Form Views

You can open form objects in different views, depending on what you want to do. Form view is the view to use when entering data. Use Design view when you want to change the structure or properties of the form. In this task, we'll explore how to open forms in Form view and how to switch to Design view.

To open a form from the database window:

1. In the database window, click Forms on the Objects bar to display your list of forms.
2. To automatically open a form, double-click the name of the form. This is the Form view where you can enter data in the form.
3. To change to Design view, click the View button on the toolbar. In Design view, you can change the layout of the form or add form controls.
4. To switch to Datasheet view, you need to click the arrow next to the View button. From the drop-down list, you could choose Datasheet View, PivotTable View, or PivotChart View.
5. Click the View button again to switch back to Form view.

Notice how the toolbar changes depending on which view you're in. The different toolbar buttons and their functions are covered in other lessons.

You can also view forms in PivotTable view and PivotChart view by clicking the drop-down arrow next to the View button. PivotTables and PivotCharts are covered in detail in the Access Expert Module (Creating a PivotTable and Creating a PivotChart).

1. You can open a form directly in Design view from the database window by clicking the name of the form once to select it, then clicking the Design button on the database window toolbar.
2. You can right-mouse click on a form and select Open to open the form in Form view or select Design View to open the form in Design view.
3. You can switch views by using the View menu.