Packaging the Database

Once you have created all of the interface objects you want, you can package your database. Packaging an Access database means configuring it to behave more like a standalone application for your users, rather than an Access database. There are several main steps needed to do this:

1. Delete unneeded objects
2. Create a navigation form
3. Set the navigation form as the default form
4. Change other database startup settings

Deleting Unneeded Objects

As we build a database, we may create temporary tables for data we imported or backed up, or we may have created queries we no longer need. For the final application, they won't serve a purpose and should thus be deleted before packaging.

NOTE: Always ensure that everything is working properly before deleting any temporary objects.

The temporary objects were already removed from our database, so we can move on.

Creating a Navigation Form

The navigation form is a form with several buttons that allow a user easy access to various parts of the database. It makes some or all of the objects in the database accessible from a single form.

We can configure a navigation form to display a number of tabs horizontally or vertically, and lay it out to provide instant access to the forms and reports that exist in our database without forcing users to use the Access interface.

Here is a simple navigation form with horizontal tabs:

Notice that it only has three tabs. The simple Horizontal or Vertical navigation form works fine for databases with a small number of objects, but we have quite a few forms and reports, so we will need to use a more advanced layout. We'll create several tabs as categories for our objects, and then add the objects in a second level to the appropriate tab.

Step1. To begin to create the form, on the Ribbon,

Click the Create tab, Click

There are several button placement options available. We will choose Horizontal Tabs, 2 Levels so that we can group similar forms and reports together.

Step2. To create the form,

Click Horizontal Tabs, 2 levels

The form is displayed in Layout View. Let's increase the display area by closing the Field List pane.

Step3. To close the Field List pane, in the upper right corner of the pane, 

Click 

We should still see the Navigation pane on the left side of the screen. We will not collapse it, as we will need it to build our navigation form.

Deleting the Form Header

Before we start creating the form itself, we will delete the Form Header. It isn't needed since it only displays the words Navigation Form at the top.

Step1. To select the Form Header section,

Click the title, Click

The entire header section is selected.

Step2. To delete the Form Header section, press:

Delete key

This header is completely eliminated, which allows more room for the form itself.

Grouping Information on a Navigation Form

We chose the Horizontal Tabs, 2 levels layout to help simplify the interface for our users. We have several types of objects, including ones related to students, faculty, departments, and rosters. With this layout, we can create top-level tabs to group our objects, and then create a set of tabs appropriate to each category in the second level.

We'll name our top-level tabs for each object group first.

Step1. To name the tabs across the top row,

Click the  tab, type: Students Enter key

A new Add New button appears to the right of the one we just created.

Step2. To change the text of the second tab in the top row,

Click the  tab, type: Faculty Enter key

The second tab has been named, and a third tab appears.

Step3. Repeat the previous step to create additional tabs for Departments and Rosters.

We see:

Now that we have our four groups created as tabs in the top row, we can add forms and reports to each group.

NOTE: We will see a fifth tab in the top row, but if we do not rename it, it will not be included in the final form.

Step4. To get back to the Students group,

Click the Students tab

We may not be able to see it well because of the theme we chose for our database, but there is an Add New button on the row below the Students tab. We could try a different theme, but for now, let's make one minor change that will solve the low contrast problem.

Step5. To change the colors used in the theme, on the Ribbon,

Click the Design tab, Click, Click the first palette of colors (Office)

Now we can see the text in the second row.

Step6. To add the Student Registration form, from the Navigation pane,

Press & Drag frmStudentRegistration to

Access places the form and creates a new subtab navigation item for it. We'll add two more items to our subtab navigation.

Step7. To add the related student reports to the subtabs, to the right of the previous subtab,

Press & Drag rptStudentTranscript, rptStudentMailingLabels

Our tabs should look like this:

The titles of the subtabs are not user friendly since they are the names of the database objects. Let's clean that up.

Step8. To change the text of the first tab,

Click frmStudentRegistration, Double-Click the text, type: Student Registration

Step9. Repeat the previous step to make the remaining subtabs read Student Transcript and Mailing Labels.

Let's see how this works.

Step10. Switch to Form view and, if necessary, select the Students tab in the top row.

We see the forms that we added to this tab.

Step11. Click on another top-level tab.

We see a blank row below the other tabs, because we have not yet added any related forms or reports to them. For time purposes, we will leave these tabs empty.

We're happy with the basic setup of our navigation form, so let's save it.

Step12. To start saving the navigation form,

Click

Access asks us to name our navigation form.

Step13. To name the form, type:

frmMainMenu Enter key

The navigation form is saved.

Step14. Close the form.

Setting the Default Form for the Database

Each time the database is opened, we would like for this navigation form to display so that it can serve as the primary navigation tool for our database. This will enable users to have access to all of the objects that they will use in one place.

Let's see how to set this form as the default when users open this database.

Step1. Switch to the File tab.

The Backstage view opens.

Step2. To open the Access Options dialog box, in the left pane,

Click Options

You see the Access Options dialog box:

Step3. To view options for this database, in the left pane,

Click Current Database

The options for the current database open.

Step4. To select the form to be displayed when this database is opened, in the Display Form drop-down list under the Application Options heading,

Click, Click frmMainMenu

Now, frmMainMenu will open automatically when we open the database. Since this form will give users access to everything they need, we can hide the Navigation Pane as well.

Step5. To disable the Navigation Pane, under the Navigation category,

Click the "Display Navigation Pane" checkbox

The checkbox is unchecked.

Changing Other Database Startup Settings

While we are modifying the Current Database settings in the Access Options dialog box, we can change other default startup behaviors when users open the database. This will prevent users from accessing editing options we don't want them to use, and will also customize the interface to focus just on the navigation form when they open the database.

We will start by modifying the title of the application,. The text in the Application Title box will display on the main title bar. If you don't enter a different title for the distributed application, the title "Microsoft Access" will appear on the title bar of the application.

Let's set the Application Title to University of the Midwest Registration System.

Step1. To set the Application Title, in the Application Title field at the top of the dialog box, type:

University of the Midwest Registration System

Next, we will disable the Status Bar.

Step2. To disable the status bar,

Click the "Display Status Bar" checkbox

Let's deselect the Use Access Special Keys option, which eliminates the user's ability to view the database design using keyboard shortcuts.

Step3. To deselect the Use Access Special Keys option,

Click the "Use Access Special Keys" checkbox

NOTE: Special keys that display the Navigation pane will not work if this option is deselected.

Let's also disable design changes and Layout View for this database so users can't change the look or feel of our forms and tables.

Step4. To disable Layout View,

Click the "Enable Layout View" checkbox

The checkbox is deselected.

Step5. To disable design changes to tables in Datasheet View,

Click the "Enable design changes for tables in Datasheet view" checkbox

Next, we will deselect the Allow Full Menus option. Clearing this option tells Access to hide all tabs except the Home tab and reduce the choices in backstage view to only allow for closing the database and exiting Access. This restricts the interface to basic data entry, data editing, and printing commands.

Step6. To deselect the Allow Full Menus option, in the Ribbon and Toolbar Options section,

Click the "Allow Full Menus" checkbox

Let's deselect the Allow Default Shortcut Menusoptionso the user cannot access right-click drop-down menus.

Step7. To deselect the Allow Default Shortcut Menus option,

Click the "Allow Default Shortcut Menus" checkbox

The checkbox is deselected.

Step8. To save all of these settings,

Click

We are told that the database needs to be closed before the settings will take effect.

Step9. To continue past this warning,

Click

The next time the database is opened, these new settings will be in effect.

NOTE: Changing Startup settings should not be thought of as a security measure because any knowledgeable Access user can circumvent them. For example, to bypass the Startup options, press and hold the Shift key when opening the database.

If our database should only be used by a limited set of individuals or if it contains sensitive data, we might also want to password protect our database. In Access, doing this will also encrypt our database which will make it inaccessible to anyone without the password. Password protecting an Access database is easy to do but we will not do it in class due to time constraints.

Using the Updated Database

Now that we have our database packaged, let's see how it will work when we open it from scratch.

Step1. Close the database and save any changes as necessary.

Step2. Open the database.

Step3. Enable the content in the database, if necessary.

We see the packaged database interface:

Step 4. Confirm that the Student Registration form is active.

Step5. To navigate to a specific student, in the combo box drop-down list,

select student Teresa Evans

Teresa's record is selected.

Step6. To assign her a grade in her Statistics for Non-Majors course, in the Statistics for Non-Majors course,

choose a valid grade

From here, we could also enroll her in a new course, edit information about an existing enrollment, or select a different student.

We are done with the workshop now, so we can close Access and the database.

Step7. Close Access.