Updating the Results for the Current Semester

Right now, our subform shows us course sections for all semesters. We've decided that we only want to see enrollments for and add students to courses in the current semester. We don't need to make any changes to the main form, just to the subform, since the student demographic data should remain the same regardless of what semester we work with.

Let's change the subform to only show courses that are in the current semester, Summer 2018.

Step1. Switch back to Design View.

To limit the records we are seeing, we need to change the record source of the subform.

Step2. To see the Properties Sheet of the subform, if necessary,

Double-Click

The drop-down field at the top of the Property Sheet should read Form.

Step 3. Switch to the Data tab in the Property Sheet pane.

Step4. In the Property Sheet's Data tab,

Click Record Source, Click

We now see the query view of the subform.

Step5. To limit the records to course sections in the Summer 2018 semester, in the Criteria field of the Semester Year field, type;

SU18 Enter key

The criteria is now added to the SemesterYear field. Let's see the changes to the data.

Step6. Switch to Datasheet View.

Notice all of the classes are in the summer 2018 semester.

Step7. Save the changes.

Step8. To close the query,

Right-Click, Click Close

We are returned to the Design View of the subform.

Step9. Switch back to Datasheet view of the subform.

We now only see records for SU18 in the subform.

There is one other change we need to make. Although our subform only shows course sections in the current semester, our combo box still allows us to select course sections from any semester.

Step10. To see the problem with the combo box, in the Course Code field, in the second row,

Click the Course Code column, Click

As we can see, the combo box shows us course sections from all semesters. We need to limit this combo box so we're less likely to have data entry errors when registering students for the current semester.

Focusing the Combo Box on Current Semester Records

Let's update the combo box to make it also focus on current semester records.

Step1. Switch to Design View.

As with the first combo box we created, this combo box has a data record source property that is an Access query. We need to update that query to present only current semester sections.

Step2. To select the data entry combo box we created,

Click the combo box

The combo box is selected.

Step3. To begin changing the data source for the combo box, in the Property Sheet,

Click the Data tab, Click Row Source, Click on the right end of the Row Source property

We see the query designer. It shows the query that was used to created the drop-down list. We want to add a criteria to the SemesterYear column that will limit our results to the current semester.

Step4. To set the criteria, in the Criteria row of the SemesterYear column, type:

SU18

Now that the criteria is set, let's check to see if we are getting the records we want.

Step5. To verify our changes,

Click the View button

The query results show only records for SU18. Our drop-down list contents are looking good now. Let's save our changes and close the query.

Step6. Save the query.

Step7. To close the query,

Right-Click, Click Close

We're returned to the subform.

Step8. Save the changes and close the subform.

Now we will open and test our main form by using it to enroll a student in a course.

Testing the Current Semester Form

Now that we've limited the subform to just one semester, let's add a new enrollment for another student.

Step1. Open the form frmStudentRegistration in Form view.

Step2. Use the record navigation combo box at top to find the record for Julie Bailey.

As you can see, she is a new student who has taken no courses yet. We are about to register her for her first course, Calculus.

Step3. To register Julie Bailey, in Course Code field of the subform,

Click the drop-down, Click Math-C101

You just enrolled her in the Summer 2018 offering of Single Variable Calculus with two clicks! We're done with our form, so we'll close it.

Step4. Close the form.

Next, we want to try adding a button to a form that will generate a report.