How do I put a switchboard in Access2000?

Question

Help says to go "On the Tools menu, point to Add-ins, and then click Switchboard Manager" but when I do that the screen is blank. I tried loading from disc but nothing is coming out at me! HELP!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Switchboard Manager is designed to provide link to your forms and reports (commonly to open, add records, view records)

I had used MS 2000 for just a short span of time since XP had been released that same year. However, I think it's just the same way to create one.

Tools - Database Utilities - Switchboard Manager

You can see the switchboard available pages. Select Main, Click Edit

Now another dialogue box will open showing all commands listed. If none, click New.

Answer 2

In access click on New then click on General Templates and then choose Databases and Contact Management.

Save it and it will then launch a basic database that is already setup.

This will have a switchboard already set up.

You can now work out what it should look like.

You are probably seeing a blank switchboard that you have to add the details too.

Answer 3

Jhun has sent you off in the right direction, but by the sound of it, there are some differences. I'm looking at a copy of 2000 now so this is what I'm finding.

Tools --> Database Utilities --> Switchboard Manager.

You'll most likely get the message "The Switchboard Manager was unable to find a valid switchboard in this database. Would you like to create one?" Click on Yes.  If you don't see this, skip to *** in the next paragraph.

You should get a brief glimpse of a switchboard with about 8 buttons before it disappears from view and ***the Switchboard Manager box comes up, which has 5 buttons: Close, New..., Edit..., Delete, and Make Default. Under Switchboard Pages you should see "Main Switchboard (Default)".

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In case you need more help (Access help can be a bit confusing at times):

Close is obvious, as is Delete.

New... is for if you want to make another switchboard.

Edit... is to change the name and change what controls are on the switchboard.

Make Default is for if you have more than one switchboard and you want to change which is default - which I'm sure you figured. ;-)

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TO ADD CONTROLS TO THE SWITCHBOARD:

Highlight the correct switchboard (if there is more than one) and click Edit...

On the next box, click New.

--In the new box, put the text you want to be shown next to the control button in the first white text box marked "Text".

--In Command, use the drop-down arrow to choose what you want to happen when the control button is clicked.

--In the last box use the drop down arrow to choose what you want there. This last box changes its' name based on what you chose in the second box.

--Click OK.

You can move buttons up and down in the screen you just got back to, and also add more control button actions.

When you are done, close all these boxes.

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The switchboard is a form, so you will find it under Forms. Double-click on it to open it or highlight and choose Design View to make any manual changes that you want.

If you want to edit the Switchboard at any time, just go back through Tools --> Database Utilities --> Switchboard Manager.

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Oh, and information that you don't tend to find in books but should be told about Access:

--you should regularly run Tools --> Database Utilities --> "Compact and repair Database." If you don't, you are risking corruption and loss of the entire database. How often you do it depends on how much it gets used and/or changed. If I've been working steadily for half an hour or so, I will run this; if I've only opened the database to consult now and then for a while, I may not bother until next time I change the database. A rule of thumb that I use is to check if the file size has changed significantly.

--You'll also notice that the size of your database may suddenly drop - I was once trying to make my database just a *little* bit smaller so it would fit on a floppy disk (1.44mb or approx 1440kb) and was told that would help; after I ran the compact and repair, my database was suddenly about 350kb - it fit on the floppy!! So never get worried if your database has suddenly shrunk in file size - it's normal.

--Be warned, the database is closed before the compact and repair and only the main window is opened afterwards.