WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:08.029 --> 00:00:14.000 In our last lesson we learned how to create a form; now we're going to add a record using 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:17.990 the form. The field properties we set earlier still 00:00:17.990 --> 00:00:21.680 control the data that is allowed to be entered here. 00:00:21.680 --> 00:00:28.680 So for the price field I still have to make sure I enter the price correctly but the one 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:34.570 thing I don't have to worry about in this field is the dollar sign because the data 00:00:34.570 --> 00:00:39.510 type we set earlier automatically generates this for me. 00:00:39.510 --> 00:00:44.379 The same thing goes for the category field. We must enter one of the categories that we 00:00:44.379 --> 00:00:51.379 told Access to accept. So if I enter cars here, I get this message. 00:00:53.609 --> 00:00:57.550 We want to make sure we enter a category that's actually in the book store. 00:00:57.550 --> 00:01:02.420 But what if we don't have all of the category names memorized? An easier way to make sure 00:01:02.420 --> 00:01:07.750 we enter a valid category is to create a drop down list that lets us choose which category 00:01:07.750 --> 00:01:12.659 the book belongs to. Right now we don't have a drop down list so 00:01:12.659 --> 00:01:18.280 we have to type in a category name. Let's just type in Fiction. 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:23.280 It's a good idea to save the information you enter or edit in a form because sometimes 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.630 information will only show up in the table after you've saved it. 00:01:27.630 --> 00:01:34.630 Let's take a look at our books table to see if our information saved. 00:01:34.880 --> 00:01:39.359 If the information doesn't show up in the table you may need to click the Refresh All 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:44.229 button. As I said before the form is just another 00:01:44.229 --> 00:01:49.180 way to enter data into a table. Since the form is supposed to be an easier 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:54.270 way to enter data, we'll fix that Category field on the Books form by making a drop down 00:01:54.270 --> 00:01:59.020 list. Let's look at the Books form in Design view. 00:01:59.020 --> 00:02:05.289 To make a Category drop down list we'll select List Box or Combo Box from the Controls group 00:02:05.289 --> 00:02:10.210 under the Design tab. List Box makes a list where you can see several 00:02:10.210 --> 00:02:15.320 choices in a list and a Combo Box makes a nice drop down menu. 00:02:15.320 --> 00:02:19.360 I'm going to choose the combo box command from the Controls group. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:25.390 When I move my mouse over my form, a crosshair with a combo box icon appears. 00:02:25.390 --> 00:02:31.970 Since we want to add the list to the category field, I'm going to left click and draw a 00:02:31.970 --> 00:02:38.010 box right on top of the text box. I want to make sure I line it up just right! 00:02:38.010 --> 00:02:45.010 I could have deleted the text box but it would have changed the layout of my form. 00:02:45.540 --> 00:02:49.790 When you release your left mouse button, this combo box wizard appears. 00:02:49.790 --> 00:02:55.650 We have three options to choose from. We're going to choose the second option that 00:02:55.650 --> 00:03:00.510 lets us type in our own values. This is a good choice for us, since the categories 00:03:00.510 --> 00:03:05.150 in our store are pretty constant, we don't have too many categories and we won't be adding 00:03:05.150 --> 00:03:09.980 new categories very often, so this option makes sense for us. 00:03:09.980 --> 00:03:14.349 Click next to advance. On the second screen, we're going to type 00:03:14.349 --> 00:03:21.349 in our category names in this area that looks like an Excel spreadsheet. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:35.900 We only need 1 column of choices for the Category field but if we had more we could change this 00:03:35.900 --> 00:03:42.900 number here. Click Next to advance. 00:03:48.549 --> 00:03:51.890 From this part of the wizard we'll choose the second option. 00:03:51.890 --> 00:03:57.040 This option tells Access that we want to save the value that the user selects from the category 00:03:57.040 --> 00:04:04.040 list within a field in the table. Next we select Category because that is the 00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:09.250 field we want to populate. So when a user selects one of the choices 00:04:09.250 --> 00:04:16.250 in the Category drop down list it saves that choice in the Category field of the table. 00:04:16.430 --> 00:04:19.720 On the next screen we can give our combo box a name. 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:25.770 This field is unnecessary so I'm going to leave it as is and delete it from Design View. 00:04:25.770 --> 00:04:32.220 Looks like we're finished. If you look closely you'll see this box to 00:04:32.220 --> 00:04:37.410 the side of the drop down list. As I said before, it's not necessary so let's 00:04:37.410 --> 00:04:43.280 delete it by selecting it and deleting it. If I don't delete it, it will show up on our 00:04:43.280 --> 00:04:48.389 form and it's just an eye sore and somewhat of a distraction. 00:04:48.389 --> 00:04:53.889 Let's go to Form View so we can see what the drop down looks like. 00:04:53.889 --> 00:04:59.630 If I click on the drop down arrow I can see all of the categories I entered. 00:04:59.630 --> 00:05:18.520 So now when I enter a record I can just click here to input the category. Once the data has been entered in the Form, 00:05:18.520 --> 00:05:24.889 save it. You may need to refresh the actual table to 00:05:24.889 --> 00:05:31.889 have the data show up there. I showed you how to enter a record using a 00:05:31.900 --> 00:05:36.990 form but you can also edit an existing record using a form. 00:05:36.990 --> 00:05:42.460 In our last lesson we learned how to use Find and Replace to change information in the Customers 00:05:42.460 --> 00:05:46.490 table - well it works the same way with a form. 00:05:46.490 --> 00:05:50.289 Right now I'm going to the Navigation Pane and open the Customers form. 00:05:50.289 --> 00:05:52.970 I'll go to the navigation pane and open the Customers form. 00:05:52.970 --> 00:05:59.750 Let's find Kiara again. This time I want to change her zip code. 00:06:03.050 --> 00:06:07.840 Great, I found the record. Now on my form I'm going to go to the zip 00:06:07.849 --> 00:06:18.090 code field and change it. Let's save our changes and go back to the 00:06:18.090 --> 00:06:25.090 table and see if it's there, and if not we'll just hit refresh. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:33.090 I told you forms made things easier! In the next lesson, you'll learn how to create very 00:06:33.090 --> 00:06:38.009 specialized buttons on forms to control even more of what your user can enter.