[Figures are not included in this sample chapter]

Special Edition Using Microsoft® Access 2000
- 3 -
Navigating Within Access

In this chapter

• Understanding Access Functions and Modes  
  
  
• Defining Access Functions  
  
  
• Defining Access Operating Modes  
  
  
• Understanding Access's Table Display  
  
  
• Using the Function Keys  
  
  
• Setting Default Options  
  
  
• Using Access Help  
  
  
• Understanding the Help Window  
  
  
• Using the Database Utilities  
  
  
• Converting Databases to Access 2000 Format  
  
  
• Creating .mde Files 
   
• Troubleshooting  
  
  
• In the Real World--HTML Help or Hindrance  

Understanding Access Functions and Modes

Access, unlike word processing and spreadsheet applications, is a truly multifunctionalprogram. Although word processing applications, for example, have many sophisticatedcapabilities, their basic purpos e is to support text entry, page layout, and formattedprinting. The primary functions and supporting features of all word processing applicationsare directed to these ends. You perform all word processing operations with viewsthat represent a sheet of paper--usually 8 1/2x11 inches. Most spreadsheet applicationsuse the row-column metaphor for all their functions. In contrast, Access consistsof a multitude of related tools for generating, organizing, segregating, displaying,printing, and publishing data. The following sections describe Access's basic functionsand operating modes.

Defining Access Functions

To qualify as a full-fledged relational database management system (RDBMS), anapplication must perform the following four basic but distinct functions, each withits own presentation (or view) to the user:

• Data organization involves creating and manipulating tables that contain data in conventional tabular (row-column or spreadsheet) format, called Datasheet view by Access.
• Table linking and data extraction link multiple tables by data relationships to create temporary tables, stored in your computer's memory or temporary disk files, that contain the data you choose. Access uses queries to link tables and to choose the data to be stored in a temporary table called a Recordset object. A Recordset object consists of the data that results from running the query; Recordset objects are called virtual tables because they are stored in your computer's memory rather than in database files. The capability to link tables by relations distinguishes relational database s ystems from simple list-processing applications, called flat-file managers. Data extraction limits the presentation of Recordsets to specific groups of data that meet criteria that you establish. Expressions are used to calculate values from data (for example, you can calculate an extended amount by multiplying unit price and quantity) and to display the calculated values as though they were a field in one of the tables.
• Data entry and editing require design and implementation of data viewing, entry, and editing forms as an alternative to tabular presentation. A form enables you, rather than the application, to control how the data is presented. Most users find forms much easier to use for data entry than Recordsets in tabular format, especially when many fields are involved. Data entry in forms is a requirement for intranet- and Internet-based applications. The capability to print forms, such as sales orders and invoices, is definitely a benefit to users.
• Data presentation requires the creation of reports that can summarize the information in Recordsets that you can view, print, or publish on the Internet or an intranet (the last step in the process). The capability to provide meaningful reports is the ultimate purpose of any database management application. Also, the management of an enterprise usually lends more credence to attractively formatted reports that contain charts or graphs. Charts and graphs summarize the data for those officials who take the "broad brush" approach.

The four basic functions of Acces s that are implemented as views are organizedinto the application structure shown in Figure 3.1. If you are creating a new database,you use the basic functions of Access in the top-down sequence shown in Figure 3.1.You choose a function by clicking a button in the Datasheet window (except for securityand printing operations, which are menu choices). In most views, you can displaythe Print Preview window that leads to printing operations by clicking the toolbar'sPrint Preview button.

FIGURE 3.1 The basic and supporting functions of Access.

Five supporting functions apply to all the basic functions of Access:

• Macros are sequences of actions that automate repetitive database operations. You create a macro in Access by choosing from a list of available actions in the order in which you want Access to perform them. You can use a macro, for example, to open a report, print the report, and then close the report. (Later this section defines open and close as they are used in Access terminology.) In prior versions of Access, macros were the primary means of automating database operations. In Access 2000, macros are supported primarily for purposes of compatibility with databases created in earlier Access versions. For Access 2000 databases, you use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to automate database actions.
• Modules are functions and procedures written in the VBA programming language. You use VBA functions to make calculations that are more complex than those that can be expressed easily by a series of conventional mathematical symbols or to make calculations that require decisions to be made. VBA subprocedures are written to perform operations that exceed the capabilities of standard macro actions--one reason macro support is being dropped from Access. You run VBA subprocedures by attaching the subprocedure to particular events, such as clicking a command button with the mouse, that occur when a form or report is the active object. In Access 2000, you can also execute VBA procedures directly from their module.
• Security consists of functions available as menu choices and through VBA subprocedures. With security functions in a multiuser environment, you can let other people use your database. You can grant access to user groups and individuals, and you can restrict their ability to view or modify all or a portion of the tables in the database.
• Printing lets you print virtually anything you can view in Access's run mode. From the toolbar, you can print your VBA code, but not the macros that you write. (You can use the Documenter to print the content of your macros.)
• NEW 2000: Publishing features facilitate distribution of information over corporate intranets and the public Intranet as World Wide Web pages. Access 2000 adds Data Access Pages (DAP) that let you build applications for displaying and updating data in pages that take advantage of Dynamic HTML (DHTML) and Extensible Markup Language (XML).

The terms open and close have the same basic usage in Access asin other Windows applications but usually involve more than one basic function:

• Opening a database makes its content available to the application through the Database window. You can open only one database at a time during ordinary use of Access. Writing VBA code enables you to work with tables from more than one database. You can achieve the equivalent of multiple open Access databases by linking (Access 2000's term for attaching) tables from other databases.
• Opening a table displays a Datasheet view of its contents.
• Opening a query opens the tables involved but does not display them. Access then runs the query on these tables to create a tabular Recordset. Changes made to data in the Recordset cause corresponding changes to be made to the data in the tables associated with the query if the Recordset is updatable.
• Opening a form or report automatically opens the table or query that's associated with it. Forms and reports usually are associated with queries, but a query also can employ a single table.
• Closing a query closes the associated tables.
• Closing a form or report closes the associated query and its tables.

Defining Access Operating Modes

Access has three basic operating modes:

• Startup mode enables you to compress, convert, encrypt, decrypt, and repair a database by choosing commands from the Tools menu's Database Utilities and Security submenus before opening a database. These commands, some of which are discussed at the end of this chapter, are available only when you don't have a database open.
• Design mode enables y ou to create and modify the structure of tables and queries, develop forms to display and edit your data, and format reports for printing. Access calls design mode Design view.
• Run mode displays your table, form, and report designs in individual document windows (the default mode). You execute macros by choosing one and then selecting run mode. Run mode does not apply to VBA modules, because functions are executed when encountered as elements of queries, forms, and reports. Procedures in modules are run by macro commands or directly from events of forms and reports. Run mode is called Datasheet view for tables and queries, Form view for forms, Page view for Data Access Pages (DAP), and Print Preview for reports.

You can select design or run mode by choosing command buttons in the Datasheetwindow, buttons on the toolbar, or commands from the View menu.

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TIP #17 FROM RJ: To change the default conditions under which Access displays and prints your tables, queries, forms, and reports, choose Options from the Tools menu. The section "Setting Default Options" later in this chapter describes options that apply to Access as a whole and those that apply only to tables.

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Understanding Access's Table Display

You're probably familiar with the terms for many of the components that comprisethe basic window in which all conventional Windows 9x applications run. The presentationof Access windows varies with each basic function that Access performs. Because PartI, "Learning Access Fundamentals," of this book deals almost exclusivelywith tables, the examples that follow use Table Datasheet view. Figure 3.2 showsAccess 2000's basic display for operations with tables; Table 3.1 describes the window'sAccess-related components.

FIGURE 3.2 Access 2000's basic display for tables.

TABLE 3.1  Components of the Access Display for Tables

Maxi mized Document Windows

Access uses a windowing technique that you should know about; otherwise, you mightaccidentally minimize or close Access when you intended to minimize or close a maximizeddocument, such as a table. After you click a document window's Maximize button, thedocument window takes the place of the application window and occupies the entiredisplay, except for the menubar and toolbar (see Figure 3.3). Most other Windowsapplications that display multiple documents, such as Word and Excel, have a similarcapability to expand a document to occupy the entire window.

FIGURE 3.3 An Access table in a maximized document window.

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NOTE: Access is--and always has been--a multiple document interface (MDI) application. MDI applications have a main (parent) window, which contains multiple document (child) windows. Access 2000 windowing differs from Word 2000 and Excel 2000, both of which have migrated from their prior versions' MDI to the single document interface (SDI). SDI applications display each document in its own main window, which is represented by a document icon in the taskbar, and don't support child windows. Access 2000, by default, emulates SDI by displaying a document icon in the taskbar for each of its child windows.

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If your first introduction to the components of Microsoft Office is Office 2000,you might not understand the difference between SDI and MDI components. Thus thisand the following section offer a detailed explanation of MDI windowing. If you'refamiliar with MDI, skip these two sections.

The document Control-menu box and the document M inimize, Restore, and Close buttonsmove to the menubar's extreme left and right, respectively. The document's titleis added to the application title bar at the top of the display. To return the documentwindow to its original size (established when the application window was first active),click the document Restore button; alternatively, click the document Control-menubox and then choose Restore from the document Control menu. You can close the documentwindow by clicking the document Close button or by double-clicking the document Control-menubox. If you accidentally click the application Close button (or double-click theapplication Control-menu box just above the document Control-menu box), however,you close Access 2000. You receive no warning that you are about to exit Access unlessyou've changed the design of an object without saving those changes.

Document Windows Minimized to Icons

Working with several overlapping windows limits each to a size that enables youto select another by clicking its surface. This overlapping might overly restrictyour view of the data that the windows contain. You can minimize Access documentwindows and the Database window to icons that remain within the application window,as shown at the bottom of Figure 3.4. If you minimize a document window to an iconrather than close it, you can quickly return the window to its original size by double-clickingthe icon. If you single-click the icon, you can choose how the window reappears byusing the document Control menu, as shown for the Northwind Database window in Figure3.4. You can also restore, maximize, or close a minimized icon by clicking the correspondingbutton within the icon.

F IGURE 3.4 Tables, a query, a form, and the Database window minimized to icons within the application window.

If you choose to display your document window in maximized form by choosing Maximizefrom the document Control menu that appears when you click the icon, the documenthides the icons at the bottom of the application window. In this case, choose thedocument that you want from the Window menu. If you size your document windows(like the window in Figure 3.4) by dragging their borders, you can avoid the substantialmouse movement and two-step menu-selection process to select the active document.

The Toolbars in Table Datasheet View

The buttons that appear in Access's toolbar, and the number of toolbars displayed,change according to the function that Access is currently performing. When you areworking with tables in run mode, Access 2000 displays the Table Datasheet and theDatasheet Formatting toolbars (see Figures 3.5 and 3.6). The next two sections describethe toolbars that appear in table run mode (Datasheet view). Click the Tables shortcutof the Database window and double click one of the table shortcuts--such as Customers--tofollow the text in the next few sections.

The Table Datasheet Toolbar

The Table Datasheet toolbar appears whenever you open an Access table in Datasheetview. Figure 3.5 shows the Table Datasheet toolbar, and Table 3.2 describes the buttonsthat appear on the toolbar.

FIGURE 3.5 Access's Table Datasheet toolbar, displayed when a table is open in Datasheet view.

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NOTE: Toolbar buttons provide shortcuts to traditional selection methods, such as choosing menu commands or selecting command or option buttons in a particular sequence. The Menu Sequence columns of Tables 3.2 and 3.3 list how you can duplicate the effect of clicking a toolbar button by using the menus or the command buttons in the Database window.

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TABLE 3.2  Appearance and Functions of Buttons and Other Elements ofthe Table Datasheet Toolbar

** You only see this icon if you click the drop down arrow next to the Designview icon or if you change to Design mode. This icon varies by object and mode andthe View drop down contains other mode possibilities for different objects.

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NOTE: In Access 2000 and other applications in Microsoft Office 2000, the toolbar buttons appear as flat icons on the toolbar. The toolbar buttons have a raised buttonlike appearance only when the mouse pointer is over them. The exception to this rule is "toggle" buttons--that is, buttons that represent the on/off status of a feature such as the Gridlines button (refer to Table 3.3 and Figure 3.6). When a toggle button is "up," it appears as a flat icon on the toolbar until you move the mouse pointer over it; the button's "up" appearance indicates that the feature controlled by that button is off. Toggle buttons in the "down" positions are shaded so that they look as though they are below the surface of the toolbar; the "down" appearance indicates that the feature controlled by th at button is on.

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The Datasheet Formatting Toolbar

In addition to the Table Datasheet toolbar, you can display the Datasheet Formattingtoolbar whenever you view a table in Datasheet view. From the View menu, chooseToolbars, Formatting (Datasheet) to add the toolbar. The buttons in the DatasheetFormatting toolbar provide shortcuts to various text-formatting commands. In Datasheetview, the text-formatting commands apply to the entire table; you can't format individualcells in Datasheet view. Figure 3.6 shows the Datasheet Formatting toolbar, and Table3.3 summarizes the action of each button on the toolbar.

FIGURE 3.6 The Datasheet Formatting toolbar in Datasheet view.

TABLE 3.3  Appearance and Functions of Buttons and Other Elements ofthe Datasheet Formatting Toolbar

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NOTE: This chapter concentrates on toolbars for Table and Query Datasheet and Table Design views. Chapter 12, "Creating and Using Forms," describes the toolbars for Form and Form Design views. Chapter 14, "Printing Basic Reports and Mailing Labels," explains the elements of the Report Design and Print Preview toolbars.

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Toolbar Customization

Access 2000 uses the resizable, customizable, floating toolbars that have becomestandard in Microsoft applications such as Excel and Microsoft Word. In MicrosoftOffice 2000, menubars and toolbars have been combined into a single object, calleda command bar, and share many features. The primary characteristic that distinguishesa menubar from a toolbar in Access 2000 (and other Office 2000 applications) is thatevery application has at least one menubar, and the menubar may not be hidden. Inall other respects, menubars and toolbars are the same.

The View menu's Toolbars command lets you select which toolbarsare currently visible. The Toolbars submenu lists those toolbars pertinentto Access's current operating mode. Figure 3.7 shows the Toolbars submenufor Table Datasheet view. A mark at the left of a menu choice indicates that thatspecific toolbar is now displayed. To display or hide a toolbar, click its name inthe submenu.

FIGURE 3.7 Displaying or hiding toolbars with the View menu's Toolbars choice.

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NOTE: In Figure 3.7 and other figures throughout this book, you might notice a menu that isn't discussed in the text--Show Me. This menu appears on the menubar only when the Northwind.mdb database is open. The Show Me menu isn't part of Access 2000; instead, it's displayed by Northwind.mdb. If you're interested in viewing help topics relating to the VBA code that is part of the Northwind.mdb sample database, open the Show Me menu.

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The Customize choice on the Toolbars submenu opens the Customizedialog (see Figure 3.8), which lets you display as many toolbars at once as willfit in your display or hide toolbars that Access would otherwise display automatically.To display a toolbar, click the Toolbars tab to display the Toolbars page (if necessary)and then click the box to the left o f the toolbar name so that the check box is marked.To hide a toolbar, click the box again to clear it.

FIGURE 3.8 Selecting the toolbars to be displayed in the Customize dialog.

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TIP # 18 FROM RJ: For help in using the Customize dialog, click the Office Assistant button at the lower-left area of the Customize dialog to activate the Office Assistant if it isn't already active (see "Using the Office Assistant" later in this chapter).

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TIP # 19 FROM RJ: When an Access toolbar is in its docked position, it has a fixed width, anchored at its left edge. If you reduce the width of Access's application window by dragging either vertical border inward, the buttons at the docked toolbar's extreme right begin to disappear beyond the application window's right edge. Operating Access in a maximized window with docked toolbars is usually best because you can then easily access all the toolbar buttons when you use the default inline horizontal toolbar.

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You also can use the Customize dialog to change the viewing options for toolbars.The Options page enables you to select various toolbar viewing options (see Figure3.9). If you're using XGA 1,024x768 screen resolution, you might want to mark theLarge Icons check box to cause the toolbar button icons to approximately double insize, making them easier to discern and easier to click. The Show ScreenTips on Toolbarscheck box governs whether Access displays ScreenTips (formerly known as ToolTips),that is, hints on the mouse pointer for toolbar buttons. The Show Shortcut Keys inScreenTips check box dete rmines whether Access displays the keyboard shortcut (ifthere is one) as part of the ScreenTip text.

NEW 2000: The List Font Names in Their Font check box, if checked, displayseach font name as a sample of the font in lists of fonts. If you mark the check box,font lists use the standard font and display faster. The Show Recently Used CommandsFirst check box, if marked, displays only the menu choices that you use on a regularbasis, a feature Microsoft calls Intellimenus. The Show Full Menus After a ShortDelay check box governs whether the full Access menu is displayed after you hoveryour mouse on the menu. The Reset My Usage Data button resets menu and menu usageand toolbar settings.

Finally, the Menu Animations drop-down list lets you select how Access draws menusonscreen. You may select None (for no special effects when drawing menus), Random(Access randomly chooses an animation effect each time you open a menu), Unfold (themenu unfolds like a fan), or Slide (the menu opens like a roller-shade) as the techniquefor displaying Access's menus.

FIGURE 3.9 Selecting viewing options for toolbars and menus in the Options page of the Customize dialog.

In addition to displaying multiple toolbars, you can reshape or reposition thetoolbars to suit your own taste. Click a blank area of the toolbar and hold downthe left mouse button to drag the toolbar to a new location. The toolbar turns intoa pop-up floating toolbar, similar to the toolbox that you use to add control objectsto forms and reports. Pop-up toolbars always appear on top of any other windows openin your application.

Figure 3.10 shows three floating command bars: the Table Datasheet toolbar, theFormatting Datasheet toolbar, and the Menu Bar. (These are the toolbars discussedin the preceding section that Access displays in Datasheet View mode. The Menu Bar--Access'smain menubar--was moved from its position at the top of the Access application windowto demonstrate that it's a command bar.) Command bars in their fixed position arecalled docked command bars, whereas command bars in their pop-up window arereferred to as floating command bars. Floating command bars display the MoreButtons button as part of the title bar. After you change a command bar to a floatingcommand bar (or dock it), Access always displays the command bar in that locationuntil you reposition it.

FIGURE 3.10 Access's Table Datasheet toolbar, Datasheet Formatting toolbar, and main menubar dragged from their default positions at the top of the application window.

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TIP #20 FROM RJ: You can also dock command bars (menubars and toolbars) at the bottom of the Access application window or at the left or right edge of the application window.

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Right-Click Shortcut Menus

Another feature that Access 2000 shares with other Microsoft applications, aswell as with Windows 9.x and Windows NT 4.0, is the shortcut menu that appears whenyou right-click an Access database object. Shortcut menus (also called pop-upor context menus) present choices that vary depending on the type of objectthat you click. Figure 3.11 shows the shortcut menu for a field of a table selectedby clicking the field name header.

FIGURE 3.11 The shortcut menu for a selected column of a table.

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TIP # 21 FROM RJ: Shortcut menus are quite useful and provide shortcuts to many common tasks. If you're not sure what you can do with an object onscreen, try right-clicking it to see what shortcut menu commands are available.

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Using the Function Keys

Access assigns specific purposes to all 12 function keys of the 101-key extendedkeyboard. Some keys, such as Shift+F4 (which you press to find the next occurrenceof a match with the Find dialog), derive from other Microsoft applications--in thiscase, Word. You combine function keys with the Shift, Alt, and Ctrl keys to enableusers to perform as many as 96 functions.

Global Function Keys

Windows, rather than Access, uses global function-key assignments, except forF11 and Alt+F1, to perform identical functions in all Windows applications. Table3.4 lists the global function-key assignments.

TABLE 3.4  Global Function-Key Assignments

Function-Key Assignments for Fields, Grids, and Text Boxes

Access assigns function-key combinations that aren't reserved for global operationsto actions specific to the basic function that you are performing at the moment.Table 3.5 lists the function-key combinations that apply to fields, grids, and textboxes. (To present complete information, this table repeats some information thatappears in the previous tables.)

For an extensive list of Access shortcut key assignments, see "UsingKeyboard Operations for Entering and Editing Dat a," p. 186.

TABLE 3.5  Function Keys for Fields, Grids, and Text Boxes

Setting Default Options

You can set about 100 options that establish the default settings for Access.(But you aren't likely to change default options until you are more familiar withAccess.) This book is a reference as well as a tutorial guide, and options are abasic element of Access's overall structure, so this section explains how to changethese settings.

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NOTE: The Options dialog discussed in this chapter corresponds to the options available using standard Access (Jet 4.0) databases and not the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) used by Access Data Projects (ADP). See Chapter 25, "Creating Access Data Projects," for more information on ADP.

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You set defaults by choosing Options from the Tools menu. The Optionsproperty sheet appears as shown in Figure 3.12. The View, General, Keyboard, andEdit/Find options apply to the system as a whole. The Datasheet, Tables/Queries,and Forms/Reports options apply to table views in Datasheet view, forms, and queries.Advanced options apply mainly to multiuser database performance.

FIGURE 3.12 The Options property sheet displaying the View options page.

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NOTE: NEW 2000 If you're familiar with previous Access versions, you might notice the absence of the Module options page. Access 2000 uses the VBA Integrated Design Environment (IDE), so the Module options are found in the IDE by choosing Options from the Tools menu. Using the IDE is the subject of Chapter 26, "Writing Visual Basic for Applications Code."

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You select a category by clicking the tab near the t op of the Options propertysheet. When you change a category, the property sheet displays the options page forthat category. Most settings are option buttons and check boxes, although many otheritems require multiple-choice entries that you select from drop-down lists. In somecases, you must type a specific value from the keyboard. After you complete yourchanges, click OK to close the property sheet. If you decide not to implement yourchanges, click Cancel to exit the property sheet without making any changes. Thenext few sections and their tables summarize options that affect Access as a wholeand those options that affect viewing and printing data in Datasheet view.

System Defaults

NEW 2000: Access 2000 uses the Windows Registry to store all default propertiesfor displaying and printing the contents of tables, queries, forms, reports, andmodules for each user of Access. In prior Access versions, the user default propertiesresided in the System.mdw workgroup file. The .mdw extension for workgroup systemfiles was new with Access 95, replacing the .MDA extension shared by libraries, wizards,and SYSTEM.MDA in Access 1.x and 2.0. System.mdw also stores usernames and passwordswhen you secure your Access database or use Access in a multiuser (workgroup) environment.If you use the Security Wizard to secure your database, you should follow the recommendationto create a new workgroup file.

See "Sharing Your Access Database Files with Other Users," p.887.

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NOTE: Your workgroup file--System.mdw by default--is vital to the proper operation of Access. You should keep a backup copy of it on a floppy disk. After y ou change any options or implement Access's security features, you should always create an updated backup.

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View Options

The View options, as described in Table 3.6, enable you to customize the appearanceof Access's application window.

TABLE 3.6  View Options for the Access System

General Options

General options apply to Access as a whole (see Table 3.7). The settings thatyou make on the General options page apply to any new objects that you create (tables,forms, and reports) but don't retroactively affect existing objects. For example,changing the print margins on the General page affects reports that you create subsequently,but not any existing reports. To change the print margins of existing objects, youmust change each object's individual printing settings in Design view.

TABLE 3.7  General Options for the Access System

Margins usually are expressed in inches. If you're using an international versionof Access, margin settings are in centimeters. You also can specify margin settingsin twips, the default measurement of Windows and Visual Basic for Applications. Atwip is 1/20 of a printer's point. A point is 1/72 inch, so a twipis 1/1,440 inch.

The 1-inch default margins are arbitrary; you might want to reset them to yourpreference before creating any forms or reports of your own. If you are using a laserprinter, refer to its manual to determine the maximum printable area. The printablearea determines the minimum margins that you can use.

Apart from the printing margins, the General option you're most likely to wantto change is the default database directory. When you create your own databases,you should store them in a folder dedicated to databases to simplify backup operations.A dedicated database folder also is a good place to keep a backup copy of System.mdw.

For more information on Four-Digit Year Formatting options and Year 2000 Complianceissues, see "Standard Formats for Number, Date/Time, and Yes/No DataTypes," p. 144, and "Four-Digit Year Option Settings," p.36.

Edit/Find Options

The Edit/Find options affect the beha vior of Access's Find feature for tablesin either Form or Datasheet view and when working with VBA code in a module. Table3.8 summarizes the Edit/Find options and their effects. The options in the DefaultFind/Replace Behavior group determine the default searching method for the Editmenu's Find and Replace commands. The options in the Confirm groupdetermine which actions Access asks the user to confirm. The final option group inthe Edit/Find options page is the Filter by Form Defaults for the current database.These options don't actually affect Access itself, but affect the defaults for theopen database.

TABLE 3.8  Edit/Find Options for the Access System

Keyboard Options

Keyboard options are especially important if you are accustomed to a particulartype of arrow-key behavior. You probably will want to change keyboard options morethan you will change any other options. You alter Keyboard options primarily to expeditekeyboard entry of data in Table Datasheet view, so Keyboard options are one of thesubjects of Chapter 5, "Entering, Editing, and Validating Data in Tables."

See "Using Data Entry and Editing Keys," p. 188.

Advanced Options

Access has several advanced system options that affect multiuser operations, OLEupdates, DDE linking and updating, and tables attached by the ODBC feature of theJet 4.0 database engine. Table 3.9 describes the Advanced options that you can set.Options in the Default Record Locking group affect how Access locks records in amultiuser environment, and the Default Open Mode option group controls whether Accessshares opened databases. The DDE Operations options group controls how Access handlesDDE requests from other applications; other options control OLE updating and queryupdating. The Current Database Only group contains options that relate to any VBAcode that may be stored in your database. Usually you don't need to change the Advancedoptions much unless you're working in a multiuser environment with several userssharing the same database, or the database contains VBA code that uses command argumentsand conditional compiler directives.

TABLE 3 .9  Advanced Options for the Access System

Defaults for Datasheet View

You use Datasheet view options to customize the display of all query datasheetsand new table and form datasheets (see Table 3.10). As with printing options, tochange the display format of existing table and form datasheets, you must edit theappropriate properties of the table or form in Design view. The Datasheet view optionsthat you set don't apply to forms and reports created with Access wizards. Each wizardhas its own set of default values. The options in the Default Colors group set thebackground and foreground colors for text displayed in Datasheet view, whereas theDefault Font group's options determine the typeface and text size. The Default GridlinesShowing options determine which gridlines (if any) Access displays in Datasheet view.Finally, the Default Cell Effect options enable you to select a default style fordatasheet cells.

TABLE 3.10  Options for D atasheet Views

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NOTE: The remaining two option categories--Tables/Queries and Forms/Reports--are discussed in the chapters that cover the subject of the particular option category. Also, options related to multiuser, DDE, and ODBC features are d escribed in more detail in the chapters devoted to those special topics.

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Using Access Help

NEW 2000: The Access Help system uses HTML help--the new Microsoft onlinehelp standard. HTML help uses compressed HTML documents (.chm) files to replace traditionalWindows help files (.htm) and the familiar Help windows. Microsoft's motive for changingthe Help system appears to be aimed at eliminating costly conversion of .hlp fileson the Microsoft Web site to HTML. Version 1.0 of HTML help in Office 2000, likeversion 1.0 of most Microsoft products, isn't ready for prime time. You're likelyto find Office 2000 to be a hindrance--not an aid--to learning Access 2000.

Context-Sensitive Help

Context-sensitive help tries to anticipate your need for information bydisplaying Help windows related to the operating mode, function, and operation inwhich you are involved or attempting to perform. You can get context-sensitive helpin any of the following ways:

• By using the help mouse pointer that appears after you click the What's This? button (located near the top-right corner of the dialog window) in the active dialog. Move the help mouse pointer over the dialog option for which you want help and click again to display a pop-up Help window with information about that dialog option.
• By using the help mouse pointer that appears after you press Shift+F1 or choose What's This? from the Help menu. Move the help mouse pointer over the item for which you want help and click again to display a pop-up Help window.
• By pressing the F1 key. Access displa ys a Help window with information about the active area (dialog control, window, menu command, and so on) or displays the Office Assistant, described later in this chapter.
• By clicking the Help button in a dialog. Use this method, or press the F1 key, for dialogs that don't have a What's This? button.

To get context-sensitive help in an open dialog, click the What's This? button;the mouse pointer changes to a question mark. Move the help mouse pointer over thedialog control that you want help with and click. You can also get context-sensitivehelp on the active dialog control by pressing F1 or clicking the control with theright mouse button. For example, you might want more information about the effectsof the Find and Replace dialog's Match Case option. To find such information, clickthe What's This? button and then click the Find and Replace dialog's Match Case option.Figure 3.13 shows the resulting pop-up Help window explaining the Match Case option.

FIGURE 3.13 The context-sensitive help for the Find dialog's Match Case option.

Another method for getting context-sensitive help is to press Shift+F1 (or chooseWhat's This? from the Help menu) and then click the item that you wanthelp with to display the related help topic. Figure 3.14 shows an example that explainsthe purpose of the Table Datasheet toolbar's Find button.

FIGURE 3.14 The pop-up Help window explaining the purpose of the toolbar's Find button.

The Help Menu

Access's Help menu provides an alternative to using context-sensitive help.Table 3.11 lis ts the Help menu options.

TABLE 3.11  Access's Help Menu Options

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TIP #22 FROM RJ: If you have a very serious problem with Access 2000 or other Office 2000 applications, a Microsoft Technical Support representative may request that you send a System Info (MSInfo, .nfo) file for inspection. You can create a .nfo file by choosing File, Save, and providing a file name. The .nfo file contains a substantial amount of information about your PC and the programs you've installed, which is needed to troubleshoot major problems, but .nfo files don't included confidential personal or corporate information, such as passwords. Beta testers routinely provide .nfo files to Microsoft to aid in diagnosing problems.

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The Microsoft Access Help Window

The Office Assistant must be turned off to gain access to the Access Help window.To permanently get rid of the Office Assistant and use the Access Help window, openthe Office Assistant, click Options, and clear the Use the Office Assistant checkbox of the Office Assistant dialog.

The Microsoft Access Help window contains three tabbed pages: Contents, Answe rWizard, and Index. Each page is described in the following sections.

The Contents Page

Figure 3.15 shows the Contents page (you might have to click the Contents tabto bring the table of contents to the front of the window). The Contents page islike the table of contents in a book; it shows the structure of the topics in theHelp system based on the topic's title.

Each table of contents entry that has subheadings is indicated by a book iconto its left. To see subheadings for a topic, double-click the closed book icon. TheHelp system expands the topic list and changes the icon to an open book. (Click theopen book icon to hide the expanded subheading branch and change the icon back toa closed book.)

Table of contents headings that lack subheadings have to their left an icon resemblinga sheet of paper with a question mark on it. Figure 3.15 shows the Finding and SortingData heading expanded to show its subheadings; the Sorting Data in Tables, Queries,Forms, and Pages subheading, in turn, has been expanded, revealing a list of threehelp topics. To display a topic, click it.

FIGURE 3.15 The Contents tab of the Microsoft Access Help window, showing expanded headings and subheadings in the left pane and the selected topic in the right pane.

Understanding the Help Window

You can reposition and resize the Help window by dragging its borders with yourmouse. To reposition the Help window, click and drag the help title bar. If the helpfile on the topic that you selected has more information than can fit in the window,a scroll bar appears at the right of the window. Scroll down to display additionaltext.

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TIP #23 FROM RJ: To copy text from any Help window, drag the mouse pointer over the text that you want to copy to select it; then press Ctrl+C, or right-click and choose Copy from the context menu. You can then paste the copied help text into any Windows application from the Clipboard.

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Most Access Help windows include hyperlinks that provide additional informationabout a topic. Hyperlinks with solid underlines, such as Form View and DatasheetView in Figure 3.15, display a definition of the term or contain more detailed informationabout that topic. Figure 3.16 shows the display window that opens when you clickthe Datasheet View hyperlink.

Some hyperlinks lead to additional help topics. You click the hyperlink that representsthe subject about which you want to learn. This action causes a jump to the subject'sfirst help page, which often provides several additional choices for more detailedhelp on a specific topic.

Most help pages, in addition to providing information about a particular topic,also have step-by-step instructions for the task you are inquiring about. In Figure3.15, notice that the help topic has a What Do You Want to Do? section. This sectionlists a variety of tasks that you might be trying to accomplish if you're lookingfor help on sorting records Each item in the list is a hyperlink. After you clickthis hyperlink, Access displays a help screen with step-by-step instructions foraccomplishing the indicated task.

FIGURE 3.16 The pop-up window displayed by the Datasheet View hyperlink.

For example, Figure 3.17 shows the tutorial Help window that Access displays ifyou click Sort Records in Datasheet View or Form View at the bottom of the dialogin Figure 3.16.

FIGURE 3.17 A step-by-step help page opened by clicking the first button in the What Do You Want to Do? list from the Sort Records help topic shown in Figure 3.15.

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TIP #24 FROM RJ: To quickly navigate (browse) to previously displayed help pages, use the Back button and Forward buttons. These buttons are similar to those of your Web browser.

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Notice the icon in the middle of the step-by-step help page shown in Figure 3.17.This icon, which depicts the Sort Ascending toolbar button described earlier, alsois a hyperlink. Clicking this hyperlink displays a pop-up window describing the actionof the Sort Ascending toolbar button. Many help topics throughout the Access Helpsystem contain graphic hyperlinks like this one.

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TIP # 25 FROM RJ: Whenever you place the mouse pointer over a hyperlink, the pointer turns into a pointing-hand shape.

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The Answer Wizard Page

NEW 2000: You can look up help topics by using the Answer Wizard. By attemptingto decipher what you type in the What Would You Like to Do? text box, the AnswerWizard provides topics you could be interested in. The list of topics the AnswerWizard provides is similar to the list that the Office Assistant returns (see the"The Office Assistant" section later in this chapter). Figure 3.18 showstopics returned as the results of the search. The first topic in the list automaticallyopens in the right pane. Click another topic in the Select Topic to Display listto display the related help pages.

FIGURE 3.18 The Answer Wizard page of the Microsoft Access help dialog.

The Index Page

You also can look up help topics in an index much like the index at the end ofthis book. Click the Index tab in the Microsoft Access Help dialog to bring the Indexpage to the front of the dialog. Figure 3.19 shows the Index page as it appears afteryou type the topic help in the text box, double-click the keyword help inthe Or Choose a Keyword list to open the Choose a Topic list, and then double-clickthe first item in the Choose a Topic list.

FIGURE 3.19 The Index page of the Microsoft Access Help dialog.

Using the Index is simple: just type in the text box--labeled 1. Type Keywords--atthe top of the page the name of the keyword on which you want help. As you type,the Help system adjusts the keywords list--labeled 2. Or Choose Keywords--to showthe keyword that most closely matches the text that you've typed so far. To searchfor topics related to the keyword in the keyword list, click the Search button. Thetopics list--labeled 3. Choose a Topic--shows the topics found as a result of thesearch. Click the topic in the topics list to display the help page for that topic.If you want, you can also use the scroll bar to view the list of available help topics.

The Help Window Options

The Help system lets you print, copy, or change the Help window's style or appearance.To display a menu of options, click the Help window's Options button. Table 3.12summarizes each menu choice and its effect.

TABLE 3.12  Help Window Options

The Office Assistant

When the Office Assistant is on, it displays tips related to activities that youare currently performing and provides a means for you to search for help on specifictasks.</ P>

The Office Assistant appears as an animated character in its own borderless floatingdialog and displays its messages in a "speech" balloon. You can chooseone of eight available Office Assistant characters. Figure 3.20 shows Clippit, thedefault Office Assistant character (an animated paper clip) as it appears while askingwhether the user wants to save changes to a table's layout. In this case, the OfficeAssistant takes the place of Windows' standard message box.

FIGURE 3.20 The Office Assistant's version of a conventional message box.

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NOTE: All cautions, warnings, requests for confirmation, and other Access messages are displayed in a balloon by the Office Assistant, whenever the Display Alerts option is turned on. Figure 3.21 shows the same message displayed by the Office Assistant in Figure 3.20--generated under the exact same circumstances--as it appears when the Display Alerts option is off.

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By default, the Office Assistant is activated. You might find the Office Assistantdistracting or prefer to use the Office Assistant only when you specifically wanthelp. You can turn off the Office Assistant by right-clicking the Office Assistantand then choosing Hide from the pop-up menu.

FIGURE 3.21 The standard message box for warnings, cautions, and requests for information.

If you hide the Office Assistant, it remains hidden until you turn it on againor until you use a wizard or some other feature of Access that automatically invokesthe Office Assistant. Access "remembers" the status of the Office Assistantwhenever you close Access; if the Office Assistant was hidden at the time you lastexited Access, the Office Assistant remains hidden the next time you start Access.

You can activate the Office Assistant by choosing Show the Office Assistantfrom the Help menu. Access also starts the Office Assistant if you press F1for context-sensitive help but can't determine the precise context in which you'reworking.

To use the Office Assistant to search for help on any topic, click anywhere onthe Office Assistant; the Office Assistant displays the balloon shown in Figure 3.22.In the text box, type a question about what you want to do and then click Search.Figure 3.23 shows the Office Assistant's balloon after searching for help topicsthat answer the question, How Do I Find Text in a Field? The Office Assistant displaysa list of topics that answer your question and lead to step-by-step instructionson carrying out various tasks. To initiate a new search, type another question inthe text box and click Search again.

FIGURE 3.22 Requesting help from the Office Assistant.

FIGURE 3.23 Another Office Assistant, Rocky the dog, after searching for help related to finding text in a field.

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TIP # 26 FROM RJ: If you can't find help any other way, use the Office Assistant's Search feature.

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As mentioned previously, you can select one of several Office Assistant "characters."You can also modify the Office Assistant's behavior. To change the Office Assistantcharacter or the Office Assistant's behavior, click the Options button inthe Office Assistant's balloon, or right-click the Office Assistant window and thenselect Options from the pop-up menu to open the Office Assistant dialog'sdefault Options page (see Figure 3.24).

FIGURE 3.24 The Options page of the Office Assistant Dialog.

The options in the Assistant Capabilities group affect how much help the OfficeAssistant provides when it's active. The Show Tips About options group contains settingsthat affect what kinds of tips the Office Assistant shows you. Table 3.13 lists theavailable Office Assistant option settings and summarizes their effect.

TABLE 3.13  Office Assistant Options

Using the Database Utilities

NEW 2000: Access 2000 offers five utility functions, which you access bychoosing Database Utilities from the Tools menu. You can perform fourof these functions (Convert Database, To Prior Access Version; Compactand Repair Database; Switchboard Manager; and Make MDE File) with or withouta database open; the fifth utility function (Convert Database, To CurrentAccess Database Version) can be performed only when no database is open. If you havea large database, convert and compact operations take a considerable amount of time.If you select one of the utility operations described in the following sections whenyou don't already have a database open, the operation involves two dialogs. In thefirst dialog, you select the database in which Access is to perform the operation;in the second dialog, you type the name of the file that the operation is to create.Default file names for new files are Db#.mdb, where # is a sequential number,beginning with 1, assigned by Access. For the three utility operations you can performwith an open database, only the Make MDE File option displays a dialog. When compactingor repairing an open database, Access assumes that you want to operate on the opendatabase and want the resulting compacted or repaired database to replace the currentlyopen database.

Compacting and Repairing Databases

After you make numerous additions and changes to objects within a database file--especiallyadditions and deletions of data in tables--the da tabase file can become disorganized.When you delete a record, you don't automatically regain the space in the file thatthe deleted data occupied. You must compact the database to optimize its file sizeand the organization of data within the tables that the file contains. When you packan Access file, you regain space only in 32K increments.

To compact a database, perform the following steps:

1. Open the database you want to compact.

2. From the Tools menu, choose Database Utilities, Compact and Repair Database. Access immediately begins compacting the open database. When Access finishes compacting the database, it returns you to the Database window. Your compacted database is stored with the same name it had before you compacted it.

If you want, you also can compact a database and save the compacted database ina different database file by following these steps:

1. Close any open database.

2. From the Tools menu, choose Database Utilities, Compact and Repair Database. The Database to Compact From dialog appears, as shown in Figure 3.25.

FIGURE 3.25 The Database to Compact From dialog.

3. Double-click the name of the database file that you want to compact or click the name and then click Compact. The Compact Database Into dialog appears, as shown in Figure 3.26.

4. In the File Name text box, type the name of the new file that is to result from the compaction process. If you choose to replace the existing file with the compacted version, y ou see a message box requesting that you confirm your choice. Click Save.

FIGURE 3.26 The Compact Database Into dialog.

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CAUTION: If the compaction process fails, your database might be damaged. Databases damaged in the compaction process are unlikely to be repairable. Thus you should not compact the database into a new database with the same name. Do so only after backing up your database with a different name, in a different folder, or on a floppy disk.

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Access then creates a compacted and repaired version of the file. The progressof the compaction is shown in a blue bar in the status bar. If you decide to usethe same file name, the new file replaces the preceding file after compaction.

A database can become corrupted as the result of the following problems:

• Hardware problems that occur when writing to your database file, either locally or on a network server.
• Accidentally restarting the computer while Access databases are open.
• A power failure that occurs after you make modifications to an Access object but before you save the object.

Occasionally, a file might become corrupted without Access detecting the problem.This lack of detection occurs most frequently with corrupted indexes. If Access oryour application behaves strangely when you open an existing database and displayits contents, try compacting and repairing the database.

Periodically compacting and repairing files usually is the duty of the databaseadministrator in a multiuser environment, typically in relation to backup operations.Yo u should back up your existing file on disk or tape before creating a compactedversion. When you're developing an Access 2000 database, you should compact and repairthe database frequently. Access 2000 databases that are not compacted grow in sizemuch more rapidly during modification than with Access 95 and earlier versions.

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TIP # 27 FROM RJ: NEW 2000 To compact the current database automatically each time you close it, choose Tools, Options, click the General tab of the Options dialog, and mark the Compact on Close check box of the General page. Optional automatic compaction is a new feature of Access 2000.

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Converting Databases to Access 2000 Format

To convert prior Access version .mdb database files, .MDA library files createdwith Access 1.x or Access 2.0, and .mda library files created with Access 95 or 97to the new database format of Access 2000, close any open database. Choose Tools,Database Utilities, Convert Database, To Current Access DatabaseVersion. The process of converting database files from earlier versions of Accessdatabase formats to that of Access 2000 is almost identical to the second file-compactionprocess described in the preceding section. The only difference that you'll noticeis that the names of the dialogs are Database to Convert From and Database to ConvertInto. (Chapter 31, "Migrating Access 9x Applications to Access 2000," coversthis conversion process in detail.)

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CAUTION: Although you can convert databases created with earlier versions of Access into Access 2000 format, Access 2000 does not let convert the databases from Access 2000 format to an Access version prior to the Access 97 database format. You only can convert Access 2000 .mdb, .mda, .mdw, and .mde files to their Access 97 counterparts. If you attempt to open an Access 2000 database or library file with the Convert Database menu choice, you receive the following message: "The database you tried to convert was either created in or was already converted to the current version of Microsoft Access." Thus if you want to support users of Access database applications who don't have Access 2000, you must maintain two separate sets of database files. Therefore, you must have the retail versions of any earlier Access versions and Access 2000 available to maintain your application.

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If you encounter error messages when converting your .mdb file to Jet 4.0 format,see the "Compile Errors in the Convert Database Process" topic of the "Troubleshooting"section near the end of the chapter.

Converting Databases to Access 97 Format

NEW 2000: To convert Access 2000 databases to Access 97, open the Access2000 database that you want to convert and then choose Database Utilities,Convert Database, To Prior Access Database Version from the Toolsmenu. Access displays the Convert Database Into dialog box. In the File Nametext box, type the file name to convert into and then click the Save button.

Adding a Switchboard Form

You can add a switchboard form to a database that doesn't have one--such as Northwind.mdb--ormodify an existing switchboard form. To add a switchboard to No rthwind.mdb, followthese steps:

1. Choose Tools, Database Utilities, Switchboard Manager.

2. If your database doesn't have a switchboard, a message box asks if you would like to create one. Click OK to open the Switchboard Manager dialog with the Main Switchboard (default) selected (see Figure 3.27).

FIGURE 3.27 The main Switchboard Manager dialog for a database without a switchboard form.

3. Click the Edit button to open the Edit Switchboard Page dialog, then click New to open the Edit Switchboard Item dialog.

4. Select Open Form in Edit Mode from the Command list, select the form to open in the Form list, and type an appropriate caption for the command button in the Text text box (see Figure 3.28).

FIGURE 3.28 Adding an open form command button to the Northwind Switchboard form.

5. Click OK to add the new command to the Main Switchboard form.

6. Click Close twice to close the two Switchboard dialogs, click the Forms shortcut in the Database window, and double-click the Switchboard shortcut to open your new Switchboard form.

7. Click the single command button you added in steps 4 and 5 to open the form you selected (see Figure 3.29).

FIGURE 3.29 The Customer Orders form opened from the Northwind Switchboard form.

8. Close the two forms, and repeat steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 for each form you want to open with Switchboard form buttons.

9. Add a button named Exit Northwind, and select Exit Application as the command.

Clicking the Exit Northwind button closes the Northwind.mdb database, but doesn'tclose Access.

Creating .mde Files

An .mde file is a special version of an Access .mdb file. In an .mde file, allVBA code is stored only in compiled format, and the program source code for thatdatabase is unavailable. Also, users can no longer modify forms, reports, queries,or tables stored in that database, although those objects can be exported to otherdatabases. Typically, .mde databases are used to create libraries of add-in wizards;create custom database applications intended for commercial or in-house distribution;and provide templates for forms, reports, queries, and other objects for use in otherdatabases.

You can convert any .mdb database to an .mde file by choosing DatabaseUtilities, Make MDE File from the Tools menu. If you have a databaseopen at the time you select this command, Access assumes that you want to save thecurrent open database as an .mde file and immediately displays a Save MDE As dialog.This dialog is essentially the same as any Save As dialog. If you choose DatabaseUtilities, Make MDE File from the Tools menu when no database is open,Access first displays a Database to Save as MDE dialog. Use this dialog to selectthe .mdb database file that you want to convert to an .mde file.

Troubleshooting

Compile Errors in the Convert Database Process

Error messages appear when converting to Access 2000 from early Access versions.

Access 2.0 and earlier were 16-bit applications. The first error message you mightr eceive is "There are calls to 16-bit dynamic-link libraries (.dll) in thisapplication." In this case, you must alter the code of Declarestatements to call the current 32-bit equivalents of the 16-bit DLLs. For example,you must change calls to functions in USER.DLL, KERNEL.DLL, and GDI.DLL to User32.dll,Kernel32.dll, and Gdi32.dll, respectively.

A more common error message when converting Access 2.0, 95, and 97 applicationsis "There were compilation errors during the enabling or conversion of thisdatabase." If you're converting from Access 2.0 many of these errors are likelyto arise from Access Basic reserved words and symbol usage that VBA 6.0 doesn't support.Similar problems occur with applications that originated in Access 2.0 or earlierand were converted to Access 9x. In some cases, conversion of earlier applicationversions to Access 97, then to Access 2000 is easier than attempting direct conversion.See Chapter 31 for additional information on conversion issues.

In the Real World--HTML Help or Hindrance

The new feature of Access 2000 that users of prior Access versions probably willfind most traumatic is the move from the traditional Windows help system (WinHelp32)to HTML Help. Changing to HTML Help violates one of the primary tenets of softwaredevelopment--"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." WinHelp32 is a mature,stable help system that's part of the Windows 9x and Windows NT operating system.Many excellent third-party authoring tools are available for WinHelp32. Microsoft'sOffice 2000 implementation of HTML Help version 1.2 has the hallmarks of a work inprogress.

"If it's meant to be read, convert it to H TML" is today's variationon the navy's "If it doesn't move, paint it" rule. It's a reasonably safebet that the number of HTML pages on the World Wide Web exceeds the number of pagesof books in the average public library. Leading publishers are converting popularbooks to the special HTML format required by the electronic books typified by NuvoMedia'sRocket eBook (http://www.nuvomedia.com/).

The move to HTML Help was inevitable for the following reasons:

• There are many more Web page designers than help authors. Whether competency in Web page design aids the writing of meaningful help files remains to be seen.
• Hyperlinked, forward and back, Web-style navigation is native to the help system. Windows 3.x's 16-bit WinHelp anticipated many of the navigation features employed by HTML. Some early multimedia CD-ROMs used the 16-bit WinHelp engine as a content navigation tool.
• HTML Help files in their native .htm format can be deployed from a central intranet server or published on the public Web as a software marketing aid.
• New Internet standards--such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and the Document Object Model (DOM)--combined with Dynamic HTML (DHTML) contribute the capability of customizing the look and feel, respectively, of HTML Help pages.
• Scripting with JScript or VBScript enables dynamic HTML Help. An DHTML event model and scripting eliminates the need to write custom help DLLs to add new types of action to help files.
• HTML Help leverages installation of the latest version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. You must use I E 4+ to open Office 2000's compressed help (.chm) files, which are required for full-text searching.
• Microsoft saves the time and effort--and thus expense--of converting WinHelp32 .hlp files to HTML for publication on the www.microsoft.com web site.

Microsoft's first attempt to create a multimedia authoring system, MultimediaViewer, was an extended version of WinHelp. Viewer never achieved a sizable developerbase, primarily because its graphics design tools were rudimentary, at best. HTMLHelp, with DHTML and scripting, makes authoring graphically-intensive, interactivehelp files a reality. You can expect future versions of Access and the other Officemembers to take increasing advantage of the standards-based features of HTML Help.Hopefully, Microsoft's future HTML Help implementations won't be as intrusive asthe Office 2000 version.

If you're an Access developer and need to move from WinHelp to HTML Help for newapplications, the Microsoft Web site has an extensive HTML Help authoring workshopat http://www.microsoft.com/workshop/author/htmlhelp/default.asp. You candownload version 1.2 of the HTML Help Workshop (4 MB) from http://www.microsoft.com/workshop/author/htmlhelp/download.asp.

--rj