[h=3]Why Use Forms?
Many of us fill out forms so often that we hardly even notice when we're asked to use them. Forms are so
popular because they're useful for both the person asking for the information and the person providing it. They
are a way of requiring information in a specific format, which means the person filling out the form knows
exactly which information to include and where to put it.
This is just as true of forms in Access. When you enter information into a form in Access, that data goes exactly
where it's supposed to go-- into one or more related tables. While entering data into simple tables is fairly
straightforward, data entry becomes more complicated as you start populating tables with records from elsewhere
in the database. For instance, the
orders table in a bakery's database might link to information about
customers, products, and prices drawn from related tables. A record with information about a single order might look like this:
In fact, in order to see the entire order, you would also have to look at the
order
items table, where the menu items that make up each order are recorded.
The records in these tables include
ID numbers of records from other tables. You can't learn much just
by glancing at these records, as the ID numbers don't tell you much about the data they relate to. Plus, since
you have to look at two tables just to view one order, you might have a hard time even finding the right
data. It's easy to see how viewing or entering many records this way could become a difficult and tedious task.
A form containing the same data might look like this:
As you can see, this record is much easier to understand when viewed in a form. Modifying the record would
be easier, too, since you wouldn't have to know any ID numbers to enter new data. When you're using a form, you
don't have to worry about entering data into the right tables or in the right format-- the form can handle those
things itself. There's no need to go back and forth between tables or search carefully within a table for a certain
record, since forms let you see entire records one at a time.
Not only do forms make the data entry process easier for the user, they keep the database itself working
smoothly. With forms, database designers can control exactly how users are able to interact with the
database. They can even set restrictions on individual form components to ensure that all of the needed
data is entered, and that it's all entered in a valid format. This is useful, as keeping the data consistent and
well-organized is essential for an accurate and powerful database.
