Question Setting up New Database

[BartK]

Hello all,
Just a quick question, what I am fixing to do is to setup an access d.b. and I am wondering what would be the best way to set up the initial page of it. I don't know if I should go with a form approach or a switchboard approach. I'm thinking a switchboard approach would be easier, however I'm a little more comfortable with forms.

Any thoughts on it and what are the pros and cons with a switchboard. Thanks in advance and my apologies if this is in the wrong forum. Have a good one.

 

[stopher]

I'm not an expert on switchboards so I might be slightly bias and also may not be aware of some benefits of switchboards.

Switchboards are handy if you are not familiar with building forms and adding buttons etc. Switchboards ensure that all your menus follow the same format. Also, switchboards can be useful if you have an extensive menu tree e.g. you have lots of reports on different menus. Managing this using a switchboard is quite easy because you don't have to worry about designing the form, you simple add the options to each menu (table). If you were building your own forms then you would have to manually create each form for each sub-menu. By a similar token, if your menu structure is likely to keep changing e.g. reports being changed, then again a switchboard might be a more convenient approach. Switchboards are also quick to set up.

I generally don't have the requirements above and my menu trees are usually quite light. I also think that the menu tree approach is a bit last century and there are more dynamic and creative ways to navigate e.g. a dropdown showing a list of reports, grouping of certain button options.

I find forms more flexible. So I can combine a menu with other controls on a form. I don't have to follow the same format for every form. I can put controls (buttons) anywhere and I'm not constrained by a set format. I can easily maintain a form without worrying about the impact on other menus.
If you are familiar with forms then you'll know that they are pretty easy to design/maintain anyway. Even if I had a switchboard I'd still have to design forms. So I might as well design my menus as well.

hth
Chris