What makes good design?

[isladogs]

I used the Access 2000 Developers Handbook (Litwin, Getz & Gilbert) Form resize which I downloaded from one of the getz team books but it doesn't work in office 365

I can guarantee the automatic form resizing code I use works in all versions of Access from 2000 (possibly earlier) through to 365. It also works in both 32-bit & 64-bit and handles different screen shapes (form factors) as well as sizes/resolutions. Its based on open source code originally written by Jamie Czernak around 2003 but has been extensively revised since.
The latest version also works well with tabbed documents as well as overlapping windows.

You can find the code and an extended article about its use at: http://www.mendipdatasystems.co.uk/automatic-form-resizing-1/4594554784. A slightly shorter version can also be found at https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=304090

Hope that helps

 

[Dreamweaver]

I can guarantee the automatic form resizing code I use works in all versions of Access from 2000 (possibly earlier) through to 365. It also works in both 32-bit & 64-bit and handles different screen shapes (form factors) as well as sizes/resolutions. Its based on open source code originally written by Jamie Czernak around 2003 but has been extensively revised since.
The latest version also works well with tabbed documents as well as overlapping windows.

You can find the code and an extended article about its use at: http://www.mendipdatasystems.co.uk/automatic-form-resizing-1/4594554784. A slightly shorter version can also be found at https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=304090

Hope that helps

Thanks will have a look and see about adding it to my employee example

 

[isladogs]

As explained in the extended article do bear in mind that if using automatic form resizing, you need to design the form for the lowest possible resolution in use by your clients. AFR works well when 'scaling up' to higher resolutions but is not intended for 'scaling down'.

For that reason it is usually best to design forms with AFR in mind rather than add it later

 

[Dreamweaver]

As explained in the extended article do bear in mind that if using automatic form resizing, you need to design the form for the lowest possible resolution in use by your clients. AFR works well when 'scaling up' to higher resolutions but is not intended for 'scaling down'.

For that reason it is usually best to design forms with AFR in mind rather than add it later

ok Thanks I'll keep looking for something I can replace my old one that don't work Can't really redesign all my programs lol

 

[isladogs]

Mick
AFAIK all automatic form resizing is intended for use at the same or higher resolution.
If you think about it, the reason is obvious. Scaling down would risk controls not all fitting on the screen

 

[Dreamweaver]

Mick
AFAIK all automatic form resizing is intended for use at the sam or higher resolution.
If you think about it, the reason is obvious. Scaling down would risk controls not all fitting on the screen

Yeah get you there I have been trying to make mine smaller so they fit most screens that one I had worked perfect you entered the develpoment screen res into the call and it worked a treat now it still complies but just wont work at least if it broke I might stand a very very very small chance of fixing it.

 

[AccessBlaster]

AB
Am I right in thinking the 2 forms were based on one of the MS templates provided with Access?

Absolutely, Employee Details popup. I encourage all novice builders to utilize the Microsoft template gallery for ideas, its a wealth of knowledge I believe to be under utilized.

 

[isladogs]

In terms of form layout and appearance I agree with you.
However many of the templates include features that most developers recommend should be avoided such as table lookups, multivalued/attachment/calculated fields and embedded macros.

So my advice is to look at the design but ignore the structure of the database templates

 

[AccessBlaster]

In terms of form layout and appearance I agree with you.
However many of the templates include features that most developers recommend should be avoided such as table lookups, multivalued/attachment/calculated fields and embedded macros.

So my advice is to look at the design but ignore the structure of the database templates

That maybe true, but who am I to question the expert developers at Microsoft. Those folks operate at a very high level.

My main goal is to be productive, that's why I build.

 

[isladogs]

The templates are supplied to show off the 'latest features' whether good practice or otherwise. Interesting that the Web database templates are still available despite these being deprecated well over a year ago.