that's the only other way sir, unless you want a query that looks like this:
Code:
SELECT * FROM table WHERE
((field1 = forms!form!field1 OR forms!form!field1 IS NULL) AND
((field2 = forms!form!field1 OR forms!form!field2 IS NULL) AND
((field3 = forms!form!field1 OR forms!form!field3 IS NULL) AND
((field4 = forms!form!field1 OR forms!form!field4 IS NULL) AND
((field5 = forms!form!field1 OR forms!form!field5 IS NULL) AND
((field6 = forms!form!field1 OR forms!form!field6 IS NULL) AND
((field7 = forms!form!field1 OR forms!form!field7 IS NULL) AND
((field8 = forms!form!field1 OR forms!form!field8 IS NULL) AND
((field9 = forms!form!field1 OR forms!form!field9 IS NULL))
that's the only way you can effectively deal with optional criteria in forms.