Switchboard or Macro?

[Pluto]

Hi. I'm new to the board and have a question about switchboards and macros. I'm not new to access but I am new to switchboards and macros.



I've been tasked with creating a new database in Access for a chargeback report. In a previous version which has since quit working and was designed by an employee no longer with the company, the database had a switchboard that, when opened, would give you an option. Add a new record or search existing records. If you clicked on "add a new record" it would bring up a form that allowed you to input all the required data. Once you clicked submit, that data entry could be viewed from the back end of the database and exported out into an excel report.

Any idea how I would go about creating the main switchboard and adding a "add new record" button only, to which, when clicked, would allow you to enter the data asked for? I've got the whole database built with the required fields but am stuck at whether I need to create a switchboard or a macro or a combination of both.

I should also probably note that the previous employee had created a back end and a front end. The front end is the version that was distributed to my other team members and to which, when opened, immediately went to the switchboard and that was it. The back end was the version that all the data at the end of the month could be extracted from.

I appreciate any and all help!

[ranman256]

make a form to be the switchboard. Its basically a menu with no connection to a table. Just buttons to jump to other forms.
make a form for input/viewing a table.

the button that opens the form normally, edit/add/etc.
docmd.openform "myForm"

another button to add recs only, code to open the same form for input only:
docmd.openform "myForm",,,,acFormAdd

The BE and FE is the best for multi user data. The FrontEnd is distributed 1 copy to every person.
all FE connect to the BE. You can extract from the FE too. usu the command
docmd.transferspreadsheet.....

[Pluto]

Thank you for your response!

Quick question though.

When the "add new record" button was clicked, instead of opening the form for the data to be entered, it opened what appears to be a new form (I think) - on the new form, it asked questions which appear to correspond to columns on the BE table. Is that all it is - simply another form?

[Pluto]

Question ... do I need to split the database to the front end and back end before creating the main form?

I have data from the beginning of the year that I imported and I need the next person to enter an item and it start at the next available ID number.

How do I go about doing that?

[June7]

It's the same form, just that code opens it to new record row.

Split if this is a multi-user database. There is a wizard in Access to help. Essentially what the wizard accomplishes that can be done manually: make copy, delete what is not needed in each, set links from frontend to backend tables. Google for guidance.

If ID number is an autonumber field, Access will manage generating the next number.