Single Form Switchboard (WIP)

[Rawb]

Ladies, gentlemen, and various transgendered individuals,

I just wanted to make a formal post concerning the Single Form Switchboard setup I'm working on (I didn't want to completely derail the other thread I posted in).

I'm a little behind my previous estimate of having a beta copy out by last Friday, but I wanted you all to know that I haven't given up!

Features:

• A single Form for all navigation! No more modifying Forms each time a new Query/Form/Report/etc. is added.
• Unlimited Grouping and subgrouping of Forms/Queries/Reports/etc.
• Support for outside links: Menu items can open your browser to a web address or load another program for the user.
• A Quick Picks menu that lists the most frequently used Forms/Queries/Reports/etc. Unique for each user!*

* Requires an MDW. Databases without an MDW will share a single Quick Picks menu with all users.



About the initial (beta) version:

• Should be done "soon" (hopefully I won't end up using Blizzard Activision's definition!). I don't want to put a definite date since this is a "free time" project, but I'm almost ready to post something...
• Very basic - initially, this is going to be a very basic setup. You'll have the switchboard Form and Tables for that, and user History. Everything will have to be hand-entered directly into the DB as there won't be a Switchboard Setup Form until a later version.
• Known Bugs - I already know of a couple of bugs that I probably won't have time to work out before the first version.
  
  • Empty Groups - Creating a Group without any children will cause an error if the user browses to that Group. The user will have to close the db and re-open it (or reload the Form) before it is useable again. I want to set up the menu to provide links back to the previous menu, but I haven't figured out the VBA to do that in this situation yet.
  • No MDW File - If no MDW file is used, initially the same Quick Picks menu will be shared across all users. That means if one user always runs program x and another always runs program y, they will see both programs x AND y in their Quick Picks menu. Later versions will have the option to either turn off the Quick Picks or to use the Windows User account for personalization.
  
  

[Rawb]

OK, so after having to rebuild a Windows 98 box from scratch, I decided I'd earned some fun!

So, here you are, the first beta of my Switchboard thingy. It's VERY basic at the moment - more of a proof-of-concept than anything else - but it gets the job done. There's no need to wory about adding users (yet). As the system runs into new users, it will create IDs for them and set up default config options (the only configurable item right now is the size of the Quick Picks list).

For the next version, I'll be working on the Menuing code to eliminate the error caused by browsing to an empty Group and adding the ability to disable the Quick Picks menu if no MDW file is available.

Future TODOs:

• Add a User Management Form (so users can configure their own options and admins can manage/delete users, etc.).
• Add the ability to turn off the Quick Picks menu on a per-user basis.
• Add support for Windows User Accounts (when no MDW is available).
• Add the ability to "Import" Objects from another DB for easy (well, easier) migration to the Single Form Menu.*

*My experience with Imports involving VBA code suggests that this will be hard. If it's even possible. Consider this a FAR in the future TODO item.

It'll probably be AT LEAST a few days before the next version. I need to review my Menuing code and add in more detailed debugging/error handling.

[Rawb]

Soooo, not even up for 10 minutes and I've found my first problem: The descriptions never appear when you select an item from the menu!

Here's a fixed version.

[Rawb]

Updateeeeeeee!

This is mostly just an "update-to-put-me-where-I-should-have-been-the-first-time" update. But, it's an update nonetheless.

I've fixed the bug where browsing to a group with no menu items in it would bug out the system. Now it just shows a link back to the previous group. I've cleaned up the code a bit and gave made the whole thing follow a naming convention:

• Functions to query data now all begin with Get_
• Functions to change/update begin with Set_
• Functions to Add data end with _Add, and
• Functions that delete data end with _Del.

I've added a new table Config for holding system configuration variables. It's pretty self-explanatory, so you can just check out the two variables that I'm already using if you're curious.

And, I've set up a History pruning system to keep the History table from getting out of control. When a new user is created, their Quick Picks list size and the History pruning age are configured by "defaults" set in the Config table. You can change these values at any time, although there's still no Forms set up for managing the Users or Switchboard.

Anyway, give it a try!

P.S.
I was also able to shrink the DB size significantly

[dmoro6]

Updateeeeeeee!

This is mostly just an "update-to-put-me-where-I-should-have-been-the-first-time" update. But, it's an update nonetheless.

I've fixed the bug where browsing to a group with no menu items in it would bug out the system. Now it just shows a link back to the previous group. I've cleaned up the code a bit and gave made the whole thing follow a naming convention:

• Functions to query data now all begin with Get_
• Functions to change/update begin with Set_
• Functions to Add data end with _Add, and
• Functions that delete data end with _Del.

I've added a new table Config for holding system configuration variables. It's pretty self-explanatory, so you can just check out the two variables that I'm already using if you're curious.

And, I've set up a History pruning system to keep the History table from getting out of control. When a new user is created, their Quick Picks list size and the History pruning age are configured by "defaults" set in the Config table. You can change these values at any time, although there's still no Forms set up for managing the Users or Switchboard.

Anyway, give it a try!

P.S.
I was also able to shrink the DB size significantly

Rawb,

This is SUPER WAY COOL! Thanks for sharing! Even a simple novice like me figured out how to install and use this within my database(s) Keep up the good work!!!