Microsoft Access 2010 - Lesson 07: Details on Controls Design

A control that is selected displays 8 handles around its body with the top-left handle thicker than the others:

When a control is selected on the form or report, the Properties window shows only its characteristics and you can change only the characteristics of the selected control:

Notice that the combo box in the Properties window displays the name of the selected control.

To select more than one control, at random, click one, then press and hold Shift. While holding Shift, click each of the desired controls. After selecting the controls, release Shift.

To select controls aligned vertically, click inside of the horizontal ruler above the highest positioned control. Everything that would be touched by the fake line will be selected:

In the same way, you can select controls that are horizontally aligned by clicking inside the vertical ruler.

To select many controls in the same area on the form, click next to one of them and draw a fake rectangle that covers each of the desired controls:

All controls touched by the fake rectangle would be selected when you release the mouse

To select all controls on the form or report, you can press Ctrl + A. You can also click inside of one of the rulers on one end and drag to the other end. After selecting the controls, you can change the common properties of the selected controls.

To remove a control from a group of selected controls, press and hold Shift, then click the undesired control of the group. You can include an object back in the group by pressing Shift and clicking the control.

To dismiss a group of selected controls, you can simply click an unoccupied area of the form or report. In some cases, you may have removed a control from the group by mistake or you may have dismissed the group by mistake while you still need it.

If you have a group of controls that you will use over and over again, you can include them in a formal group so that, even if you click an unoccupied area of the form or report, the group would have been saved and you can get it back when needed.

To create and save a group of controls, first select the group. Then, on the Ribbon, click Arrange. In the Sizing & Ordering section, click the Size/Space button and click Group

Remember that controls you want to select do not have to be adjacent. If you click an unoccupied area of the form or report, the selection would disappear but the group would have been saved. If you click any control of the group, the controls that belong to the group would be selection again to indicate that the selected controls are part of a group. When you do not need the group anymore, to dismiss it, on the Ribbon, click Arrange. In the Sizing & Ordering section, click the Size/Space button and click Ungroup

When many controls are selected, the Properties window shows (only) the characteristics common to those controls:

This means that you can change the common characteristic(s) that many controls share and each would receive the change.

When you add a control to a form or report, it takes a position on its host but it depends on the control. The location of a control is both:

In the Properties window, the distance between the top border of the form or report and the top border of the control is represented by the Top property. The distance between the left border of the form or report and the left border of the control is represented by the Left property:

After adding a control to a form or report, it assumes a position based on where you clicked but this may depend on the control. Most of the time, you will want to change the position. Moving a control consists of changing its location on the form or the report. There are various ways you can do this.

To move a control or a group of controls with even more precision, in the Properties window, you can change either or both the Left and the Top values.

Moving Controls Vertically

Introduction

When a control has been selected, as your mouse moves over it, its pointer displays a different cursor. One of these cursors can be used to move a control. This cursor is represented as a cross with four arrows:

Moving

By default, when dragging the control(s), it(they) move(s) by one unit of the grid lines on the form or report and you can move left, right, up, or down but:

If you want to move one control vertically one unit of grid lines at a time, click the control and press the down or the up arrow keys a few times until you get the distance you want
If you want to move a group of controls vertically one unit of grid lines at a time, select the controls and press the down or the up arrow keys a few times until you get the distance you want
If you want to move one control vertically one unit of grid lines at a time, first deselect the controls (make sure no control is selected), press and hold Shift, then click the control and immediately drag the mouse up or down. When you get to the desired location, release the mouse and release Shift
If you want to move many controls vertically one unit of grid lines at a time, first deselect the controls (make sure no control is selected), press and hold Shift, click each control except the last (for example if you want to move four controls vertically, press and hold Shift, then click the first three). When you get to the last control of the group (for example the 4th), click it and immediately drag (don't release after clicking) the mouse up or down. When you get to the desired location, release the mouse and release Shift

If you want to move one control vertically without following the grid lines, first deselect the control(s) (make sure no control is selected). Press and hold Ctrl + Shift. Click and immediately drag the control up or down. When you get to the desired location, release the mouse and Ctrl
If you want to move many controls vertically without following the grid lines, first deselect the control(s) (make sure no control is selected). Press and hold Ctrl + Shift. Click each control except the last to select them. When you get to the last control of the desired group, click and immediately drag up or down. When you get to the desired location, release the mouse, the Shift and the Ctrl keys

You can also move the controls vertically using the Properties window:

To move one control, change the value of its Top field
To move many controls, first select them. Then, in the Properties window, change the value of the Top field

Practical Learning: Moving Controls Vertically

Click the CompanyAssetID label on the form
Position the mouse on the upper left corner of the selected label until the cross cursor appears:
Click and drag up and left to move the label so that its left border aligns with the 1/4 measure of the horizontal ruler and its top border aligns with the 1/8 measure of the vertical ruler:
Release the mouse
Save the form

Aligning Controls Vertically

Consider the following form:

Form Design: Control Alignment

One of the obvious problems is that this layout does not follow any reasonable logic. Among the remedies to this, you can better align the controls. For example, you may want the First Name label, the top Unbound text box, the MI label and its text box to have the same distance from the top border of the form. Aligning the controls consists of using a reference to position other controls based on this reference. Fortunately, Microsoft Access provides all the necessary tools to align the controls on a form or report.

To assist you with aligning the controls on a form or a report, the Ribbon provides the Control Formatting section in the Format tab. To access it, while the form or report is in Design View, on the Ribbon, click Format. You will see the section labeled Control Alignment:

Control Formatting

Before aligning some controls you must first decide which one would be used as a reference. This means that you can use the alignment of one control as a reference for the other controls. To do this, position that control as the others should be aligned vertically. For example, imagine that, from the above form, you want to position the First Name label, its text box, the MI label, and its text box to have the same distance from the top border of the form. You can start by positioning one of these control at the top distance you want. Here is an example:

Form Design: Positioning a Control Whose Top Alignment Would be Used as a Reference

After doing this, the alignment of such a control, in this case the top alignment of the First Name label, can be used to align the First Name text box, the MI label, and the MI text box. To align the other controls, first select them. Here is an example:

Form Design: Controls Selection

To align the controls:

In the Sizing & Ordering section of the Arrange group of the Ribbon, click Align and click To Top button
Right-click one of the selected controls, position the mouse on Align, and click Top.

Here is the result from the above selection:

Controls Alignment

In the same way, you can align other controls. You can also align controls to the bottom: first align the one that would be used as the reference, select the others, and click the Bottom button in the Control Alignment section of the Ribbon. You can also right-click one of the controls in the selection, position the mouse on Align, and click Bottom.

Practical Learning: Aligning Controls Vertically

On the form, click the CompanyAssetID label to select it
Press and hold Shift
Click the CompanyAsset text box to have the label and the text box selected
On the Ribbon, click Arrange. In the Sizing & Ordering section, click Align and click Top
Save the form

Moving Controls Horizontally

Introduction

Instead of moving the control(s) randomly or vertically, you can move it(them) horizontally only:

If you want to move one control horizontally one unit of grid lines at a time, click the control and press the right or left arrow keys a few times until you get the distance you want
If you want to move a group of controls horizontally one unit of grid lines at a time, select the controls and press the right or the left arrow keys a few times until you get the distance you want
If you want to move one control horizontally one unit of the grid lines at a time, first deselect the controls (make sure no control is selected), press and hold Shift, then click the control and immediately drag the mouse left or right. When you get to the desired location, release the mouse and release Shift
If you want to move many controls horizontally one unit of grid lines at a time, first deselect the controls (make sure no control is selected), press and hold Shift, click each control except the last of the desired group. Click the last control and immediately drag the mouse left or right. When you get to the desired location, release the mouse and release Shift

If you want to move one control only horizontally without following the grid lines, first deselect the control(s) (make sure no control is selected), press and hold Ctrl + Shift. Click and immediately drag the mouse left or right. When you get to the desired location, release the mouse, the Shift and the Ctrl keys
If you want to move many controls only horizontally without following the grid lines, first deselect the control(s) (make sure no control is selected). Press and hold Ctrl + Shift. Click each control except the last to select them. When you get to the last control of the desired group, click and immediately drag left or right. When you get to the desired location, release the mouse, the Shift and the Ctrl keys

You can also move the controls horizontally using the Properties window:

To move one control, change the value of its Left field
To move many controls, first select them. Then, in the Properties window, change the value of the Left field

Practical Learning: Moving Controls Horizontally

On the form, click the Date Acquired text box
Press and hold Shift
Click the following text boxes: Category, Make, Model, and Purchase Price
Release Shift
Press the right arrow key 20 times
Save the form

Aligning Controls Horizontally

Imagine you want to position some labels of the above form to the left. You can start by positioning the First Name label to the desired left distance:

Form Design: Positioning a Control Whose Alignment Would be Used as a Reference

After doing this, the alignment of such a control, in this case the First Name label, can be used as a reference for the others. To align the other controls, first select them. Here is an example:

Controls Alignment

Notice that only the controls that will be aligned, in this case only some labels, have been selected. To align them:

In the Size & Ordering section of the Arrange group of the Ribbon, click Align and click
Right-click one of the controls in the selection, position the mouse on Align, and click Left

Here is the result from the above selection:

Control Alignment

In the same way, you can align other controls. You can also align controls to the right: first align the one that would be used as the reference, select the others, and click the Right button in the Control Alignment section of the Ribbon.

Practical Learning: Aligning Controls Horizontally

On the form, click the CompanyAssetID label
Press and hold Shift
Click the following labels: Date Acquired, Category, Make, Model, and Purchase Price
On the Ribbon, click Arrange if necessary. In the Sizing & Ordering section, click Align and click Left
On the form, click the CompanyAsset text box
Press and hold Shift
Click the following text boxes: Date Acquired, Category, Make, Model, and Purchase Price
Right-click Make (or one of the selected controls), position the mouse on Align, and click Left
Click the button at the intersection of the rulers
Save the form

The Size of a Control

Introduction

The size of a control is both:

The distance from its left to its right borders: its width
The distance of its top to its bottom borders: its height

When you add a control to a form or report, it assumes a certain size depending on the type of control. In some cases, you will want to change the size the a control. Resizing a control consists of changing its measures. There are various ways you can do this.

Resizing a Control

Resizing a control consists of changing either its width, its height, or both. Before resizing a control, first select it. To resize a selected control, position the mouse on one of its borders. When the mouse moves over a selected control and reaches one of the handles, the mouse pointer displays a double-arrow cursor. The possible mouse pointers are:

Cursor	Role
	Shrinks or heightens the control
	Resizes the control in North-East <-> South-West direction
	Narrows or widens the control
	Resizes the control in North-West <-> South-East direction

Although these pointers can be used to resize one control, they can also be applied to a group of controls. Based on this:

To resize a control along the grid lines, select it first. Position the mouse on one of the handles to seize the cursor of your choice. Click and drag in the desired and appropriate direction
To resize a control without following the grid lines, select it first. Press and hold Ctrl. Position the mouse on one of the handles to seize the cursor of your choice. Click and drag in the desired and appropriate direction

Practical Learning: Resizing a Control

On the form, click the CompanyAsset text box
Position the mouse on the middle handle of its right border
Click and drag left until the right border of the text box aligns with the 2 measure of the horizontal ruler
Release the mouse
Save the form

Resizing Various Controls

Instead of one, you can also resize a group of controls at the same time:

To resize more than one control along the grid lines, select them. Position the mouse on one of the handles of the selected controls to get the desired cursor. Click and drag appropriately. all of the selected controls would be resized

To resize more than one control without following the grid lines, select them first. Press and hold Ctrl. Position the mouse on one of the handles of the selected controls to get the desired cursor. Click and drag appropriately. all of the selected controls would be resized

To further assist you with resizing a control, Microsoft Access provides the Size/Space button of the Ribbon. To access it, while the form or report is in Design View, click Arrange. To resize a group of controls, first select one and set the desired size, such as the desired width. Consider the following form:

Controls Alignment

Imagine you would like the First Name text box, the Last Name text box, and the Gender combo box to have the same dimensions. First select the controls that will be resized:

Controls Alignment

To resize the controls:

On the Ribbon, click Arrange. Click the Size/Space button and use the options in the Size section:

Size

Click one of the selected controls, position the mouse on Size, and select one of the options:

Ribbon Menu	Name	Shortcut Menu	Description
	Size to Fit	To Fit	The controls will be resized based on the contents of their value
	Size to Grid	To Grid	The controls will be resized so their borders fit with the grid lines
	Size to Tallest	To Tallest	The heights of the selected controls will be increased to match the height of the tallest control
	Size to Widest	To Widest	The widths of the selected controls will be increased to match the width of the widest control
	Size to Shortest	To Shortest	The heights of the selected controls will be decreased to match the height of the shortest control
	Size to Narrowest	To Narrowest	The widths of the selected controls will be decreased to match the width of the narrowest control

Practical Learning: Resizing Various Controls

On the form, position the mouse inside the horizontal ruler at 1/2 and click to select the labels
On the Ribbon, click Arrange if necessary.
In the Sizing and Ordering section, click Size/Space and click To Widest
Save the form

The Width and the Height Properties of a Control

You can also resize a control or a group of controls using the Properties window. In the Properties window, the width of a control is represented by the Width property while the height of a control is represented by the Height field. Therefore, to resize a control with more precision, you can change either or both its Width and/or its Height properties. To resize a group of controls, first select them. In the Properties window, change either or both the values of the Width and/or the Height fields.