Create, customize, and delete a switchboard form

You create, customize, and delete a switchboard by using the Switchboard Manager.

Create a switchboard

1. Open the database.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Database Utilities, and then click Switchboard Manager.
3. If Microsoft Access asks if you'd like to create a switchboard, click Yes.
4. Click New.
5. Type the name of the new switchboard, and then click OK.

   Microsoft Access adds the switchboard to the Switchboard Pages box.

6. Click the new switchboard, and then click Edit.
7. Click New.
8. Type the text for the first switchboard item in the Text box, and then click a command in the Command box. For example, type View Recording Artists, and then click Open Form In Edit Mode in the Command box.

   Note   To create a switchboard that branches to other switchboards, click the Go To Switchboard command in the Command box, and then specify the switchboard you want to go to.

9. Depending on which command you click, Microsoft Access displays another box below the Command box. Click an item in this box, if necessary. For example, if you clicked Open Form In Edit Mode in step 8, click the name of the form you want to open in the Form box, such as Recording Artists, and then click OK.
10. Repeat steps 7 through 9 until you've added all the items to the switchboard.

    Note   To edit or delete an item, click the item in the Items On This Switchboard box, and then click Edit or Delete. If you want to rearrange items, click the item in the box, and then click Move Up or Move Down.

11. When you've finished creating the switchboard, click Close.

Notes

• To make a switchboard open when you open the database, click the switchboard name in the Switchboard Manager dialog box, and then click Make Default.
• When you create a switchboard with the Switchboard Manager, Microsoft Access creates a Switchboard Items table that describes what the buttons on the form display and do. If you make changes to the Switchboard form later in form Design view, the application may no longer work.

Customize a switchboard

1. Open the database.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Database Utilities, and then click Switchboard Manager.
3. In the Switchboard Manager dialog box, select the switchboard you want to edit, and then click Edit.
4. Click the item on the switchboard you want to change, and then do one of the following:

   To change the text of the item, the command performed by the item, or the object that's opened or run when you click the item, click Edit.

   To add an item, click New, type the text for the item, and then click a command in the Command box. Depending on which command you click, Microsoft Access displays another box below the Command box. Click an item in this box, if necessary. For example, if you click one of the form commands in the Command box, click the name of the form you want to open.

   To delete an item, click Delete.

   To move an item, click Move Up or Move Down.

5. Click Close.

Delete a switchboard

1. Open the database.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Database Utilities, and then click Switchboard Manager.
3. In the Switchboard Manager dialog box, select the switchboard you want to delete, and then click Delete.
4. Click Close.

Note   If you have not yet created the database for which you want to add a switchboard, you might want to use a database wizard. The wizard automatically creates a switchboard that helps you to navigate around the database.