The Office Fluent Ribbon, shown in Figure 2-31, is a strip that contains all the functionality of the older menu bar options (File, Edit, View, and so on) and the various toolbars from versions of Access before Access 2007, condensed into one common area in the application window. Microsoft’s usability studies revealed that most users failed to discover many useful features that were previously buried several levels deep in the old menu structure. The ribbon is a context-rich environment displaying all the program functions and commands, with large icons for key functions and smaller icons for less-used functions. Access displays a host of different controls on the ribbon to help you build and edit your applications. Lists, command buttons, galleries, and Dialog Box Launchers are all on the ribbon and offer a rich user interface for Access 2010 and the other Office 2010 system products.
The ribbon in Access 2010 consists of four main tabs—Home, Create, External Data, and Database Tools—that group together common tasks and contain a major subset of the program functions in Access. These main tabs are visible at all times when you are working in Access 2010 because they contain the most common tools you need when working with any database object. Other tabs, called contextual tabs, appear and disappear to the right of the Database Tools tab when you are working with specific database objects and in various views. (In the following chapters, we will discuss in detail the various database objects and the contextual tabs that appear when working with each.)
Inside Out: Scrolling Through the Ribbon Tabs
If you click one of the ribbon tabs, you can then scroll through the other tabs using the scroll wheel on your mouse.
Each tab on the ribbon has commands that are further organized into groups. The name of each group is listed at the bottom, and each group has various commands logically grouped by subject matter. To enhance the user experience and make things easier to find, Microsoft has labeled every command in the various groups. If you rest your mouse pointer on a specific command, Access displays a ScreenTip that contains the name of the command and a short description that explains what you can do with the command. Any time a command includes a small arrow, you can click the arrow to display options available for the command.
Let’s first explore the Home tab, shown in Figure 2-32.
The Home tab has the following groups:
Views. Most objects in an Access database have two or more ways to view them. When you have one of these objects open and it has the focus, you can use the View command in this group to switch easily to another view.
Clipboard. You can use the commands in this group to manage data that you move to and from the Clipboard.
Sort & Filter. You can use these commands to sort and filter your data.
Records. Use the commands in this group to work with records, including deleting records and saving changes.
Find. The commands in this group allow you to search and replace data, go to a specific record, or select one or all records.
Window. Use the commands in this group to resize windows or select one of several windows that you have open. Note that Access displays this group only when you have set your database to display Overlapping Windows rather than Tabbed Documents. For more details, see Using the Single-Document vs. the Multiple-Document Interface.
Text Formatting. You can change how Access displays text using the commands in this group. You can also design fields in your database to contain data formatted in Rich Text. (See Chapter 4 for more details about data types.) You can use the commands in this group to format text in a Rich Text field.
Inside Out: Adding a Group to the Quick Access Toolbar with Two Mouse Clicks
If you notice that you are using commands found in a group on the ribbon quite often, Access 2010 provides a very quick and easy way to add the entire group to the Quick Access Toolbar. To add a group on the ribbon to the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click the group and click Add To Quick Access Toolbar. This adds the group, including all commands, to the Quick Access Toolbar for all databases. Alternatively, you can quickly remove a group from your custom Quick Access Toolbar by right-clicking on the group and clicking Remove From Quick Access Toolbar.
The Create tab, shown in Figure 2-33, contains commands that let you create new database objects. Each group on this particular tab arranges its specific functions by database object type.
Figure 2-33. The Create tab provides commands for creating all the various types of database objects.
The Create tab contains the following groups:
Templates. Use the commands in this group to create new templates parts such as fields, tables, forms, and other objects. You can learn more about template parts in Chapter 4.
Tables. Use the commands in this group to create new tables or link to a SharePoint Services list. You can learn more about SharePoint Services in Chapter 22.
Queries. Use the commands in this group to create new queries. You can learn more about creating queries beginning in Chapter 9.
Forms. You can create new forms using the commands in this group, including PivotChart, PivotTable, and web forms. For more details about PivotCharts, see Chapter 15. For more details about web forms, see Chapter 12.
Reports. The commands in this group allow you to create new reports using available wizards, start a new report design from scratch, or build web reports.
Macros & Code. Use the commands in this group to build macros or modules to automate your application.
The External Data tab, shown in Figure 2-34, provides commands to import from or link to data in external sources or export data to external sources, including other Access databases or SharePoint lists.
This tab has the following groups:
Import & Link. The commands in the Import group let you link to data or import data or objects from other sources such as other Access databases, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, Windows SharePoint Services lists, and many other data sources such as Microsoft SQL Server and dBase.
Export. You can use these commands to export objects to another Access database or to export data to Excel, SharePoint, Microsoft Word, and more.
Collect Data. These two commands allow you to update data in your Access 2010 database from special email options using Microsoft Outlook 2010. See Chapter 8, for details about using these features.
Web Linked Lists. Commands in this group allow you to synchronize offline data with an active SharePoint site, cache list data, and relink SharePoint lists.
The last tab that is always available on the ribbon is the Database Tools tab, shown in Figure 2-35. The upper part of Figure 2-35 shows the Database Tools tab when using an Access 2010 database (.accdb) and the lower part shows the Database Tools tab when using Access 2000, 2002, or 2003 databases (.mdb).
The Database Tools tab on the ribbon includes the following groups:
Tools. This group has one command: Compact And Repair Database. Use this command to compact and repair your database file.
Macro. Commands in this group let you open the Visual Basic Editor or to run a macro.
Relationships. Commands in this group activate useful information windows. Use the Relationships command to view and edit your table relationships. (See Chapter 4 for details.) Click the Object Dependencies command to see which objects are dependent on the currently selected object.
Analyze. Use the commands in this group to print a report about your objects or run one of the two analysis wizards.
Move Data. The three wizards available in this group allow you to either move some of or all your tables to SQL Server, move all your tables to a separate Access database and create links to the moved tables in the current database, or move some or all of your tables to a SharePoint site.
Add-Ins. You can manage add-ins from this group or start the Add-In Manager to install new add-ins for your Access installation.
Administer. Access displays this group on the Database Tools tab only when you open an Access database file created in Access 2000, 2002, or 2003 (.mdb). The Replication Options let you manage the legacy replication features that are no longer supported in Access 2007 format database files. For more information on these features, see Running Microsoft Access 2000 (Microsoft Press, 1999) or Microsoft Office Access 2003 Inside Out (Microsoft Press, 2004). The Switchboard Manager command starts the Switchboard Manager to assist you with building a switchboard form for navigating through your application.
Inside Out: Collapsing the Entire Ribbon
If you need some additional workspace within the Access window, you can collapse the entire ribbon by double-clicking any of the tabs. All the groups disappear from the screen, but the tabs are still available. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F1 to collapse the ribbon or click the Minimize The Ribbon button next to the Help button in the upper-right corner of the application window. To see the ribbon again, simply click any tab to restore the ribbon to its full height, press Ctrl+F1 again, or click the Expand The Ribbon button.
In Access 2010 and the other Office 2010 products, Microsoft introduces a new feature that allows you to customize the ribbon easily through an interface similar to customizing the Quick Access Toolbar. If you do not like the order of the groups on the four default ribbon tabs, for example, you can easily change the order to your liking. To customize the ribbon, click the File tab and then click the Options button on the Backstage view to open the Access Options dialog box. Now click the Customize Ribbon category on the left to begin customizing the ribbon, as shown in Figure 2-36.
Figure 2-36. You can add new tabs, groups, or commands to the ribbon and change their sequence using the Customize Ribbon category in the Access Options dialog box.
On the left, you can see a list of built-in Access commands that you can select to add to groups on the ribbon. By default, the list shows commands from the Popular Commands category—commands that are used very frequently. You can change the list of commands by selecting a different category from the Choose Commands From list. The All Commands option displays the entire list of Access commands available in alphabetical order.
Inside Out: Opening the Access Options Dialog Box Quickly to Customize the Ribbon
Right-click any part of the ribbon and then click Customize The Ribbon to open the Access Options dialog box quickly with the Customize Ribbon category selected.
The list on the right side of the screen by default displays a list of the built-in Access ribbon tabs—Print Preview, Home, Create, External Data, Database Tools, Source Control, and Add-Ins. You can change the list of tabs by selecting a different category from the Customize The Ribbon list. The All Tabs option displays the entire list of Access ribbon tabs, and the Tool Tabs option displays only the list of Access contextual ribbon tabs. Next to the name of each tab in the list below Customize The Ribbon is a plus symbol. Click the plus symbol, and Access expands the list beneath the tab to show you all the groups and commands within that specific tab. Click the minus symbol, and Access collapses the list to show you only the name of the tab itself. Similarly, you’ll see a plus symbol next to each of the group names underneath the tab name. Click the plus symbol here, and Access expands the group to show you all the commands on that specific group. Click the minus symbol to collapse the group. Next to the plus and minus symbols for each tab, you’ll see a check box. Clear this check box to not display that tab on the ribbon. Note that clearing this check box does not delete the tab and all its contents; it merely tells Access not to show this tab on the ribbon. Select the check box, and Access displays that tab in the ribbon.
You’ll notice that all the commands listed on the default tab groups are dimmed. You cannot rename or reorder the commands listed on the default tab groups; however, you can rename and reorder the group names on the default tabs, rename and reorder the names of the default tabs, add new custom groups to the default tabs, and add commands to these custom groups on the default tabs. You can also create your own custom tabs and add groups and commands to those tabs to customize the ribbon further. To create a new custom tab, click the New Tab button near the lower-right corner of the screen. Access adds a new tab to the list on the right called New Tab (Custom) and a new group beneath that tab called New Group (Custom), as shown in Figure 2-37. All custom tabs and custom groups have (Custom) after the name. However, Access does not show (Custom) on the ribbon.
To change the name of your custom tab, highlight it and then click Rename. Access opens the Rename dialog box, as shown in Figure 2-38. Type in a new name for your custom tab in the Display Name text box and then click OK. Access displays your new tab name in the tab list followed by (Custom). Remember that (Custom) appears only in the Customize Ribbon category of the Access Options dialog box.
To change the name of your custom group, highlight it in the list of groups and then click Rename. Access opens the Rename dialog box for group names, as shown in Figure 2-39. On this dialog box, you can type in a new name for your custom group and you can choose an icon to represent the group. If you add this entire group to your Quick Access Toolbar, Access displays your custom icon for this group instead of a default green ball icon.
Figure 2-39. When you rename a group, you can also choose an icon from the Rename dialog box to display for your group.
To add a command to your custom group, find a command in the list on the left, and then either double-click it or click the Add button in the middle of the screen to add this command to your custom ribbon group, as shown in Figure 2-40. If you make a mistake and select the wrong command, select the command in the list on the right and click Remove to eliminate it from your custom group.
Figure 2-40. To add a command to your custom group, highlight a command on the left and then click Add.
After you have all the commands and macros you want on your custom group, you might decide that you do not like the order in which they appear. Access 2010 allows you to easily modify this order using the Move Up and Move Down arrow buttons at the far right of the dialog box. (You can rest your mouse pointer on either button to see the button name.) Select a command that you want to move in the list on the right and click the up arrow to move it up in the list. Each successive click moves that command up one more place in the group. Likewise, the down arrow shifts the selected command down in the group. Alternatively, you can right-click a command and then click Move Up or Move Down on the shortcut menu, as shown in Figure 2-41.
Figure 2-41. Right-click a command, and Access displays a shortcut menu that you can use to rename, remove, or move commands up and down the group list.
To add additional groups to your custom tab or to one of the built-in ribbon tabs, click the New Group button at the bottom of the screen, or right-click a tab and then click Add New Group. You can continue customizing the ribbon by adding more commands to these additional groups, renaming the groups and commands, and changing their display order. By default, Access displays labels next to your custom commands on the ribbon. If you don’t want to display these labels, right-click your custom group and click Hide Command Labels. To see how your custom ribbon looks, click OK at the bottom of the screen to save your work. In Figure 2-42, you can see the custom ribbon tab and group we created. The upper part of Figure 2-42 shows our custom ribbon tab and group with command labels showing, and the bottom part of Figure 2-42 shows our custom ribbon tab and group with command labels hidden.
If you want to remove a custom group from your custom ribbon tab or from one of the default tabs, highlight the group in the list on the right side and then click the Remove button in the middle of the screen. Alternatively, you can right-click a custom group name and then click Remove from the shortcut menu. If you want to remove an entire custom tab from the ribbon, highlight the tab name in the list on the right side and then click Remove. Alternatively, right-click a custom tab name and then click Remove from the shortcut menu, as seen in Figure 2-43.
Figure 2-43. Right-click a custom tab and click Remove if you want to remove the entire tab from your ribbon.
If you want to restore one of the built-in ribbon tabs to the default set of groups and commands, highlight the tab name in the list on the right, click the Reset button in the lower-right corner of the screen, and then click Reset Only Selected Ribbon Tab from the drop-down list. To remove all ribbon customizations, click Reset, and then click Reset All Customizations. Before removing all ribbon customizations, Access displays the warning message shown in Figure 2-44. If you click Yes to this Reset Customizations message, Access resets the ribbon, as well as the Quick Access Toolbar, back to the defaults.
Figure 2-44. Access asks you to confirm resetting the ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar back to the default commands.
You can export your ribbon customizations to a file that can be imported to another computer running Access 2010. Click the Import/Export button at the lower-right corner of the screen, and then click Export All Customizations, as shown in Figure 2-45. You can choose a location to save this customization file for use on other computers. To import the ribbon customizations onto another computer, open Access 2010 on the second computer, reopen the Access Options dialog box with the Customize Ribbon category selected, click the Import/Export button at the bottom of the screen, and then click Import Customization File. Your Access ribbon customizations that you created on the first computer now appear in the Access program installed on the second computer.
