Split Forms: Rich Datasheets

Last week I introduced you to Split Forms, one of the new cool views we have for forms in Access 12. As promised, I'll show you a sample Split Form, but with a cool twist.

When I originally talked about Split Forms, I mentioned how the form part plays a very good role of entering data. However, someone in the Access dev team thought of a very cool way of using Split Forms: use the form part as a header section for the datasheet part. Check out the picture below.

[Click to open in 1024x768]

This is what we've fondly called "rich forms", since we're not really using the form part to enter data, but as a header-like section for datasheets, allowing us to add buttons (e.g. email this view, print, etc) and some nice graphics with a title.

Also, what you do not see on the picture above is the splitter between the two parts, which I mentioned last week. We allow the splitter to be shown or not - it's customizable.

Finally, as one more additional customization option, we allow the datasheet part of the Split Form to be read-only, so you can have people only use it to view the data while solely using the form part to enter data.