Setting Startup Options

Using the Switchboard Manager, you can build an attractive and easy-to-use interface to your database. But how do you let users know that they should start with this form? Although you could ask them to read a manual or send them email, a better choice is to make Access automatically open the switchboard form when you launch the database. To do this, you can use startup options.

Startup options are a set of options that are applied when your database is opened. You can use these options to customize the user experience of your database. Here's how:

1. Select Tools , Startup to open the Startup dialog box, as shown in Figure 15.8.

   Figure 15.8. Default startup options.

   

2. Type My Garden Database in the Application Title box.

3. Select the Switchboard form in the Display Form/Page combo box.

4. Uncheck the Display Database Window check box.

5. Click OK .

6. Select File , Exit to close Access.

7. Reopen your database. Notice that the title bar shows the database name you chose, the Switchboard form opens automatically, and the Database window is invisible (see Figure 15.9).

   Figure 15.9. The database after setting startup options.

   

But what if you want to work with the Database window after making these changes? No problem! The following are three ways that you can still display the Database window, even if you turn it off in the startup options:

• Hold down the Shift key when you're opening the database. This prevents the startup options from being applied.

• Press the F11 key.

• Select Window, Unhide. Select the Database window in the Unhide Window dialog box and click OK.

Table 15.2 shows the complete set of startup options you can select for a database.

Table 15.2. Startup Options

Option	Meaning
Application Title	Specifies the text to appear in the Access title bar.
Display Form/Page	Specifies a form or data access page to be displayed when you first open the database.
Application Icon	Specifies an icon to use in place of the default Access key. You can choose any .ico or .cur file on your computer to use as an icon.
Use As Form and Report Icon	Controls whether to use a custom application icon for forms and reports also.
Display Database Window	Controls whether to display the Database window when you open the database.
Display Status Bar	Controls whether to display the status bar at the bottom of the screen.
Menu Bar	Selects the set of menus to use in this database.
Allow Built-In Toolbars	Controls whether the default Access toolbars can be displayed.
Allow Default Shortcut Menus	Controls whether the default Access shortcut menus can be displayed.
Allow Toolbar/Menu Changes	Controls whether the user can customize menus and toolbars.
Use Access Special Keys	Controls whether special keys such as F11 are functional.