7THE ACCESS RIBBONWORD TO THE WISEWhen Access Isn't EnoughIfyou' vepickedupthisbook,youprobablyhaveagood sensethatAccesswillmeetyourneeds.Butifyou'reinany doubt,aquickrealitycheckwillconfirmwhetheryou'reon the right path.The following list describes a few warning signs that suggest you and Access just aren't a good fit. If you don't fall into any of these categories, congratulationsyou're ready to use the most straightforward and productive database software anywhere!You need to store huge volumes of information (more than 2 gigabytes of data). You're unlikely to hit this mark unless you'restoringlargepicturesorothertypesofdigital content inside a database. Even a big Access database is usually less than 100 megabytes (about 20 times smaller than the 2 GB limit).You need to share your database over the Web. Ordinary Accessdatabasesjustaren' tcutoutfortheWeb.But Access 2013 introduces a new web app feature that uses Microsoft SharePoint behind the scenes, so your database canservefarmorepeoplethanitcouldthroughAccess alone.However,therearedisadvantagesforexample, someAccessfeaturesdon' tcarr yovertotheweb application, and you must invest in SharePoint server or a SharePoint hosting service. Chapter 22 describes Access's web database feature in detail.You'regoingtoshareyourdatabaseonanetwork,and morethanadozenpeopleneedtouseitatonce.It's difficulttocorrectlyinterpretthislimit.It'sperfectly fineforhundredsofpeopletouseyourdatabasefrom timetotime,butproblemsoccurwhenmanypeople are all jockeying to make changes to the same database file at the same instant. You need to test your database tofigureoutwhetheryoucancrossthislimitwithout introducingproblems,andyoumayneedtoswitchtoa web app (Chapter 20) or use Access in conjunction with SQL Server (Chapter 21). For more information about sharing Accessand for some help deciding what's the best way to satisfy large crowds of peoplesee page 641.The Access RibbonThe ribbon is a super-toolbar that replaces the various toolbars that clogged the window in the ancient days before Access 2007. It's clear, streamlined, and carefully organized into tabsHome, Create, External Data, and so on. Initially, Access starts out with four tabs (although other tabs appear when you perform specic tasks). When you create or open a new database, you start at the Home tab. Click the Create tab (as shown in Figure I-2), and you get access to a slew of powerful commands that let you add new database components.ACCESS 2013: THE MISSING MANUAL 8THE ACCESS RIBBONFIGURE I-2When you hover over a button in the ribbon, you don't see a paltry two- or three-word description in a yellow box. Instead, you see a friendly pop-up box with a complete mini-description. Here, the mouse is hovering over the Table command.Here's a quick rundown of the basic ribbon tabs:File looks like a tab, but it's actually the gateway into backstage view. Page 11 explains how backstage view works.Home gathers together a variety of common commands including the familiar copy-and-paste tools and formatting commands for tweaking fonts and colors. You'll also nd handy features like sorting, searching, and ltering, all of which you'll tackle in Chapter 3.Create has commands for inserting all the diferent database objects you'll learn about in this book (see page 24 for the lowdown). These include the tables that store data, the queries that search it, the forms that help you edit it, and the reports that help you print it.ExternalDatahascommandsforimportingdataintoAccessandexporting ittootherprograms.You'llalsondfeaturesforintegratingwithMicrosoft SharePoint Server. You'll use these commands in Part Six.DatabaseToolsfeaturestheprotoolsyou'llusetoanalyzeadatabase,link tables, and scale up to SQL Server. You'll also nd the commands for inserting Visual Basic code, which you'll explore in detail in Part Five.9THE ACCESS RIBBONTIPIfyouhaveascrollmouse,youcanbreezethroughthetabsbymovingthemousepointeroverthe ribbon, and then rolling the scroll wheel up or down.One nice ribbon feature is the way it adapts to diferent window sizes. In a wide Access window, there's room to spread out, and text appears next to almost every button. But in a narrow Access window, where space is more limited, Access strips the text of less important buttons to make room (Figure I-3).FIGURE I-3Here are three sections from the Home tab in the ribbon (Sort & Filter, Records, and Find). When the Access window is wide, there's plenty of room to show buttons and text (top). But if you resize the Access window down to super-skinniness, the ribbon removes text so it can keep showing the same set of commands. If you want to know what a no-text button does, hover your cursor over it to see its name.TIPWant to reclaim the screen real estate that the ribbon occupies? Just double-click the current tab, and the ribbon collapses, leaving only the row of tab titles visible. Double-click the tab again to pop the buttons back into sight.Using the Ribbon with the KeyboardIf you're a diehard keyboard lover, you'll be happy to hear that you can trigger ribbon commandswiththekeyboard.Thetrickistousekeyboardaccelerators,aseries of keystrokes that starts with the Alt key (the same keys you used to use to get to a menu). When using a keyboard accelerator, you don't hold down all the keys at the same time. (As you'll soon see, some of them have enough letters to tie your ngers up better than the rowdiest game of Twister.) Instead, you press the keys one after the other.The trick to keyboard accelerators is to understand that once you press the Alt key, you do two things, in this order:1.Pick the correct ribbon tab.2.In that tab, choose a command.ACCESS 2013: THE MISSING MANUAL 10THE ACCESS RIBBONBefore you can trigger a specic command, you must select the right tab (even if you're already there). Every accelerator requires at least two key presses after you press the Alt key. You'll need even more if you need to dig through a submenu.By now, this whole process probably seems hopelessly impractical. Are you really expected to memorize dozens of diferent accelerator key combinations?Fortunately, Access is ready to help you out with a feature called KeyTips. Here's how it works: Once you press the Alt key, letters magically appear over every tab in the ribbon. Once you press a key to pick a tab, letters appear over every button in that tab. You can then press the corresponding key to trigger the command. Figure I-4 shows how it works.FIGURE I-4Top: When you press Alt, Access pins KeyTips next to every tab, over the File menu, and over the but-tons in the Quick Access toolbar.Bottom: If you follow up by pressing Y (for the Database Tools tab), you'll see letters next to every command in that tab. Now you can press another key to run a command (for example, W moves your data to SQL Server).TIPDon't bother trying to match letters with tab or button namesthe ribbon's got so many features packed into it that in many cases, the letters don't mean anything at all.In some cases, a command may have two letters, and you need to press both keys, one after the other. You can back out of KeyTips mode at any time without triggering a command by pressing the Alt key again.Some other shortcut keys don't use the ribbon. These key combinations start with the Ctrl key. For instance, Ctrl+C copies highlighted text, and Ctrl+S saves your cur-rent work. Usually, you nd out about a shortcut key by hovering over a command with the mouse cursor. Hover over the Paste button in the ribbon's Home tab, and you see a tooltip that tells you its timesaving shortcut key is Ctrl+V. And if you've worked with a previous version of Access, you'll nd that Access 2013 keeps most of the same shortcut keys.11THE ACCESS RIBBONThe Quick Access ToolbarKeen eyes will notice the tiny bit of screen real estate that sits just above the ribbon (Figure I-5). This bit of screen holds a series of tiny icons, and it's called the Quick Access toolbar (or QAT to Access nerds).FIGURE I-5The Quick Access toolbar puts the Save, Undo, and Redo commands right at your fingertips. Access singles out these commands because people use them more frequently than any other commands. But as you'll learn in the appendix of this book, you can add anything you want here.If the Quick Access toolbar were nothing but a specialized shortcut for three com-mands, it wouldn't be worth the bother. However, the nifty thing about the Quick Access toolbar is that you can customize it. In other words, you can remove com-mands you don't use and can add your own favorites.Microsoft has deliberately kept the Quick Access toolbar very small. It's designed to give a carefully controlled outlet for those customization urges. Even if you go wild stocking the Quick Access toolbar with your own commands, the rest of the ribbon remains unchanged. (And that means a coworker or spouse can still use your computerwithoutsuferingamigraine.)However,Accessalsoletsyougetmore radical by revising the arrangement of tabs, sections, and buttons in the ribbon. To learn how to customize the QAT and the ribbon, check out the appendix.Backstage ViewYour data is the star of the show. That's why Access's creators refer to databases as being on stage. Sure, it's a strange metaphor, but the rationale for Access's backstage view makes sense: It temporarily takes you away from your database and lets you concentrate on other tasks that don't involve entering or editing data. These tasks include creating a new database, converting your database to a diferent format, printing part of its contents, and changing Access settings.To switch to backstage view, click the File button that appears just to the left of the Home tab in the ribbon. To get out of backstage view, click the back arrow (shown in Figure I-6) or press Esc.ACCESS 2013: THE MISSING MANUAL 12THE CHANGES IN ACCESS 2013FIGURE I-6Backstage view is split into two parts. On the left is a narrow strip listing commands. Click one of these to reveal a screen where you can perform a different task. Depending on what you click, Access may show additional options and information on the right.Along with creating and opening databases, you can also use Access's backstage view to:Compact, repair, and encrypt your database le (choose Info)Save a copy of your database (choose Save As)Print some of the information in your database (choose Print)Quit Access (choose Close)CongureallsortsofAccessoptions(chooseOptions)orchangeyouruser information (choose Account)You'll return to backstage view to perform all of these tasks in the chapters ahead.The Changes in Access 2013Access 2013 doesn't bring the usual avalanche of new features. In fact, Microsoft took the exact opposite approach, and focused on streamlining and modernizing Access by kicking out some of its oldest and creakiest features. These changes have