Save time by changing multiple Access form/report controls at once
Thursday, February 12, 2009 02:36 PM
When you want to apply the same format to more than one control, it's far more efficient to update them at the same time. HereÂ’s a look at how to do it.
Microsoft Access
Save time by changing multiple Access form/report controls at once
If you need to make the same change to a number of controls, there no need to do it more than once.
Access lets you update a property common to each of the selected controls simultaneously. For example, say you would like the label controls on this form shown in Figure A to stand out by changing their Fore and Back Colors.
Figure A
First, select the controls by clicking one control and then holding down [Shift] while selecting the other controls. (You can also select them by dragging the mouse to draw a rectangle around them.) After selecting the controls, follow these steps:
- Click the Properties tool in the Forms Design toolbar. (In Access 2007, click the Properties Sheet command in the in the Tools Group of the Forms Design Tools tab.
- Click the Builder Button in the Back Color property and select Black.
- Click the Builder Button in the Fore Color property and select White (Figure B).
Figure B
When you run the form, all selected controls will display with a white font on a black background, as shown in Figure C.
Figure C
Microsoft Excel
Use a formula to trigger Excel's conditional formatting feature
If you maintain inventory in an Excel worksheet, you probably need to know when stock runs low so you can reorder. Fortunately, you can let Excel warn you when an item is running low by applying a conditional format.
You'll need at least two values: the current inventory and the reorder level.The simple worksheet (below) tracks the current inventory for three items and each item has a reorder amount.
There are at least three ways Excel can alert you when inventory is running low for each item:
- Highlight Current Inventory when it is less than the Reorder Level.
- Highlight Item when Current Inventory is less than the Reorder Level.
- Highlight the entire row when Current Inventory is less than the Reorder Level.
To highlight Current Inventory, do the following:
- Select cell B2 and choose Conditional Formatting from the Format menu. When applying this to your own worksheet, select the first value in the column (not the column’s label text).
- In the resulting dialog box, choose Formula Is from the first control's dropdown list.
- Next, enter the following formula, =B2<=C2. In other words, when the value in B2 is less than or equal to the value in C2, apply the format.
- Click the Format button and select red from the Patterns tab, and click OK.
- Click OK to close the Conditional Formatting dialog box.
- With cell B2 still selected, click Format Painter.
- Select cells B3..B4 to apply the conditional format to the remaining items.
When the current inventory dips below (or is equal to) the reorder amount, Excel highlights that cell. With a quick glance, you can determine which items to order.
To highlight Item instead of Current Inventory, simply select cell A2 in step 1. You can highlight the entire row by selecting the entire row (A2..C2) in step 1. In step 3, enter the formula =$B2<=$C2. Then, in step 9, be sure to select the entire rows (A3..C4) when copying the conditional format.
Microsoft Word
Don't use Tab to indent paragraphs in a Word document
Most of the time, I press Tab to indent the first line of a new paragraph. It's easy and I seldom write anything that requires more than just a few paragraphs.
However, using Tab does introduce the potential for trouble. For example, if you combine two paragraphs, you have to delete the Tab at the beginning of the second paragraph. It's not a big deal in a short document, but those tabs can add up if you do some serious restructuring.
The truth is, Tab just isn’t necessary. Instead, use Word's indent feature as follows:
- From the Format menu, choose Paragraph.
- Click the Indents And Spacing tab.
- In the Indention section, select First Line from the Special control's drop-down list.
- Specify the size of the indention using the By control's drop-down list. Then, click OK to return to your document.
When you press Enter, Word assumes you’re starting a new paragraph and automatically indents the first line. You don't have to press a thing. If you need to remove an indent for a single paragraph, just move the First Line Indent marker on the ruler for that paragraph.
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