Jenni said:
I am struggling to create a form which is initally for customers to use,
for
them to enter in their details and for the database to accept this. Then
for
them to be taken to another form, presenting them with more options. Im
sure
this is an easy process, wondering if you could help?
In generally you can take one of several approaches to presenting the user
with "more" detailed information.
If you have a main screen with some information like address information,
phone numbers and the basic contact information, and you need another screen
who has information about their financial status (for example). You can use
what's called a tab control. In the following screen shot you can see a tab
control used on the bottom half of the screen:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Search/img2.gif
The above screen shot is the *last* screen shot from the follwing web page:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Search/index.html
(I've placed both links because sometimes the browser link don't display
correctly)
The tab control the above example has pricing, payments, UDrive info.
Often a tab control is used for the whole screen, not just a bottom part as
that screen shows. You can place additional fields that display behind each
tab control.
So, you're likely number one choice for control that lets you display
additional information about what you're viewing behind a tab that you click
on, is called a tab control.
Another choice possibly is to put a button on your form and when you press
it it's simply launches another formed to edit the same record with
additional information and fields (however I'm hard pressed to see how this
is a superior interface to that of the tab contorl idea).
The last consideration you need here in terms of displaying and allowing the
user to add an additional information, is the the information the user going
to view repating type information, or just additional information ? If it's
just a few additional fields such as favorite color, favorite food, and
perhaps a few other pieces of information, then a tap controls is an ideal
choice.
However if the screens to contain the last 150 types products the user
purchased, then we're talking about a screen with what we call repeating
data and that's going to be a sub form. I have some great screen shots of
sub forms and forms with repeating data here:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Articles/Grid.htm
so what kind of interface you build will actually be dependent on what kind
of additional data you try to display, if it's repeating data, then you'll
use a sub form, if it's simply static or additional fields that you could
NOT cram into the one big form, then the preferred approach is to use the
tab control.
