Easier data entry


Use these shortcuts to speed up the work of entering data into an Access form:

  • Press CTRL and ; together to enter todays date in a field
  • Press CTRL and  together to fill this field with the value from the same field in the previous record.
  • Use the Tab key to move to the next field. This is quicker than using the mouse and safer because it makes sure you select the entire field. If you use the mouse to click on the next field then you might find yourself typing into the middle of the field because the characters are inserted at the position of the mouse click.
  • Press Shift and Tab key to move back one field.
  • If you need to select the whole field then press F2.
  • Press F 4 to open a drop-down list then type the first few characters of the entry you want.
  • Press CTRL and Z together if you need to undo an entry. It's quicker than using the mouse to select the Undo button on the toolbar.
  • You do not need to enter the year of a date. If you just give the day and the month then Access will fill in the current year. Access will accept 25/12, 25-12, or even 25 12 and convert it to 25/12/2006.

Hints & tips

The textbox class in Visual FoxPro 9 has a new Autocomplete property which shows the user the previous values that have been entered in that textbox.
Autocomplete in VFP 9

Your Access database will look more impressive if you add custom toolbars...
Custom toolbars

FoxPro has always had functions to read and write files at a low level...
Foxpro low level file functions

More...
More pages of hints and tips for users of Microsoft FoxPro and Access databases.

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