Microsoft Access 2010 Bible

Part IV: Professional Database Development

1094

Polishing Your Application

When your application has been thoroughly tested and appears ready for distribution, spend some

time polishing your application.

Giving your application a consistent look and feel

First and foremost, decide on some design standards and apply them to your application. This step

is incredibly important if you want a professional look and feel to your applications. Figure 31.5

shows a form with samples of different styles of controls.

FIGURE 31.5

You can decide on any interface style that you like for your application. But after you decide on a style,
use it consistently.

Your design decisions may include the following:

l (^) Will text boxes be sunken, flat with a border, flat without a border, chiseled, or raised?
l What back color should text boxes be?
l (^) What color will the forms be?
l Will you use chiseled borders to separate related items or select a sunken or raised
border?
l What size will buttons on forms be?
l (^) For forms that have similar buttons, such as Close and Help, in what order will the but-
tons appear?
l (^) Which accelerator keys will you use on commonly used buttons, such as Close and Help?
l Which control will have focus when the form opens?
l (^) How will the tab order be set?
l What will your Enter key property be for text boxes?