Microsoft Access 2010 Bible

Chapter 6: Working with Datasheet View

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Caution
The Default value for this dialog box is Yes. Pressing the Enter key automatically deletes the records. If you
accidentally erase records using this method, the action can’t be reversed.

FIGURE 6.11

The Delete Record dialog box warns you that you’re about to delete a specific number of records — the
default response is Yes (okay to delete) so be careful when deleting records.

Caution
If you have relations set between tables and checked Enforce Referential Integrity — for example, the
tblContacts (Customer) table is related to tblSales — then you can’t delete a parent record (tblCon-
tacts) that has related child records (in tblSales) unless you also check the Cascade Delete check box.
Otherwise, you receive an error message dialog box that reports The record can’t be deleted or
changed because the table ‘‘ includes related records.

To select multiple contiguous records, click the record selector of the first record that you want to

select and drag the mouse to the last record that you want to select. Or click to select the first

record, and then hold Shift and click on the last record that you want in the selection.

Displaying Records

A number of techniques can increase your productivity when you add or change records. Change

the field order, hide and freeze columns, change row height or column width, change display

fonts, and change the display or remove gridlines to make data entry easier.

Changing the field order

By default, Access displays the fields in a datasheet in the same order that they appear in a table or

query. Sometimes, you want to see certain fields next to each other in order to better analyze your

data. To rearrange your fields, select a column by clicking the column heading, and then drag the

column to its new location (as shown in Figure 6.12).