Microsoft Access 2010 Bible

Chapter 29: Customizing Access Ribbons .................................................................................

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users notices about the ribbon is how large it is: It’s considerably taller than the toolbar/menu com-

bination common in previous versions of Access. And at first glance, its differences from earlier

user interface tools quickly become apparent.

FIGURE 29.2

The ribbon is a new paradigm for Access developers and users.

Tabs Collapse button

Groups

First of all, the Access ribbon supports tabs that separate categories of tasks into logical groupings.

Each tab may contain a number of groups that further define task categories. Within a group,

many different types of controls — both large and small — that actually perform tasks required by

the user might appear.

Microsoft’s objectives for introducing ribbons in Office included simplifying the user interface by

eliminating overly complex menus, with their fly-outs, drop-down lists, and other conventions

made necessary by the limitations of toolbars and menus. Admittedly, the ribbon consumes more

vertical space on the screen than the old menus and toolbars did, but the benefits of having all

controls visible at one time greatly outweigh this relatively minor issue.

If users still want more vertical space on the screen, the Access 2010 ribbon includes a “collapse”

button (which looks like an upward-pointing arrow) at the far right of the ribbon, just to the left of

the help button. While collapsed, the ribbon still displays the tab captions so the user can quickly

re-open the ribbon to access controls that are needed while working in the Access environment.

Another benefit of the ribbons is that you can use different size controls within a group. This

means that you can use a large icon for frequently-performed operations, and smaller icons for less

common tasks. The Office ribbon automatically adjusts the sizes of controls as the user resizes the

main Access window. For instance, if the user chooses to make the Access window narrower than

it is by default, the ribbon changes buttons to icons, removing the labels next to the buttons to

conserve space. Ultimately, if the window is made small enough, the ribbon collapses horizontally

to just groups with no visible controls (see Figure 29.3).