Microsoft Access 2010 Bible

Part IV: Professional Database Development

1098

FIGURE 31.8

An About box provides useful information to the user and protects your legal interests.

On the CD-ROM
Figure 31.8 shows an About box template form that you can use when building your own applications. This
form is included in the Chapter31.accdb database. It’s named AboutTemplateA. Import this form into
your application and use it as a template for creating your own About box.

The About box should be accessible from a Help menu or from a button on your switchboard

form. The submenu title should be About My Application. Of course, substitute Your program name

here with your application’s actual name.

Bulletproofing an Application

Bulletproofing (or hardening) an application is the process of making the application more stable

and less prone to problems caused by unskilled users. Bulletproofing involves trapping errors that

Most users love pictures, and most developers love to use pictures on buttons. Studies have shown that

clear and concise pictures are more intuitive and are more easily recognized than textual captions.

Most developers, however, are not graphic artists and usually slap together buttons made from any clip-

art images that are handy. These ugly buttons make an application look clumsy and unprofessional. In

addition, pictures that don’t clearly show the function of the button make the application harder to use.

Select or create pictures that end users will easily recognize. Avoid abstract pictures or pictures that

require specific knowledge to understand them. If your budget permits, consider hiring a professional

design firm to create your button pictures. A number of professional image galleries and tools to create

and edit buttons are available.

Picture buttons that are well thought out can really make your application look outstanding, as well as

make it easier to use.

Making the most of pictures