Checkboxes

  • Thread starter Thread starter jake
  • Start date Start date
J

jake

I have a paper form with 17 different checkboxes
(Sex -> Male,Female)
(City Type --> City, Village, Township)
Military (Yes, No, unknown)
etc...
I can't use a "checkbox" from Access because I don't need black box
around the "check" (RIGHT?)- So what is the best solution to filling
out 17 different checkboxes without using a "Checkbox"...

Thanks for your help.
Jake
 
Put a text box on your report, bound to the Yes/No field.
For its Font, choose Wingdings.
In its Format property type 3 characters:
;
\
Hold down Alt, and type 0252 on the numeric keypad.

This works because Access uses 0 for False, and -1 for True.
You can set 3 or 4 parts in the Format property, separated by semicolons.

The first is for positive numbers. You entered nothing before the first
semicolon, so the box shows nothing for zero, i.e. it is blank when False.

The second format is for negative numbers. You asked for the literal
character (specified by the backslash) of 252. In the Wingdings font, that's
an unboxed check mark. You can see that for yourself if you have the
Character Map applet loaded.
 
I don't understand your question. You want to print a report. Items
checked would show a checkmark, items not checked would show a box.

Are you saying that you want just a check without the box around it? Why?
It should be obvious to anyone that a box with a check is true and an empty
box is false.

If you had a real old fashioned paper form, when the submitter took a pencil
and 'checked' an option, the black box would not magically disappear from
the form.

Am I missing the point of your question?

Rick B


I have a paper form with 17 different checkboxes
(Sex -> Male,Female)
(City Type --> City, Village, Township)
Military (Yes, No, unknown)
etc...
I can't use a "checkbox" from Access because I don't need black box
around the "check" (RIGHT?)- So what is the best solution to filling
out 17 different checkboxes without using a "Checkbox"...

Thanks for your help.
Jake
 
Even though you have check boxes on the paper form, does not mean you have
to emulate that in your database design. Having 17 Yes/No fields is a BIG
mistake. You should have a field called Sex that allows the values "Male"
and "Female". Put these values in a combo box and restrict the combo to the
List. Same goes for CityType and Military and any other field which has
mutually exclusive values.

Why do this?

Well, suppose you need to add a new CityType. To add this you would have to
1) create a new Yes/No field 2) add a new checkbox to the form 3) add the
new field to ALL queries using this table 4) add a new value to each report
5) add the new field to any code ... and so forth.

If you have just a CityType field with a list of possible values (stored
either in a combo box or in a table), then all you need to do is add your
new value and you are done.

On my website is a small sample database called "ReallyBadDatabase.mdb"
which shows a database which uses too many Yes/No fields. There is another
called "ReallyBadDatabaseReborn.mdb" which show how it *should* be done.
 
Roger:

Very good point! I got all wrapped up in the issue and did not think about
the fact that the basic underying design was flawed.

Rick B


Even though you have check boxes on the paper form, does not mean you have
to emulate that in your database design. Having 17 Yes/No fields is a BIG
mistake. You should have a field called Sex that allows the values "Male"
and "Female". Put these values in a combo box and restrict the combo to the
List. Same goes for CityType and Military and any other field which has
mutually exclusive values.

Why do this?

Well, suppose you need to add a new CityType. To add this you would have to
1) create a new Yes/No field 2) add a new checkbox to the form 3) add the
new field to ALL queries using this table 4) add a new value to each report
5) add the new field to any code ... and so forth.

If you have just a CityType field with a list of possible values (stored
either in a combo box or in a table), then all you need to do is add your
new value and you are done.

On my website is a small sample database called "ReallyBadDatabase.mdb"
which shows a database which uses too many Yes/No fields. There is another
called "ReallyBadDatabaseReborn.mdb" which show how it *should* be done.
 
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