How to search for records using a form

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Guest

The "Contacts" example database in Access 2000 has a switchboard option to
find records. It pulls up a blank form, you enter data, and it finds the
records and you can edit them. Looks like it is using some FilterByForms
functionality.

I want to do this with my database, but do not possess any VB skills. Can
anyone help?
 
In your form, click on the field that you want to search by, and at the
top--in the toolbar--there is a pair of binoculars. Click on that, and then
enter the information you want to find (it is sensitive, so if you don't have
ALL of it, use the *) and click "find next".
You can also set up a query and a report to search by different fields if
you want to see multiple entries at once; or if you want a print-out of more
than one entry so you know to change all of them.
Does that work?
Melissa
 
Thank you. Will this allow users to enter whatever data they want into
fields to find records?

P.S. sorry about all the postings - MS kept giving me errors.
 
Sorry for the delay, the website wouldn't let me post this afternoon:

You can type anything in the search box; it will only search in the active
field (below where you type in what you want there is a field called "Look
In" and it decides what field in your data to search). We have multiple
fields in our database and use it to search by job number (if job number is
in "Look In" field) or by address, or by description, or by customer name...
whatever you want. And you can enter ANY text in. For example if I wanted to
know the job number for a project at 235 Smith Street, I could click on the
address field, click search and enter the full address, or "235 Smith*" or
even "235*" and it would find the next record with that information. In our
case, if there is more than one project that has 235 in the address, it will
go through them in order of how they were entered into the database, so you
have to be careful that you put in as much as possible or be careful about
the record it pulls up first, as you might often get the wrong record first.
The biggest problem we have run into is that some people enter addresses
with a dash, so 235 Smith Street would look like 235-Smith Street. And if you
search for "235 Smith Street" it won't find it, because it doesn't think it
matches. This is where the * comes in handy.
The reason I suggest this method is that it pulls the record right into the
form, so you can make changes right away. And this works in ALL forms, and on
ANY field (as long as it's enabled), so it gives you a lot more flexibility
than running a query and report--as this would give you the information, but
not allow you to change it once you've found it.
If you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask.

Melissa
 
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