On Fri, 29 Oct 2004 05:39:01 -0700, Jenn Connors <Jenn
I am trying to create a switchboard for the 1st time and when I go to open it
I get an error. the form name 'switchboard' is misspelled or refers to a form
that doesn't exist. What happened? Please help.
Jenn, welcome to the wonderful world of Switchboards. I don't know
why you got the error but it may be that you didn't complete or carry
out all steps of the Switchboard Wizard.
No harm done, we'll just do it again
- delete the form called "SwitchBoard"
- delete the table called "Switchboard Items"
- run the wizard and complete all the steps including specifying at
least one switchboard page.
Having done that simple thing, here is a look at the Switchboard and
some things not well explained in Help
------------ Switchboard Manager -------------------------------
SwitchBoards - People either love them or hate them. we love them
here and here's why. Don't dismiss them out of hand just because
they're unfamiliar ... take a little time, it's a new trick you might
like. If not, no problem.
Switchboard IS just a bunch of Forms with command buttons, except that
all the coding has already been done for you - and when you look
behind the form, you'll see just how much!
What the Switchboard Manager does is allow you to quickly and easily
add, delete or modify the buttons on your Form(s). It produces a user
interface that is intuitive to the user. It can be modified in 30
seconds if it's not intuitive. Lastly, it is difficult to mess it up.
The Switchboard Manager allows you to build an unlimited number of
related Menu Forms (some of ours go 7 levels deep). The interface is
clear and understandable and all the hard coding (and there is a LOT
of it) has been done for you.
The key to it is understanding the way the Switchboard Manager works
... and I have to say, it takes a couple of hours to nut it out if you
haven't been there. We have, so I happily pass on what we found in
"about Switchboard". In addition, we have discovered an undocumented
feature that transforms the clarity of the menus for users, see
"Switchboard Menu Naming" below.
--------- about Switchboard ------------------
Switchboards will only take a maximum of 8 entries on each page. We
consider this too many options to present a user with and so we try to
limit the options on any one page to 4 or 5 for clarity of
understanding and use. This means that on each switchboard the
buttons are most likely to take you to another sub-switchboard. Some
of our systems go 7 deep like this in a logical progression.
As soon as you get the mental picture of how it all works, it becomes
incredibly useful and incredibly easy to develop with.
One of the keys to understanding how switchboard interface works is
realising that when you go into Switchboard Manager the first pane
that you see contains ALL the switchboard forms of your menu system.
They are listed alphabetically but show none of the relationships
about which one belongs to which other one.
From the opening pane in Switchboard Manager you have to do two
things- create all of the new Switchboards you think you'll need right
there in the main pane of Switchboard Manager and THEN
- edit each Switchboard Form that your new switchboards are going to
be called from and add them as button items
Then there are a couple of design niceties that work well ...
- We have found that our designs work because the last button(s) on
every switchboard menu page is a "<- Back to {previous switchboard}".
So once switchboard is open you can go forward and back just clicking
buttons
- Make the Switchboard Form properties so that the form can't be
closed (Form->Design->Properties->Format->Close Button = No)
Switchboard gets some bad press in this group and I suspect that it's
mainly because some people have struggled to understand it - as did I.
But now we can make it dance to our tune, we would use nothing else.
------------ Switchboard Menu Naming -------------------------------
There is an undocumented trick with Menu Page Naming that suddenly
transforms the visual referencing of all Switchboard Menus
One of the frustrating things about the standard Switchboard Form is
that no matter what menu in the tree you are in, the Caption on every
single page reads the same, like "My Company Menu System". This is
just nuts when you happen to be in the "Employee Records" menu.
We've found a way around it where the title of the menu page you are
in is displayed at the top.
All of a sudden, the system makes sense. You only have to do this
once after the Form has been created and then it works on every
existing menu page and every new one you create.
- Open the Switchboard Form in design view
- Delete the big Label control at the top "[Label1]" and its shadow
"[Label2]"
- Replace it with a TextBox and set the font's & colours you want
- make the ControlSource = ItemText
Done. This will insert the title of that page at the top of each
menu as you migrate through. The ItemText value is that which you see
in the first pane of the Switchboard Manager. It is the name you gave
that page when you created it. You can see and modify that name in
the Switchboard table.
This is so simple, I just think that its something MS overlooked and
haven't been made aware of since.
Brett
Cheers,
Brett
