When entering this particular data set it's easier for them not to lift
their hands from the KB to click on a button or even to have to TAB or
Enter
down to a Button to move to the next Tab (believe me otherwise I would -
as
much for speed considerations).
Why not just set the focus to the next tab automatically when they leave the
last field on the current screen? That way NO additional keystrokes are
needed.
On the last field of the current section, just place a very small button
(and, place a arrow head, or some other nice image on the button). Make sure
this button is in the tab order, and comes right after the last text box
control. Then when the user hits enter, or tab, you put code in the button
on-enter event to flip to the next tab, and set the focus to the top most
field. So, using tabs is a great solution, and your users will NOT have to
type any extra, or more keystrokes then they do with one big huge long and
hard to use form.. It also means that simply navigation should flip between
each tab. Further, perhaps you might just code the page up/page down keys to
flip to each tab, or even use ctrl-right arrow key, and ctrl-left arrow key
to move around.