Form Custom Menus

[Guest]

I'm using Access 2003. I'd like to create custom menus for my apps.
Normally, I'd use combo-boxes, command buttons, etc. to accomplish things
like filtering data, launching reports, etc. I'm thinking that custom menus
could alleviate a lot of the form "clutter".

For instance, one app I have lists the directors in my firm and the cases
they are working on. Instead of having a listbox or combobox with each
director's name that the user would select causing an event to trigger (say
filtering all cases for the selected director), I would rather have a menu
item that says "Filter" with all the director's names that the user can
select from. This way, you eliminate having a listbox or combobox on the
form - space that I could use to show other things. Does this make sense?

My apps almost always use pop-up forms, with the database window hidden. I
think pop-up forms are cleaner (as you can adjust the size of the form to fit
the controls of that particular form, etc.). However, I'm not sure how one
would go about using custom menus, toolbars, or shortcuts.

I assume custom menus are not an option in this case - I don't know how you
have a menu appear in a form. Is this possible? Maybe a toolbar or shortcut
would be better.

I'd like your thoughts/suggestions/opinions on the matter, and would be
interested in what has worked for you.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

I don't know much about menus, etc but I know how to save space. I create a
subform and make it not visible. The subform contains all extraneous
information. I then add an icon on the main form and on the onclick or
mousedown event set the form I want the user to see to "visible". I added
about 12 subforms (stacked on top of each other) with each containing help
text for the controls on my main form. Saved a lot of space and helped me
work aroudn menus etc which I know I need to tackle.