Form with loads of buttons - ideas please

[Vayse]

Hi
I'm looking for ideas. I've just taken over a project.
The database layout is like this: There is a clients table, and 28 linked
tables.
Each of these tables covers a different aspect of the clients business.

At the moment, there is frmClient, with a tab control. The tab control has
28 tabs, each with a sub form. Each sub form is based on one of the tables.
This loads slowly, and also is near the max number of controls allowed on a
form.

I'm looking for a better way. A table redesign is out of the question, btw.
I'm definite I want to remove the subforms.

So far, here's what I thought of:
1) Add a menu system.
Group similiar forms (eg Sales, Overland Sales, Salesmen) together on a
menu, and user navigates this.
For example, user would click Menu->Sales->Salesmen
Not sure if this is a great idea though, as it would require a lot of
navigation by the user

2) Load of Buttons
Have 28 buttons.Each button opens a form.
I could use labels with an OnClick event, rather than command buttons, and
maybe group the buttons by colour?
28 seems like a lot of buttons though, could be difficult for the user to
find what he is looking for.

Its important to get this right, as we all know appearance is a big factor
for users.
If anyone has suggestions, I'd appreciate it. If you have done something
similiar, with a neat solution, and have a screenshot somewhere - please let
me know.

Thanks
Diarmuid

 

[Guest]

It is no suprise the form in it's current configuration loads slowly. If
there are 28 tabs each with a subform, it has to load all 28 recordsets.
I have a suggestion that will improve performance and be easy for the user
to navigate.

I would have one form and one subform control. In design mode of the form,
I would bind the subform control to the subform that is most commonly used.
I would add a combo box with a value list row source and create a list of all
the subforms the user will have access to. It would be a 2 column combo. In
one column would be the name of the subform to load. I would hide this
column The other would be a description the user would see and use to make
the selection.

Then, in the After Update of the combo, load the subform you want. Here is
some example code:

'This line loads the ChartOfAccounts sub form
Me.fsubTableEdit.SourceObject = "frmsubChartOfAccounts"

DoCmd.Maximize

'Here it sets the width of the subform control to accomodate the size of the
subform. You could also set height if necessary.

Me.fsubTableEdit.Width = 5616

 

[Vayse]

Thanks, interesting idea. In general, the subform link would be ClientID,
and I could set that through code where necessary.

 

[Guest]

Yes you could. You could set the Link Master Fields and Link Child Fields in
code when you change subforms.
The best part about this approach is load time. When a form has a lot of
code and/or a lot of data to load, it appears slow to the user.