Creating Data Access Pages

See Also

A data access page is a special type of Web page designed for viewing and working with data from the Internet or an intranet — data that is stored in an Access database or a SQL Server database.

Designing a data access page is similar to designing forms and reports — you use a field list, the toolbox, controls, the Sorting and Grouping dialog box, and so on. However, there are some significant differences in the way you design and interact with data access pages as opposed to forms and reports. For information about this new technology, see the Access 2000 online Help.

After you have created your solution database and have the tables and views required for data entry, you can create the data access pages using the Page editor in Access 2000.

Tip   The first time you save your data access page, save it to the Web site for the team solution. For details, see Saving a Data Access Page to a Web.

To create a new data access page using a wizard in Access

1. Open your team solution in Access. For details, see Selecting the Data Source.
   
   
2. In the Access Objects list, click Pages, and then double-click the Create data access page by using wizard option.
   
   
3. From the Tables/Views list, select the view for the table that will be accessed using the Web page. For example, for the Issue Tracking solution, select IssuesView.
   
   
4. From the Available Fields list, add the columns you want to display on the Web page to the Selected Fields list.

   Important   For the workflow toolbar to function, you must include the column storing the workflowID.

5. Click Finish.
   
   
6. Right-click on the list of columns on the page to open the properties window, and then select the Data tab.
   
   
7. In the UniqueTable property, add the name of the base table associated with the view. For example, in the Issue Tracking solution, the base table for IssuesView is Issues.

   Important   This step is essential, because it ensures the base table can be updated. If the UniqueTable property is already filled in, remove the dbo if required, so only the table name remains listed.

Laying Out the Fields for a Summary View

The data access page wizard organizes your columns in a vertical list. You can format your Web page in any way you want. To display more than one issue at a time, you should use a horizontal layout for your summary view of the issues.

To create a horizontal layout, you must insert a caption section and rearrange the column fields in a row. For more information about designing data access Web pages, see the Access online Help.

To create a summary data access page

1. Open your solution in Access.
   
   
2. Click Pages, and double-click Create data access page by using wizard.
   
   
3. Select the view for the table that will be accessed using the Web page.
   
   
4. Add a single column, and click Finish.
   
   
5. From the View menu, select Sorting and Grouping to display the Sorting and Grouping window.
   
   
6. Set the Caption Section property to Yes. A Caption area is added to the data access page.
   
   
7. Cut the label from the existing field on your page, and paste it into the Caption area.
   
   
8. From the View menu, select Field List to display the Field List window.
   
   
9. Drag the fields you want to display to the Header area of the page. For each field, cut the associated label, and paste it into the Caption area. Position the fields so they line up in a single row at the top of the Header section, as shown in the following figure.

   Note   You can resize the fields as necessary to fit them within the section.

10. Select the Header section, and resize it to a single row as shown here.

    

Adjusting Data Access Page Size

If you want to adjust the page so only a certain number of rows are displayed at a time, you can adjust the Data Page Size property.

1. With the page open in Design view, from the View menu, select Sorting and Grouping to display the Sorting and Grouping window.
   
   
2. In the Data Page Size property, enter 10.

   Ten rows of data will be displayed at one time on the page.