Microsoft Office 2000/Visual Basic Programmer's Guide

Access Templates

Templates in Access are different from templates for any other Office 2000 application. Instead of creating a template for a database (.mdb) file, you can create default templates for the forms and reports stored in a database, so that when you create a new form or report, it is automatically based on the default template. You can create a template for a form or a report in one of two ways:

• Create the form or report that you want to be the template, and save it with the name Normal to replace the default template.

  –or–

• Create the form or report that you want to be the template and save it with whatever name you want. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Forms/Reports tab, and then type the name of your template in the Form Template or Report Template box.

Note   Access saves the settings for the Form Template and Report Template options in your Access workgroup information file, not in your user database (the .mdb file). When you change an option setting, the change applies to any database you open or create. To see the name of the template that is currently used for new forms or reports, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the Forms/Reports tab.

To use your templates in other databases, copy or export the templates to them. If your templates are not in a database, Access uses the Normal template for any new forms and reports you create. However, the names of your templates appear in the Form Template and Report Template options in every database in your database system, even if the templates are not in every database.