Modifying the Journal Entry Form

In the previous posting, you have known already, how to create journal entry form using Form Wizard. But the result is a rough form of Journal Entry. We should reformat and add additional function in it. Now open form frmOpenTransactionJournalParent in design view, as depicted below:

Why We Should Use Parent and Child Table to Make a Journal Entry Form

There are several ways to create a table for recording transaction journal. Several software developers like to make a table that contains all the required fields in a single table of the journal, some other divide the table in 2 parts: the parent table and the child table. In essence, these two types of tables will give the same results. But in the process they are different.

Create a Form with Sub Form Using Form Wizard

Creating a form with a sub form in MS Access is best applied to the table that have the one-to-many relationship with another table. The objective is to eliminate redundancy in one or more fields in a table.

In general, tables that will be the form is a parent table, while the table to be used as a sub form is a child table that is relevant to the parent table. For example, forms invoices, bills, purchase orders, and various other forms that have a number of details of more than one item. Of the tables we have created, table tblOpenTransactionJournalParent will become a form with table tblOpenTransactionJournalChild that will become its sub form; table tblPermTransactionJournalParent and tblPermTransactionJournalChild are as well.

Create a Form Using Blank Form

If you want to create a form based on your own customized style, then you can create it by using Blank Form. MS Access  give much more flexibility on using Blank Form in designing a form. To create a form using Blank Form, do the following steps:

1. Click Create tab, on the Forms group click Blank Form icon. Access will display a blank form viewed in Layout View and Field List on the right.
2. Choose tblDerivativeAccount1 in the Field List. Point the mouse to the field DerivCode1. To put this field into the Layout View of the blank form, double click this field or drag it into the blank form. Do the same thing for field DerivName1.

Create a Form Using Form Wizard

Form is one of the user interface between users and database. In the case of MS Access database, the form is user interface between the user and the table. To add, delete, edit, and save a record, a user is not allowed (forbidden) to do so directly through the table. Database management systems such as MS Access, mySQL, SQL Server are an integrated database. So if we do edit a record directly in a table, other table(s) may be disturbed, so that the database may corrupt, become out of sync, or possibly be crashed. For that reasons, we should use form to add, delete, edit, and save a record. Other than that, form can be used as a navigation, guideline, even alert when an error occurred.