Microsoft Access 2010 : Creating a Drillthrough Macro

10/28/2011 6:43:04 PM

An exciting technique available with Access 2010 is the ability to easily create a drillthrough macro. With a drillthrough macro, you click an ID on a main form and it takes you to a detail form for the record associated with that ID. Here’s how it works:

1.	Click to select the parent table in the list of tables in the Navigation Pane. For this example, I will select the Orders table.
2.	Select Datasheet from the More Forms drop-down in the Forms group on the Create tab of the Ribbon. Access creates a datasheet form based on the Orders table (as shown in Figure 1). Figure 1. The datasheet form displays all of the table’s records in a datasheet.
3.	Save the form as frmOrdersDatasheet.
4.	Select the Order ID column on the form. This may require using the Object drop-down in the Property Sheet.
5.	Click the Build button for the On Dbl Click event of the text box. The Choose Builder dialog appears.
6.	Select Macro Builder and click OK. The macro appears as in Figure 2. Figure 2. The On Dbl Click event executes when the user double-clicks the designated object.
7.	Open the Action drop-down and select If from the list of available actions.
8.	Enter the If action to only execute the action that follows it if the Order ID contains a value (see Figure 3). Figure 3. The If action allows you to determine when the macro statements that follow it execute.
9.	Select the OpenForm action as the action you want to execute if the condition entered is true.
10.	Fill in the arguments of the OpenForm action to open the Order Details form where the Order ID equals that on the frmOrdersDatasheet form (see Figure 4). Figure 4. The completed statement opens the Order Details form, displaying the detail items for the selected order.
11.	Save and close the macro.
12.	Double-click the OrderID on the navigation form. The Order Details form should open, displaying data for the selected order.

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Microsoft Access 2010 : Creating a Drillthrough Macro

Figure 1. The datasheet form displays all of the table’s records in a datasheet.

Figure 2. The On Dbl Click event executes when the user double-clicks the designated object.

Figure 3. The If action allows you to determine when the macro statements that follow it execute.

Figure 4. The completed statement opens the Order Details form, displaying the detail items for the selected order.