Strategies for creating data access pages

Use a PivotTable list to analyze data because it allows you to reorganize the data in different ways. You can bind a PivotTable list to data in the database or use data from a Microsoft Excel worksheet. You can use the PivotTable list as the only control on a data access page or use it with other controls.

• When using a PivotTable list on an ungrouped page, place the PivotTable list and other controls either in the body or in a section of the page.
• Decide if you want to allow users to add, edit, or delete data, and then set the group level properties accordingly.
• When using a PivotTable list on a grouped data access page:
  • Place the PivotTable list and bound controls in a section.
  • Make sure the PivotTable list is in the lowest group level.
  • If the PivotTable list is the only control in a section, delete or hide the navigation section for the group level that the PivotTable list is in.

You can create a data access page on which users can enter, edit, and delete data in the database. Key points to keep in mind when creating a page for data entry:

• Use individual controls, such as text boxes, list boxes, drop-down list boxes, option groups, option buttons, and check boxes.
• Place controls either in the body or in a section of the page. You can delete a section if you don't use it.
• Use the Spreadsheet Component to create a spreadsheet to perform one or more calculations on the fields in a record. You can display the calculated values in the spreadsheet or hide the spreadsheet and display the calculated values in bound span controls.
• Determine how users can use the data access page by customizing the record navigation toolbar.

You can use the Chart Component to create a chart to analyze trends, show patterns, and make comparisons on the data in your database, or use the Spreadsheet Component, in which you can enter and edit data and use formulas to perform some of the same calculations you can do in Microsoft Excel.

• When using a spreadsheet on an ungrouped data access page, place the spreadsheet and other controls either in the body or in a section of the page.
• When using a spreadsheet on a grouped data access page, place the spreadsheet and other controls bound to fields in the database in a section. You can use a spreadsheet in any group level.

Data access pages give you a way to interact with large amounts of data in a selective way. By expanding and collapsing groups of records, users can focus only on the data that they want to see. Keep the following points in mind when you create a grouped page:

• Place bound controls in a section.
• In the lowest group level, use individual controls or a PivotTable list to display detail records.
• Remove unneeded buttons from the record navigation toolbar.
• Set the properties of the group levels to make them read-only.
• To make loading the data access page in Microsoft Internet Explorer faster:
  • Use bound span controls instead of text boxes.

    Security  Use bound span controls or hyperlink controls with caution. Unauthorized users may be able to insert harmful HTML text into these controls. Processing this text without validation or modification could result in the loss of personal information or other data. To prevent the HTML text contained in a control from being rendered, encode the contents of the control.

  • Set the ExpandedByDefault property to False for all group levels.
  • Set the DataPageSize property of the group levels to a low rather than a high number. The lower the number, the faster the records are displayed.