HOW TO: Open Microsoft Access 2000 to a Specific Form by Using a Shortcut

This article describes how you can create two types of shortcuts on the Windows 95 or later desktop, both of which start an Access database and open to a form of your choosing. You can create such a shortcut either by dragging the form from the Database window to the desktop or by using the /cmd command-line switch.

CAUTION: If you follow the steps in this example, you modify the sample database Northwind.mdb. You may want to back up the Northwind.mdb file and follow these steps on a copy of the database.

Method 1

You can drag a form from the Database window directly to the desktop. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb.
2. Select the Customers form in the Database window.
3. Restore and position Microsoft Access so that you can see both the desktop and Microsoft Access.
4. Drag the Customers form to the desktop. Note that you now have a shortcut on your desktop named "Shortcut to Customers in Northwind."
5. Close Microsoft Access.
6. Double-click the shortcut on the desktop. Note that Microsoft Access starts with the Customers form of the sample database Northwind.mdb open.

Method 2

The following example demonstrates how you can create two shortcuts that start Access and open either the Orders or the Employees form:

1. Right-click the desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
2. In the Create Shortcut dialog box, create the following two shortcuts (one at a time) with the following command-lines:
   
   NOTE: In the following example, an underscore (_) at the end of a line is used as a line-continuation character. Remove the underscore from the end of the line when re-creating this sample.

      C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Msaccess.exe _
      C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Samples\Northwind.mdb _
      /cmd "Orders"
   						

      C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Msaccess.exe _
      C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Samples\Northwind.mdb _
      /cmd "Employees"
   						

   NOTE: These shortcuts assume that Microsoft Access is installed in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\ folder.
3. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb and create the following function in a new module:

   Function CheckCommandLine()
       ' Check value returned by Command function.
       If Command = "Orders" Then
            DoCmd.OpenForm "Orders"
       ElseIf Command = "Employees" Then
            DoCmd.OpenForm "Employees"
       Else
       Exit Function
       End If
    End Function
   					

4. Create a new macro as follows and save it as AutoExec:
   Action
   -------
   RunCode
   
   AutoExec Actions
   -----------------------------------
   RunCode
   
   Function Name: CheckCommandLine()
5. Close Microsoft Access. On the desktop, double-click the first shortcut. Note that Microsoft Access starts with the Orders form of the sample database Northwind.mdb open.
6. Close Microsoft Access. On the desktop, double-click the second shortcut. Note that Microsoft Access starts with the Employees form of the sample database Northwind.mdb open.

If you click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the Advanced tab, you will see the /cmd value in the Command-Line Arguments box.

For more information about command-line switches, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type command-line in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.