What is the difference between a Microsoft Access (hereinafter referred to as Access) database and a database application? The answer is "ease of use" and automation of previously repetitive navigation and access to your reports, calculations, and data look-up. Experienced Access users know that as a database grows and is used repetitively, ease of operation quickly becomes an issue as new queries produce specialized reports from previous models or as issues of consistent data entry begin to affect the quality of the growing amount of information that Access can manage for you.

This article is for experienced Access end-users who already know about database objects (tables, forms, queries, reports, macros) and who know how to format fields, design forms, and produce compiled reports from their database. I will assume that the reader is ready to migrate into the "application" phase of database management and just needs to learn the steps.

To make your database into an easier-to-use application you only need to do two things: 1) Create what is known as a "Switchboard" form. (A switchboard has "buttons" to navigate and open your forms, run your queries or reports, etc.); and 2) Make that switchboard form your default opening window.

Let's do some reverse engineering to get on the fast track to understanding the concept of the switchboard. You must have MS Office Professional installed on your computer or a separate copy of MS Access. You need to open MS Access to a null screen and click on "New From Template" option on the right Task Pane. Select "General Templates" and click on the "Databases" tab in the dialog box that opens. Double click any of the templates and follow the instructions and fill in the data entry options as necessary.

You will end up with the opening switchboard of the new database you created from the template. I selected the "Service Call Management" template, and Access created a ready-to-use database with a switchboard that makes the database easier to operate and navigate. To explore the structure of the switchboard, click on the Tools menu/Database Utilities/Switchboard Manager.

The Switchboard Manger option will open a dialog box that will allow you to explore what's going on simply by clicking on the "Edit" button in the Switchboard Edit page. Experienced users will recognize that the switchboard pages are groups of related buttons (a maximum of 8 per page). Once you get the hang of programming the switchboard, you'll

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