Create menu for instruction on how to use database when opened for the first time

[bwhite]

I have an access database application that is used to calculate landed
costs for foreign goods imported into vartious countries. I am trying
to determine an approach so that a user will be prompted through a form
the first time they open the database to read through instructions for
how to use the application. Then once they have read through the
instructions, they can select a check box so that access will not open
that form at open.

Any advice to how to approach this would be appreciated.

[Rick Wannall]

If you want a simple do/don't display the help setting, open Northwind.mdb
(comes with access) and hunt through modules for "HideStartupForm".

If you want it by user, you have to learn how to sense the user or write a
login form of your own, then store the equivalent of what you find in
Northwind in a table rather than as a database property.

[Larry Linson]

<bw****@wsgc.com> wrote

. . . I am trying to determine an approach
so that a user will be prompted through a
form the first time they open the database
to read through instructions for how to
use the application. Then once they have
read through the instructions, they can
select a check box so that access will not
open that form at open.

First thing I'd suggest is that you carefully review your UI design to see
if you can't modify or simplify the way the application works to make it
more intuitive. I have, just recently, seen several applications that
perform the function intended, but don't make it easy for the user... that
is the user must know the procedure to be able to make the choices of what
to do, when. In at least a couple of those, it was evident to me that some
relatively minor changes (using a few forms, in order, rather than one
'busy' with all the choices, or even retaining the busy form, but
controlling which controls were enabled depending on the stage of the
process) would have eliminated the need for most of the user training the
application owners would have to do.

Rick's suggestion is a good one.

Unrelated to the specific question you asked, however, there is an article
on using HTML pages (not Microsoft's HTML Help) for displaying user help at
http://www.datapigtechnologies.com/. I haven't used this, but it does seem
to be an interesting approach, and I plan to give it a try in the near
future.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP