Introduction to the Microsoft Access 2007 Navigation Pane

If you're familiar with Access 2003 and earlier, you may wonder where the database window is in Microsoft Access 2007. Unlike previous versions of Access, Microsoft Access 2007 no longer uses the database window. Instead, Microsoft introduces the Navigation Pane.

Differences

Microsoft wanted Office 2007 to be more user-friendly. Granted, many users prefer the older design if for no other reason than they already understood and were familiar with the design.

The biggest difference between the database window and Navigation Pane is location. The database window was located in the center of the Access window and could be expanded to encompass most of the screen. The Navigation Pane appears on the left side of the screen and can be opened or closed while still working on your database.

Another difference and one I think Microsoft finally got right is the organization. In the database window, you selected an object, such as Queries, and you could view a list of created queries. In the Navigation Pane, you can view a list of all created object, but now you can sort by category and even display objects by relationships.

Opening and Closing

You can open or close the Navigation Pane by either pressing "F11" or pressing the Shutter Bar Open/Close button on the Navigation Pane. This button looks like a double arrow on the left side of the screen.

Open database objects in one of two ways as well. First, select an item from the Navigation Pane. Double-click it to open it. Second, select an object and drag it to the Access 2007 work area, which is in the center of the Access window. If you want to open an item in Design View, right click it and choose "Design View."

Organization and Sorting

By default, the Navigation Pane is sorted by All Access Objects as the category, with the groups being the familiar Tables, Queries, Forms and Reports. There are four other categories to sort your Navigation Pane by including: Tables and Related Views, Object Type, Created Date and Modified Date and Custom. Custom allows you to create your own view type. Press the arrow beside "All Access Objects" at the top of the Navigation Pane to view or change your category.

After selecting a category, you can also sort objects within the list. Right click the top of the Navigation Pane to view sort options such as the View Type, which includes Details, List and Icon.

If you need to find a database object quickly, the Navigation Pane in Access 2007 provides a search feature. Right click the Navigation Pane and choose "Search Bar." Enter your search term. Items are eliminated as you type.

In addition to the custom categories, you can also create custom groups. For instance, if you wanted to group all objects related to a certain customer, you would create a group with the customer name that includes all tables, queries, forms and reports associated with that customer. Custom groups and categories can be created by right clicking the Navigation Pane and choosing either "Categories" or "Groups for category name" and choose "Add Item."

One thing to note is when you assign an object to a custom group or category a shortcut is created. You can only delete shortcuts from the groups, not the actual object. You must view the original "All Access Objects" category before you can delete objects.

Conclusion

The Access 2007 Navigation Pane is actually user friendly, but does take a little getting used to. Once you get the hang of it, managing database objects is much easier than before.