Sample data · this browser only

Search form

Access frmSearch is PopUp + Modal — same idea as the date picker calendar. Boxes declare the field (control Tag), not If LastName. Find opens the search form; Show Selected Record writes that contact back to the card.

Popup find · What this demo shows · Demos

Contact

Read-only card (Access frmContacts). Find writes the selected contact back, like the date picker writes a date.

Name

Address

Notes

What this demo shows

Download the Access file (popup find form, named-control search — Access 2007+).

NiftyAccessSearchForm.zip

A popup find form whose boxes are the query — Access frmSearch / fBuildWhere.

  • Popup — Access PopUp + Modal. Find opens one dialog (same overlay as the date picker), not a search strip baked into the page.
  • Named controls — each box has data-field (Access Tag). Add a box in HTML and it joins the search. No If LastName branch.
  • abc* / *abc* / *abc — starts with, contains, ends with per box. Access option groups (opttxts…) are option buttons, not a drop-down.
  • Narrow popup — same width as the date picker. The results list shows First name, Last name, Organisation; the card holds the rest.
  • Current / Archived / AllDeletedRec, same as Access optRecords.
  • Show Selected Record — Perform Search fills the popup list (sfrmSearch); Show Selected Record (or double-click) writes that contact back to the three-panel card and closes, as btnSeeDetail closes frmSearch.
  • No SQL from typing — criteria are field, value, mode. The demo filters rows in this browser. A database would take the same parameters.

Will this work when the data is in a database?

Yes. The find screen still walks named boxes. The engine would receive parameters (or a saved query), not a string built from the text boxes. The contact card would use that result as its record source, as the Access demo does.

Sample data only. Not a live production system. Tony’s search-form pattern, 2006 / this demo 2026.

Search Form

Empty boxes are skipped. Option buttons are abc* / *abc* / *abc (Access opttxts).

Double-click a row to write it back (Access sfrmSearch).

First Last Org