Checking view design

• Is there a default view for the database?

  If not, double-click the view that should be the default and choose Design - View Properties. Click the Options tab and select "Default view when database is first opened."

• Is there a view that is displayed by date?

  If not, add a view that sorts documents by date, so users can view documents in chronological order, or choose a sort value on the Sorting tab of the Column Properties box, or create a date column in an existing view that the user can sort in both ascending and descending directions.

• Do all views appear correctly on the View menu? Are the appropriate keyboard shortcuts used? Do the views appear in the correct order?

  If not, check the names and the "Show in View Menu" selection in the View Properties box.

• Is the information in the view easy to read?

  If the view appears cluttered or the columns are too close together, reset the column width and justification.

• Are all the documents that should be in the view displayed, or are too many documents displayed?

  If the view is not displaying the correct documents, check the view selection formula.

• Are response documents indented?

  If not and you want to indent responses, select "Show response documents in a hierarchy" on the Options tab of the View Properties box and create a column for responses.

• Do response documents correspond to the correct main documents?

  If not, check the view selection formula; also be sure that the responses-only column is placed directly to the left of the column that displays the main document information.

• If the view uses categories, do the categories appear correctly?

  If not, create a sorted, categorized column and use the name of the appropriate keywords field as its formula.

• If the view uses a form formula, do selected documents use the correct form?

  If not, verify that the view uses a form formula.

• Check cross-platform compatibility. Are all fonts used in this view available (or approximated) on all platforms? Are column widths sufficient for all platforms? Did you use platform-specific terms where appropriate?

  Make the application layout as generic as possible to suit all platforms.

• If needed, does the view have a read access list?

  To create a read access list, select the Security tab in the View Properties box.

• Are columns displaying in the correct color and highlighting?
• If documents can be expanded, are twisties displayed?

Checking columns

• Is the information in each column correct?

  If not, check the formulas in the column definitions.

• Is the column returning values of the appropriate data type?

  If not, check the field formula. Columns display only simple text; therefore, you may need to use @TEXT in the formula to display values from numbers or time fields.

• Is each column displaying all the information that is contained in it?

  If not, you may need to adjust the column width and/or the font used to display the column.

• If you are using a date format in a column, have you accommodated 4-digit years?
• Are the contents of columns aligned properly?

  For example, numbers should be right-justified; text should be left-justified or centered. Check the justification for each column.

• Are documents in the correct order?

  If not, make sure that you sort on the correct columns, and that you chose the correct sort order (ascending or descending).

• Are documents supposed to be numbered?

  If so, create a new view that has a column in the left-most position that sorts in ascending order and uses @DocNumber for its formula.

• Are columns displaying the correct color and highlighting?

  If not, select "Use value as color" on the Info tab of the Column Properties box.

• If documents can be expanded, are twisties displaying?

  If not, select "Show twistie when row is expandable" in the Column Properties box.