1. OK, as asked, that's sort of impossible. I think that even a straight
VB shell would need to load Access to get to the tables. But, I think that
what you are getting at is that you don't want it to LOOK like you're
opening Access. The complete answer depends on how fancy you want to get.
You can create the aforementioned VB shell (IMHO, a bad proposition, as you
would be duplicating a lot of the work Access has already done for you).
You can create a shortcut to the database that uses an icon that is not the
standard Access icon.
But, I think the most important thing you are driving at is hiding the
database window (the window that shows you all the objects in the database).
To do this, go to Tools > Startup. Look for the Display Database Window
option, and uncheck it. Now, the window will not appear at startup. To
make sure the database will do something when it starts, you need to specify
a default form in the field directly above that. Switchboard is a pretty
common choice, if you're using that.
As a note, you can show the database window at any time by pressing F11. If
you have some savvy users you want to keep out of that, you can uncheck the
Use Access Special Keys box in the Startup options. Note that, unless you
take certain other precautions, holding down the Shift key while you open
the database will bypass anything you have specified in the Startup options.
2. I'm assuming you mean in a form? If so, look in the properties for the
form. The Record Selectors option controls the record information on the
side, and the Navigation Buttons option controls the information on the
bottom.
HTH,
Marshall Smith
Project Developers, Inc.
