Finding things fast with the Base navigation pane and search

Every Base database is made of parts: tables for the records, queries for questions, forms for entering and viewing, reports for printing, and scripts for the logic behind buttons. The navigation pane in Base by Zaweba keeps them all in one list down the side of the window, so the whole database is within reach without hunting through menus.

It is the first thing most people use and the thing they use most, so a few habits around it make daily work smoother.

Searching as you type

Type in the pane's search box and the list narrows to the names that match. In a small database that hardly matters, but once you have thirty queries and a dozen reports it saves a lot of scrolling. Type "invoice" and you see the invoices table, the invoice form, the unpaid invoices query and the invoice report together, whatever kind of thing they are.

That works best when names are consistent. If everything about members includes the word "member" in its name, a search for it finds the whole set.

Opening things

Double-click an item to open it, whatever kind of thing it is. That one gesture covers most of a working day: the members table to check an address, the renewals query to see who is due, the invoice form to add a sale.

A saved action query is different. Double-clicking one runs it, because running is what an action query is for. Base still tells you how many records it will change and asks before going ahead, so you can say no, but it is a good reason to name action queries clearly, perhaps starting with a word like Update or Delete, so nobody double-clicks one expecting a list.

Setting the start-up form

Right-click a form in the pane and you can make it the start-up form, the one shown whenever the database is opened. It is the quickest way to change which screen greets people, and it sits alongside the same setting in the Database menu.

Naming for a tidy pane

Good names make the pane work for you. Use plain words that say what something is for: "Members due to renew" rather than "qry3". Start related items with the same word so they sort together and search together. Keep names short enough to read without widening the pane.

It also helps to delete things you no longer use. Old test queries and draft forms clutter the list and confuse anyone else who opens the database. Before deleting, check that no button, report or form relies on the item.

How it fits with a switchboard

The navigation pane is for whoever builds and looks after the database. A switchboard or start-up form is for everyone else. Many databases use both: the person in charge works from the pane, with its full list and search, while occasional users start on a menu form with plain buttons and never need to see the pane's longer list.

For your own work, though, the pane plus its search box is usually the fastest route to anything. Learn to type the first few letters of what you want and double-click, and most of Base is two seconds away.