Editing and Testing Hyperlinks in an Access 2007 Database
The first article in this series introduced the types of hyperlinks recognized by Access 2007. The second article discussed adding hyperlinks to an Access by formatting the data type of a data table’s field. The third article showed you how to format the actual hyperlinks in Access 2007. This final article of the series shows you how to edit and test your hyperlinks to ensure that they contain the data you want and that they work as expected.
How to Edit Hyperlinks in an Access 2007 Database
As discussed in the previous article, Access 2007 hyperlinks contain one mandatory and three optional components. Over time, you may find it necessary to edit your Access hyperlinks to account for changes in document locations, changes in how hyperlinks will be used in the database, and changes that occur when more information is available about a hyperlink.
It is not necessary to type in a hyperlink again when you want to change something. Access 2007 has a built-in hyperlink editor function that can save you time when hyperlink information has to change. This built-in hyperlink editor is also useful for correcting errors in the formation of hyperlinks.
Start by opening the table that contains the hyperlink you want to edit. Right click on the hyperlink and in the box that opens, click on HYPERLINK and then click on EDIT HYPERLINK (see Figure 1). This opens the EDIT HYPERLINK window (see Figure 2).
In this window, you can change just about anything about the hyperlinks in your Access 2007 database. Recall that the only mandatory component of a hyperlink is the address itself. You can change the address using the ADDRESS box located at the bottom of the window. You can use the LOOK IN box to locate files locally. Also, notice that there is a button to REMOVE HYPERLINK if you decide you no longer need the link.
At the top of the window, you can change the text that displays in the cell where the hyperlink resides. This text can be anything and is useful when a Web address is quite long or if the link address itself is not descriptive enough to let a user of the database know where the hyperlink goes when clicked.
In the top right potion of the window is the SCREEN TIP button where you can specify what text Access 2007 will display when a user hovers his/her mouse over the hyperlink. Notice that these four things that you can change about a hyperlink are exactly the four components discussed in the previous article in this series.
Testing Hyperlinks in an Access 2007 Database
It may seem like a waste of time to test hyperlinks but you need to make sure that your database only contains clean data. Too often, hyperlinks in a database become stale or broken because the hyperlinks link to resources beyond the control of the database creator.
To test your hyperlinks, open up the table where the hyperlinks you want to test reside. Now, while in DATASHEET VIEW, click on a link and see if it goes where you expected. Remember that you must be connected to the network on which the document resides. Many of your hyperlinks will link to documents on the World Wide Web (web pages, files, etc.) so be sure your computer is connected to the Internet before you conclude whether your hyperlinks are working correctly or not.
Conclusion
Editing hyperlinks in an Access 2007 database is simply a matter of using the applications built in EDIT HYPERLINK window. There, you can change or add any of the four major components that make up a properly formed Access 2007 hyperlink (see the previous article for more information).
Testing Access 2007 hyperlinks is simply a matter of clicking on them and seeing if they connect to the correct document. Remember that you must be connected to the network on which the document resides in order for your hyperlinks to work. For testing hyperlinks that link to documents on the World Wide Web, be sure you are connected to Internet before you test your hyperlinks.
This post is part of the series: Adding, Formatting, Editing, and Testing Hyperlinks in an Access 2007 Database
The first article explores the different types of hyperlinks you can store in an Access 2007 database. The second article shows you how to add hyperlinks to Access 2007. The third article discusses formatting the hyperlinks. The fourth article shows you how to edit and test the hyperlinks.
