Access 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual

Using the Clipboard

Anyone who's spent much time using a Windows computer is familiar with the clipboard—a behind-the-scenes container that temporarily stores information so you can transfer it from one program to another. Using the clipboard, you can copy a snippet of text in a Word document, and then paste it into a field in an Access table, or vice versa. That much is easy. But you probably don't realize that you can copy an entire table of information.

Tip

Almost all Windows programs respect the same shortcut keys for the clipboard. Use Ctrl+C to copy information, Ctrl+X to cut it (copy and delete it), and Ctrl+V to paste it.

Before you try this trick out, you need to understand two key facts about the clipboard:

• The clipboard can store many different types of information. Most of the time, you're using it to copy plain text. However, depending on the program you're using, you could also copy shapes, pictures, tables, and more.

• Some types of information can convert themselves to other types. If you copy a selection of cells in Excel, then you can paste it as a formatted table in a word processing program like Word or WordPerfect. Of, if you copy a diagram in Visio, then you can paste it as a picture in Paint. In both examples, you copy a specialized type of object (Excel cells or a Visio diagram) to the Windows clipboard. However, this object can downgrade itself when it needs to. You can paste a full-fledged copy of the object in the original program without losing anything, ...