well, if you base the form on a query, you can include only the fields you
need in the query, rather than all the table fields. if you need to show any
calculated values, you can probably also do that at the query level
(depending on what the calculations are, of course) rather than at the form
level. you may be able to sort records at the query level rather than at the
form level (though, personally, i've had problems with a query sort
"sticking" at the form level).
as for recreating the form: no, you should not need to do that. if your
query is based on the same table that you had used as the form's
RecordSource, and if you include in the query all the table fields that are
already bound to controls in the form, then the field references are intact
and it should work fine.

hth


wrote in message
...
I have a main form with 2 subforms to be used for data entry & they are
all
based on tables. I recently read here that forms should almost always be
based on queries. Can anyone explain why that's better?

Also, if I change the forms to query-based is it possible to change the
source without having to recreate the form (e.g. putz around with placing
the controls, etc.).

Thanks,

Patti