I'm building a database on MS Access. I have 2 text box control which are both set as long text and see formatted as plain text. When the user enters data into these fields, most of the time it's a couple of paragraphs of text, so line breaks are required to start a new paragraph. I have both fields set to go to new line after hitting the enter button. Up until I linked the data tables to SharePoint the textbox fields on the userforms and reports would show those line breaks between paragraphs just fine. Now that I have linked the database tables to SharePoint, those line breaks don't show and it's now just a text box of run on plain text. Not showing the necessary breaks between paragraphs. I checked the SharePoint table, and the field in the table shows the breaks perfectly. I then checked the field in the data table within the database and it appears those breaks aren't there. And thus those breaks won't show in the userforms when the record is called up to view in a userform and even reports.
Any advise to possibly fix this would be a big help!!! I'm at the tail end of this project and not having theses breaks between paragraphs makes things look messy.
Thanks in advance!!!
I am using MS Access 2013 to display data from a MySql database on another server. I have a table that uses the linked table. I have a textbox with about 100 words in it. When I click in the textbox the cursor can sometimes appear in the middle of a letter. If I try to add or delete text it appears offset from the position of the cursor. I have turned off auto-correct and tried changing the behavior of the enter key. How can I make the cursor behave normally?
Most probably the text contains a Tab character. The textbox doesn't show it but it messes up editing as you describe.
Copy the text into a text editor that can show invisible control characters.
I am a beginner at Microsoft Access trying to creating a database and one of the fields is a memo field. I would like to request user input for that field; However, the standard inputbox has a single line for the user to enter data, and although you can use that to add large amounts of text, it is not pleasing.
I want an inputbox that accepts memos so as the user inputs a paragraph of text, he can see the entire paragraph when he submits.
How would I do it using an inputbox and not a form? Is this possible?
I am guessing you are entering the data directly into the table. If so you can simply hover over a line between two rows until you get the double arrows and click and drag. When closing the table it will ask you if you want to save your changes. if you say yes then every time after that it will appear the same when when opened. This will give you more viewing area per field. However, I do agree with HansUp, this is best controlled via a form. Here is a snapshot of a table with more room per row.
The same can be done with query results.
I have a form that is used for data entry, and on one form there is a text box that is used to enter notes. However, if the user hits <ENTER> I need the cursor to stay in that text box and start a new line, but currently it is jumping to the next control (text box).
Is there a simple property setting that would do the trick? Or a VBA method that would accomplish this?
In Ac2003, there is the "Enter Key Behaviour" property, which gets set to "New Line in Field".
I suspect Scott's answer is what you're looking for. That property is available in Access 2007 also.
Another option would be to have the users enter CTRL+Enter to insert a line into the text control. Your users may not go for it, though.
I am making a very simple feedback form for an MS-Access application I'm working on. It consists of a textbox (for comments), a Submit button, and a Cancel button.
In your opinion, when the focus is on the textbox, is it more intuitive for the Enter/Return key to click the Submit button or move the cursor to the next line within the textbox?
Edit: The textbox is obviously multi-line.
Standard Access UI is that in a data entry form, the ENTER key is equivalent to the TAB, i.e., moves to the next control in the tab order.
The exception to this default behavior is textboxes that are bound to memo fields. In that case, the default is to have the ENTER key insert a CrLf in the bound memo. Textboxes have a property for this.
In a feedback form, it seems to me that the ENTER key should create a new line when the focus is on the textbox where the user is to type the feedback. ENTER should submit the form only when the focus is on the SUBMIT button.
All that said, your terminology sounds very web-like (nobody uses "submit button" in database forms programming, and certainly not in Access). I like certain aspects of HTML forms and the ENTER key, but have learned from watching others that 99% of the users out there don't know that in an HTML form the ENTER key submits the form (when the focus is not on a multi-line input box).
It's possible to set a command button on a form as the default button, such that hitting the ENTER key will click the command button, but for anything other than a dialog form, that's usually inadvisable in my experience. Users don't expect the ENTER key to execute a command button and making it do so is just likely to confuse them, even if it does make the Access form behave something like HTML forms.
I'd suggest that this depends on your layout: in an obviously multi-line textbox, the average user might expect Enter to move to a new line. In a single-line textbox, we generally don't expect that behaviour.
Depending on the structure of the form.
If the form has several textboxes, I expect it not to send the data when I hit Enter, except maybe on the last text box. Hitting Enter should do nothing, or move the focus to the next text box if you're feeling creative (most users will find this behaviour strange - it is not common in WinForms to move between input fields on pressing Enter).
If the form really consists of one text box and a submit button, then maybe sending the data when i hit Enter is ok, but I'd still be careful - users will not expect this behaviour, except in obvious places (like Google's search text box), and it will annoy the users if they accidently hit Enter and have their incomplete form being sent.
For a multi-line textbox, yes. It's more intuitive for the Enter key to go to the next line. However, in almost every other case (at least for my users), the Enter key should "hit" the "Submit" button.
Caveat: Most of my users use forms with textboxes to do a Search function against the database, which then populates textboxes in another form that disallow editing. My spiffy way to avoid them creating "new" customers that aren't real.