We've got a checkbox on a form that we'd like to be able to check/uncheck even whilst the form is opened as read-only (it's a sales/product form and when an order has been invoiced, we want to prevent changes).
I know I could add a command button in its place and even make that button look like it's a checkbox with some images, or even set up a key combination to be used instead of the checkbox, but first I'd like to know if it's possible to simply exclude one checkbox from being read-only on a read-only form.
No. You must go the other way around:
Make the form read-write, then disable all controls bound to data fields except this single checkbox.
Related
I'm trying to put a pair of command buttons onto a form to enable users to:
enter filter criteria, then
after they enter the criteria, apply the filter
The first is easy enough with "DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdFilterByForm"
The second would work with "DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdApplyFilterSort", except that I can't figure out how to activate my command button "cmdApplyFilter". The code "Me.cmdApplyFilter.Enabled = True" throws a runtime error.
I've looked at a lot of discussions, and it seems the only way to do this is by clicking on the ribbon or quick access toolbar. Does anyone know how to activate a command button on the form while in filter by form mode?
I'm pretty sure that what you're trying to achieve is not possible. The 'filter by form' view of the form looks to be a copy of your original form with only the input controls enabled to allow you to enter your filter criteria. If you think about it, it wouldn't make sense to allow full functionality. If you could activate buttons in this mode then you would theoretically be able to perform all sorts of actions that aren't appropriate in this context: add records, delete records, navigate through the records etc.
I suspect that the only way you will be able to get the functionality you want without using the ribbon bar buttons (what's wrong with the ribbon bar?) is to hand-roll your own filter form. Design a new form having controls to accept filter criteria and buttons to cancel or apply the filter. Sounds like a lot of hard work though to replicate functionality that's already built into Access out of the box.
I have a MS Access form that is bound to a query in the database. I added a textbox and added a row source to a Hyperlink datafield in the query. When I open the form, it won't allow me to drop a file into the textbox.
Here's the deal. When I follow this EXACT same process on a new form, it works perfectly. That is, I open a blank form and I bind the form to some new query, let's say qryNewIdeas. Then on the blank form i add a textbox, let's say Text0. Then, when I select Text0, I go to the data tab - row source and choose the dropdown arrow to select the hyperlink field, lets say NewIdeasAddress. I click SAVE and open the form. It works PERFECTLY.
BUT, when I repeat this on an existing form (the one where I need the thing to actually work), it does nothing. It adds and changes the textbox to a hyperlink box (I note this because of the blue underlined word that appears in the box). But it won't allow me to drop files to this location.
I tried commenting out ALL of my VBA code to try to make sure that something wasn't hindering it (say in an OnLoad event) AND I've checked all of the form and control box properties and they seem to be the same in both the existing form and the test form.
I can't determine why it works on one form and not the other; Solution needed.
If you have access to "the data tab - row source ..", you are in design view.
When you later open the form, you are in form view, a completely different animal which specifically prohibits design changes.
It sounds like you will have to rethink your concept.
I think I'm looking directly at an Access 2003 bug. Here's what I did (I think):
I'm developing a Continuous Form (i.e. multiple records per page).
I have an unbound textbox in the background of the Details section. Under Data Properties, I have Enabled=No and Locked=Yes. (In other words, I don't want the user to select it. I only want it for the background color)
This textbox also has some conditional formatting to change the background color for that row. (e.g. If we haven't spoken to that customer in awhile, the background for that record is red)
If I choose a record where the conditional formatting is active (i.e. the background is red), I can actually click on this textbox. There's not much that I can do, of course, but this shouldn't happen and surely would be confusing to the end-users.
Has anyone else seen this? What's your workaround?
Enabled is a property that can be controlled via conditional formatting. By default when you add a new condition, the Enabled property is set to True. If you don't want your control to be enabled you must explicitly set Enabled = False within the conditional formatting rule.
The property is toggled via a button in the lower right corner of the conditional formatting dialog. It's easy to miss (I forget about it all the time).
Personally, I think the property should be three-way: True, False, or Inherit (with Inherit as the default). Unfortunately, Access forces you to be explicit when adding conditional formatting rules and state whether the rule should make the control Enabled or Disabled.
Here's my workaround (I was waiting to see if anyone else would suggest something better. Apparently not.)
In my conditionally formatted textbox, add an Event Procedure for GotFocus. Enter this code: Me.Txt_FocusHere.SetFocus.
Make a 2nd unbound text box somewhere on the form. Shrink it until it's just 1 line thick. Call it Txt_FocusHere.
So whenever the user clicks on the colored background, the focus is immediately taken to this dummy textbox which can't store any data and is so small that the user doesn't see the blinking cursor.
I successfully used the method on the following page: http://www.mvps.org/access/forms/frm0047.htm - "Changing the Background Color of the Current Record in a Continuous Form"
I was using a combobox on my search form to select whether to consult or modify a record.
To make it more user friendly (IMO), I put a togglebutton on a form, which controls the .AllowEdits property of my form. This way you can easily switch from reading to writing.
However I run into a problem; once .AllowEdits is switched to false, the togglebutton is not clickable
anymore !
What are my options ?
You must use a command button instead. It will not get locked.
You will however run into similar problems with other controls like a combo box you would use for quick searching a record. If you have that problem, use the solution here to lock/unlock all your bound controls.
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.