The Issue
I have a pre-existing Report that I need to run that refers to the code
Forms!frm_report1_selection!ddlState
I am trying to access the report from the form frm_report3 and as such the Report will not be able to find the record stated above.
I can rewrite the report, but, it has roughly 30 subreports that would all need to be copied and updated to find Forms!frm_report3_selection!ddlState
The Question
Is it possible to create an alias (or masquerading) variable to set the value of forms!frm_report1_selection!ddlState when posting from frm_report3_selection?
Set up a variable in your report and set it to the value of the form that is loaded when you open your report.
Use a function like this to see which form is open;
Function IsFormLoaded(strForm As String) As Boolean
Dim frm As Form
Dim bln As Boolean
For Each frm In Forms
If frm.Name = strForm Then
IsFormLoaded = True
End If
Next
End Function
then set your variable depending on which is open when the report loads
Dim ddlState as String
If IsFormLoaded("frm_report1_selection") then
ddlState = Forms!frm_report1_selection!ddlState
ElseIf IsFormLoaded("frm_report3_selection") then
ddlState = Forms!frm_report3_selection!ddlState
End if
Then use the variable in the report.
Related
I'm a newcomer to Access trying to cobble things together from helpful information I've found here.
I have a form that needs to populate the fields based on a combo box selection in the form header. The form is based on an underlying query with the following criteria for field "StudID" [Forms]![frmStudConsentUpdate]![cmbStud] where cmbStud is my combo box. The combo box pulls in StudID, StudFN, StudLN with StudID as the bound columnn. The after update event requeries the form (Me.Requery). This works beautifully, but only if I first open the form in design view, open the Record Source, and save it. I don't make any changes at all, but once I've done this the form works. Otherwise, nothing happens when I select a student in the combo box. Any thoughts on what I need to do to make this work without having to re-save the underlying query?
This is old bug in MS Access, I have no idea why they still didn't fix it:
If underlying form's query has in criteria form's control and the form was filtered once (at start or manually/using VBA), it doesn't accept new values from form's control and uses old value.
Workaround: create public function, which returns control's value and use it in criteria instead of [Forms]![frmStudConsentUpdate]![cmbStud]. You will need to create function for each control or use this function:
Public Function GetControlValue(strFormName As String, strControlName As String, Optional strSubFormControlName As Variant, Optional varDefault As Variant) As Variant
' Returns : Variant, value of control in form/subform
' Comments:
' Params :
' strFormName
' strControlName
' strSubFormControlName
' varDefault - value returned if control is not accessible
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
If IsMissing(strSubFormControlName) Or Nz(strSubFormControlName, "") = "" Then
GetControlValue = Forms(strFormName).Controls(strControlName).Value
Else
GetControlValue = Forms(strFormName).Controls(strSubFormControlName).Form.Controls(strControlName).Value
End If
ExitHere:
On Error Resume Next
Exit Function
ErrorHandler:
If Not IsMissing(varDefault) Then
GetControlValue = varDefault
End If
Resume ExitHere
End Function
In criteria use function call GetControlValue("frmStudConsentUpdate","cmbStud") instead of [Forms]![frmStudConsentUpdate]![cmbStud]
In your afterupdate for your cmbStud combobox, create code that refreshes the recordsource to
me.recordsource = "SELECT * FROM {yourQueryName} WHERE StudID = '" & me!cmbStud & "'"
Does MS Access allow to get the recordsource value of the form without opening the form itself? I'm trying to optimize my code as of now, what I did is I just hide the form then get the Recordsource form query but it takes time to load since some of the forms trigger a code upon onload.
I'm late to the game here - I sometimes post answers months or years after the original question was posted, as I post my own solutions when a quick search of the 'Stack finds questions relevant to my own problem of the day, but no answers that I can actually use.
[UPDATE, 06 June 2016]
The 'NameMap' property is not available in document objects from Access 2010 onwards. However, 'Stacker Thunderframe has pointed out that this is now available in the 'MsysNameMap' table.
I have amended the code, and this works in Access 2010 and 2013.
[/UPDATE]
Most of a form's properties are only available when the form is open, but some are available in the form's entry in the DAO Documents collection.
The DAO 'document' is a horrible object: it won't persist in memory and you have to refer to it explicitly every time you use it:
FormName = "MyForm"
For i = 0 To Application.CodeDb.Containers("Forms").Documents(FormName).Properties.Count - 1
Debug.Print i & vbTab & Application.CodeDb.Containers("Forms").Documents(FormName).Properties(i).Name & vbTab & vbTab & Application.CodeDb.Containers("Forms").Documents(FormName).Properties(i).Value
Next
Run that snippet for your form, and you'll see a 'NameMap' property that contains a list of the form's controls, and some of the form's properties.
...In a truly horrible format which needs a binary parser. You might want to stop reading and take an aspirin, right now, before continuing.
Health Warnings:
The NameMap Property is undocumented. It is therefore unsupported and there is no guarantee that this solution will work in future versions of Microsoft Access.
The solution in my code below will stop working if the NameMap's two-byte binary label for a Record Source ever changes, or if it's locale-specific.
This is a horrible hack: I accept no liability for any effects on your sanity.
OK, here's the code:
A VBA function to return the Record Source from a closed MS-Access form:
Private Function FormRecordSource_FromNameMap(FormName As String) As String
' Reads the Record Source from the NameMap Property of the Document object for the form.
' WARNING: there is a potential error here: if the form's RecordSource property is blank
' and it has one or more list controls with a .RecordSource property populating
' the list, this function will return the first list control's Record Source.
' This won't work if you're using non-ASCII characters (Char > 255) in your form name.
Dim i As Integer
Dim j As Integer
Dim k As Integer
Dim arrByte() As Byte
Dim strOut As String
If Application.Version < 12 Then
arrByte = Application.CodeDb.Containers("Forms").Documents(FormName).Properties("NameMap").Value
For i = 1 To UBound(arrByte) - 2 Step 2
' 2-byte marker for a querydef in the NameMap:
If (arrByte(i) = 228 And arrByte(i + 1) = 64) Then
j = i + 2
Do While arrByte(j) = 0 And arrByte(j + 1) = 0 And j < UBound(arrByte)
' loop through the null chars between the marker and the start of the string
j = j + 2
Loop
strOut = ""
Do Until (arrByte(j) = 0 And arrByte(j + 1) = 0) Or j >= UBound(arrByte) - 2
If arrByte(j) = 0 Then j = j + 1
' loop until we reach the null char which terminates this string
' appending the Bchars (not unicode Wchars!) of the table or query
strOut = strOut & Chr(arrByte(j))
j = j + 2
Loop
Exit For ' we only want the first datasource
End If
Next i
Else
arrByte = Nz(DLookup("[NameMap]", "[MSYSNameMap]", "[Name] = '" & FormName & "'"), vbNullChar)
If UBound(arrByte) < 4 Then Exit Function
strOut = ""
For j = 60 To UBound(arrByte) - 2 Step 2
If arrByte(j) = 0 And arrByte(j + 1) = 0 Then Exit For
strOut = strOut & Chr(arrByte(j))
Next j
End If
frmRecordSource_FromNameMap = strOut
Erase arrByte
End Function
If you use the RecordSource in (say) OpenRecordset or a DCOUNT function, I would advise you to encapsulate it in square brackets: you might get the name of a hidden query object saved from a 'SELECT' statement in the RecordSource, and that name will contain '~' tilde characters which need special handling.
And now, something extra that you didn't ask for, but other people will be looking for if they Googled their way here for 'MS Access RecordSource for a closed form':
Getting an MS-Access form's RecordSource, whether it's open or not
Most times, your form will be open. Problem is, you don't know that... And if it's a subform, it might not be visible in the Forms() collection. Worse, a form that's hosted as a subform might exist as multiple instances in several open forms.
Good luck with that, if you're looking to extract dynamic properties... Like filters, or the Record Source if it's set 'on the fly' by VBA.
Public Function GetForm(FormName As String, Optional ParentName As String = "") As Form
' Returns a form object, if a form with a name like FormName is open
' FormName can include wildcards.
' Returns Nothing if no matching form is open.
' Enumerates subforms in open forms, and returns the subform .form object if
' it has a matching name. Note that a form may be open as multiple instances
' if more than one subform hosts it; the function returns the first matching
' instance. Specify the named parent form (or the subform control's name) if
' you need to avoid an error arising from multiple instances of the form.
Dim objForm As Access.Form
If ParentName = "" Then
For Each objForm In Forms
If objForm.Name Like FormName Then
Set GetForm = objForm
Exit Function
End If
Next
End If
If GetForm Is Nothing Then
For Each objForm In Forms
Set GetForm = SearchSubForms(objForm, FormName, ParentName)
If Not GetForm Is Nothing Then
Exit For
End If
Next
End If
End Function
Private Function SearchSubForms(objForm As Access.Form, SubFormName As String, Optional ParentName As String = "") As Form
' Returns a Form object with a name like SubFormName, if the named object SubFormName is subform
' of an open form , or can be recursively enumerated as the subform of an open subform.
' This function returns the first matching Form: note that a form can be instantiated in multiple
' instances if it is used by more than one subform control.
Dim objCtrl As Control
For Each objCtrl In objForm
If TypeName(objCtrl) = "SubForm" Then
If objCtrl.Form.Name Like SubFormName Then
If ParentName = "" Or objForm.Name Like ParentName Or objCtrl.Name Like ParentName Then
Set SearchSubForms = objCtrl.Form
Exit For
End If
Else
Set SearchSubForms = SearchSubForms(objCtrl.Form, SubFormName, ParentName)
If Not SearchSubForms Is Nothing Then
Exit For
End If
End If
End If
Next objCtrl
End Function
Public Function FormRecordSource(FormName As String, Optional ParentName As String = "") As String
' Returns the Recordsource for a form, even if it isn't open in the Forms() collection
' This will look for open forms first. If you're looking for a subform, you may need a
' parent name for the form which hosts the subform: your named form might be open as a
' subform instance in more than one parent form.
' WARNING: there is a potential error here: if the form isn't open, and it has a blank
' RecordSource property, and it has one or more controls with a .RecordSource
' property populating a list, a list control's RecordSource could be returned
Dim objForm As Form
If FormName = "" Then
Exit Function
End If
Set objForm = GetForm(FormName, ParentName)
If objForm Is Nothing Then
FormRecordSource = FormRecordSource_FromNameMap(FormName)
Else
FormRecordSource = objForm.RecordSource
Set objForm = Nothing
End If
End Function
Share and enjoy: and please accept my apologies for any unwanted line breaks in the code sample.
One option would be to save the Record Source of the form as a Query. Say you have a form named [AgentForm] whose Record Source is
SELECT ID, AgentName FROM Agents
In your development .accdb copy of the database, open the form in Design View and open the Record Source in the Query Builder. Click the "Save As" button ...
and save the query as "AgentForm_RecordSource". Now the Record Source property of the form is just a reference to the saved query, and the query itself can be accessed directly through a QueryDef object. So, you could retrieve the SQL statement for the form's Record Source with
Dim cdb As DAO.Database, qdf As DAO.QueryDef, sql As String
Set cdb = CurrentDb
Set qdf = cdb.QueryDefs("AgentForm_RecordSource")
sql = qdf.SQL
or you could go ahead and open a Recordset with
Dim cdb As DAO.Database, qdf As DAO.QueryDef, rst As DAO.Recordset
Set cdb = CurrentDb
Set qdf = cdb.QueryDefs("AgentForm_RecordSource")
Set rst = qdf.OpenRecordset
If the form's Record Source is a SELECT statement rather than the name of a table or saved query, you can check the QueryDefs collection for the hidden QueryDef which Access created for that Record Source statement.
If it exists, you can check its .SQL property.
strFormName = "Form15"
? CurrentDb.QueryDefs("~sq_f" & strFormName).SQL
SELECT DISTINCTROW *
FROM [DB Audits];
You can trap error #3265, "Item not found in this collection", which will be thrown if that QueryDef does not exist.
Since you can't open your form in design view and opening your form regularly is causing performance issues, there are but a few more workarounds:
Depending on how you want to check for the closed form's recordsource, you can set a global variable in the following way, in a separate module:
Public glb_getrecordsource As String
Afterwards, depending on how you call the code, you can do the following:
Private Sub Command1_Click()
glb_getrecordsource = "Yes"
DoCmd.OpenForm "Form1"
'... Do something
End Sub
Then, as the final step, put the following at the beginning of your form's OnLoad event:
Private Sub Form_Load()
If glb_getrecordsource = "Yes" Then
glb_getrecordsource = Me.Form.RecordSource
DoCmd.Close acForm, "Form1", acSaveYes
Exit Sub
End If
'... Usual OnLoad events
End Sub
This will at least solve the performance issues, since you will not trigger any of the time consuming events, in the form's load event.
Another workaround:
You can export your form to a .txt file and then search the text file for the recordsource. The following code will export your forms to .txt files in a specified folder:
Dim db As Database
Dim d As Document
Dim c As Container
Dim sExportLocation As String
Set db = CurrentDb()
sExportLocation = "C:\AD\" 'Do not forget the closing back slash! ie: C:\Temp\
Set c = db.Containers("Forms")
For Each d In c.Documents
Application.SaveAsText acForm, d.Name, sExportLocation & "Form_" & d.Name & ".txt"
Next d
Code partly borrowed from this forum. Afterwards, you only have to open the file and search for the recordsource. If the recordsource is empty it will not be exported, so keep that in mind. Also, I doubt this will improve perfomance, but who knows!
Im trying to pass the name of a global variable to a sub routine and would like to know how to reference it. For example I could do the below with a control:
Private Sub passCtrlName(ctlName as String)
Me.Controls(ctlName) = "Whatever"
End Sub
Edit:
For Example
Public imGlobVar As String
Public Sub passGlobVar(frm as Form, ctlName as String, globVar as String)
frm.Controls(ctlName) = globVar
End sub
And call it as
Private Sub imaButton_Click()
imGlobVar = "something"
Call passGlobVar(Me , txtBox1, imGlobVar)
End sub
2nd Edit:
It seems that I could most definitely be barking up the wrong tree here, so I will explain what I'm trying to achieve.
I have a form that has textboxes for the users (risk) address, with a checkbox at the top that lets the user select that this address is the same as the 'contact' details already on the system, and the textboxes are locked.
Populating the textboxes is fine and works. What I use the global variables for is to improve usability (albeit slightly).
The user can add new details, and if they hit the checkbox 'make same as contact' the details that they have entered are stored in the global variables, one for each control.
If the user has made a mistake by hitting the checkbox, they haven't lost these value, and by unchecking the box the entered values are returned.
I hoped to create a sub routine where I could pass the name of the global variable and control and calling this routine, as opposed to writing it out for each control.
I have a feeling that I could be using the wrong technique to achieve my goals. But in answer to my original question, it appears that you can not pass global variables to sub routines in the manner that I wished.
You do not need to pass global variables, you can simply refer to them by name. Note that global variables are reset if an unhandled error occurs.
In http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd897495(office.12).aspx you will find a section on Scope and Lifetime of Variables and Constants.
In a module:
Option Explicit
Public glbVarName As String
Const MyConstant=123
Sub InitVar
glbVarName="Something"
End Sub
Any other module, includeing a form's class module:
Sub SomeSub
MsgBox glbVarName
SomeVar=2+MyConstant
End Sub
If you're asking if you can dynamically reference global variables using a string containing the variable name the answer is no. You could use a single global array and pass the index, which would allow you to dynamically reference an element of the array.
[Edit]
In response to the clarification in the question: You could just save the value of each control to its Tag property when the user checks the checkbox. Then, if the user unchecks the checkbox, you can just loop over your controls and assign the value from the Tag back to the Value of the control.
You could store the values from your controls in a Dictionary object, using the control names as the dictionary keys. Then you can retrieve the value for each control based on the control's name.
Option Compare Database
Option Explicit
Const cstrMyControls As String = "Text0,Text2,Text4,Text6"
Dim objDict As Object
Private Sub chkToggle_Click()
If Me.chkToggle = True Then
Call SaveValues
Else
Call RestoreValues
End If
End Sub
Private Sub SaveValues()
Dim varControls As Variant
Dim i As Long
Set objDict = Nothing 'discard previous saved values '
Set objDict = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
varControls = Split(cstrMyControls, ",")
For i = 0 To UBound(varControls)
objDict.Add varControls(i), Me.Controls(varControls(i)).Value
Next i
End Sub
Private Sub RestoreValues()
Dim varControls As Variant
Dim i As Long
If objDict Is Nothing Then
'MsgBox "No values to restore." '
Else
varControls = objDict.keys()
For i = 0 To UBound(varControls)
Me.Controls(varControls(i)).Value = objDict(varControls(i))
Next i
End If
End Sub
I use additional field in table - name cancel - of course boolean - when i'm not sure if contents of fields will be valid I set it true. If this field will be true by the end - then I clean up (it may be all record or some fileds of course). Very easy.
I have a Microsoft Access 2003 file with various tables of data. Each table also has a duplicate of it, with the name '[original table name]_working'. Depending on the user's choices in the switchboard, the form the user choose to view must switch its recordsource table to the working table. I refactored the relevant code to do such a thing into the following function today:
Public Sub SetFormToWorking(ByRef frm As Form)
With frm
.RecordSource = rst![Argument] & "_working"
.Requery
Dim itm As Variant
For Each itm In .Controls
If TypeOf itm Is subForm Then
With Item
Dim childFields As Variant, masterFields As Variant
childFields = .LinkChildFields
masterFields = .LinkMasterFields
.Form.RecordSource = .Form.RecordSource & "_working"
.LinkChildFields = childFields
.LinkMasterFields = masterFields
.Form.Requery
End With
End If
Next
End With
End Sub
The lines of code that call the function look like this:
SetFormToWorking Forms(rst![Argument])
and
SetFormToWorking Forms(cmbTblList)
For some reason, the above function doesn't change the recordsource for the form. I added the 'ByRef' keyword to the parameter just to be certain that it was passing by reference, but no dice. Hopefully someone here can tell me what I've done wrong?
Try removing the parenthesis from your function calls.
SetFormToWorking Forms(rst![Argument])
SetFormToWorking Forms(cmbTblList)
more information
I found the problem. The variable on the third line
rst![Argument]
doesn't exist in the function's scope. I replaced it with
.RecordSource
Unfortunately I'm having another problem with the code but it's unrelated to this question.
I am considering the use of a tab control on a parent form for which I would like to have around 20 tabs. Each tab I am considering the use of one or two separate sub forms. Each sub form will have varied complexity in coded logic. By taking this approach will I severally reduce the performance of my application? I am currently using this in MS Access 2003. I will expect an average of 15 users at any given time on the various forms.
Thoughts?
Yes, performance will be degraded slightly for each subform. One or three isn't too bad but twenty is definitely going to cause you performance issues.
Once you have the subform working to your satisfaction either save the Record Source as a query and give it a name or save the query SQL string. Then either paste the query name or the query SQL string in the VBA code in the tab control change event.
Private Sub TabCtl_Change()
On Error GoTo TabCtl_Change_Error
Select Case Me.TabCtl.Value
Case Me.pagPartsConsumed.PageIndex
If Me.PartsConsumedsbf.Form.RecordSource <> "Equipment - Parts Consumed sbf" Then _
Me.PartsConsumedsbf.Form.RecordSource = "Equipment - Parts Consumed sbf"
....
Now just to ensure that I don't accidentally leave some subform recordsources filled in slowing down the app on startup I check to see if the file the code is running is an MDB (instead of an MDE. The function is below) then display a message telling me I have to remove the recordsource.
If Not tt_IsThisAnMDE Then
If Me.PartsConsumedsbf.Form.RecordSource <> "" Then _
MsgBox "Record source of Equipment - Parts Consumed sbf not empty"
...
End If
Public Function tt_IsThisAnMDE()
On Error GoTo tagError
Dim dbs As Database
Set dbs = CurrentDb
Dim strMDE As String
On Error Resume Next
strMDE = dbs.Properties("MDE")
If Err = 0 And strMDE = "T" Then
' This is an MDE database.
tt_IsThisAnMDE = True
Else
tt_IsThisAnMDE = False
End If
Exit Function
tagError:
Call LogError(Application.CurrentObjectName, "")
Exit Function
End Function
Also in the form unload event I clear the Recourd Source as well.
Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
On Error GoTo Form_Unload_Error
Me.PartsConsumedsbf.Form.RecordSource = ""
....
BTW I almost always would put each subform on a seperate tab. Also that many tab entries gets visusally unwieldy. When I had a similar question my fellow Access MVPs suggested using a listbox along the left hand side to control which subform is viewable.
Also each combo box and list box will also slightly degrade the performance. So if you have those on a subform then consider similar logic.
In addition to adding recordsets at runtime, I would generally only use one or two tabs and a number of controls to load various subforms into a subform control.
The text for the On Click event of the control might be:
=WhichPage([Form],"lblLocations")
Where WhichPage is a function with the following lines, amongst others:
Function WhichPage(frm, Optional LabelName = "")
<..>
Select Case LabelName
Case "lblLocations"
frm("sfrmAll").SourceObject = "sfrmLocations"
<...>
If necessary, the link child and link master fields can be changed at runtime. The link master field is best set to the name of a control, rather than a field, to avoid errors.
Me.sfrmAll.LinkChildFields = "LocationKey"
Me.sfrmAll.LinkMasterFields = "txtLocationKey"
To expand on Remou's answer...here is a sub I wrote that dynamically loads a form into a subform control. You pass in the name of the form in the call and it will load it into the subform of the Main form. The arguments map to the arguments of Docmd.OpenForm method of Access. If the main form that is hosting the subform control is not open...it just does a regular open of the form. Otherwise it loads it into the subform control. If a where clause was passed in it is used to filter the subform.
Public Sub MyOpenForm(FormName As String, _
Optional View As AcFormView = acNormal, _
Optional FilterName As String = vbNullString, _
Optional WhereCondition As String = vbNullString, _
Optional DataMode As AcFormOpenDataMode, _
Optional WindowMode As AcWindowMode, _
Optional OpenArgs As String)
On Error GoTo PROC_ERR
Dim frm As Form
Dim strNewForm As String
Dim strCurrentForm As String
Dim strNewTable As String
Dim fDoNotFilter As Boolean
Dim strActionText As String
Dim strID As String
If Not IsLoaded("frmMain") Then
DoCmd.OpenForm FormName:=FormName, View:=View, FilterName:=FilterName, WhereCondition:=WhereCondition, DataMode:=DataMode, WindowMode:=WindowMode, OpenArgs:=OpenArgs
Else
strCurrentForm = Forms![frmMain]![sfrMyForm].SourceObject
If strCurrentForm <> FormName Then
Forms![frmMain]![sfrMyForm].SourceObject = vbNullString
Forms![frmMain]![sfrMyForm].SourceObject = FormName
End If
If WhereCondition <> vbNullString Then
Forms![frmMain]![sfrMyForm].Form.Filter = WhereCondition
Forms![frmMain]![sfrMyForm].Form.FilterOn = True
End If
End If
PROC_EXIT:
Exit Sub
PROC_ERR:
MsgBox Err.Description
Resume PROC_EXIT
End Sub