I have a report that changes based on the query used in the record source.
I did this to consolidate 6 different reports that printed the same formate and to the same label printer but they all used different data types/sources. I was able to convert all by 1.
The one I am having trouble with is one where there is a form, with a combobox and a textbox. The combobox has a table that its connected to with 11 different symbols ranging from Hearts to & and # stuff like that. The textbox will take any number/text combo.
When I run a query that I set up with [Forms]![frmPrintPtouchLabel]![txtName] and [Forms]![frmPrintPtouchLabel]![cmbSymbol].
The query pulls the right information except for the symbol that columb is left blank. Can anyone provide any reasoning as to why this is happening and how I can fix it?
Thank you.
Looks like there was fluke somewhere in my code or I was just over thinking something. After setting up a blank query I set a field: Symbol: [Forms]![frmPrintPtouchLabel]![cmbSymbol], and a field Name: [Forms]![frmPrintPtouchLabel]![txtName]
and I set up a button in a form that does DoCmd.OpenQuery "qry_TestQuery", in that same form there is the combobox with the Symbols, and a textbox for the Name, when I input those two and click the button the query opens with the proper information. Thanks for all that helped.
I have an Access form with a textbox bound to a currency field in a table. As expected, anything other than a numerical entry generates an error. Occasionally, users need to enter several amounts and have those added together and the result entered into the currency field.
To accomplish this, I would like users to enter an equal sign followed by a valid arithmetical string which would evaluate to a number exactly as they would in an Excel cell. For example, if a user enters "=5.31+2" I want the field to evaluate to "7.31" and use that as the value passed to the table when the record is updated or saved. The current workaround is to use the Calculator application but that isn't the ideal solution.
I tried the following code and applied it to both the BeforeUpdate and OnLostFocus events of the textbox (named "tbxTotal_Paid") but neither worked. I simply got "The value you entered is not valid for this field" error.
Dim charCt As Integer
Dim evalStr As String
If Left(tbxTotal_Paid, 1) = "=" Then
charCt = Len(tbxTotal_Paid)
evalStr = Right(tbxTotal_Paid, charCt - 1)
Me.tbxTotal_Paid = CCur(evalStr)
End If
Is this simply applying the code to the incorrect event or is this a coding issue? Any assistance is appreciated.
For me your code looks fine but you might put it in the wrong place.
Like you said Acess is giving you this error because the textbox is bound to the currency-field. So it will never accept non-numerical values because the value-checking code fires even before the before_update-event.
I think the best solution would be to hide your bound text box using Me.tbxTotal_Paid.Visible = False and creating a surrogate textbox which is not bound. You put your code in the beforeUpdate-Event or Change-Event of your surrogate. At the end you should check your final result with IsNumeric(). That way your surrogate textbox writes only correct values to your bound hidden textbox and only numbers arrive at your table.
An alternative would be to change the currency column to a string-field but this would not be wise because of potential wrong data in your database.
The problem I am having is displaying the correct information in a combobox on an unbound form when a users views/edits data.
The table that populates the combobox:
tblLocation
idLocation
Location
Location Description
In the tblPerson table, there is a FK field called idLocation. I have a form that allows a user to pick a person from a listbox and displays the information in textboxes and comboboxes.
The combobox is setup with these items:
idLocation <--- column width set to 0
Location
The problem I am having is having the data show up correctly in the comobox when I view/edit a new person.
When a person is selected from a ListBox, the information from tblPerson should display in textboxes and comboboxes. The textboxes work just fine. However, I'm struggling with the comboboxes. Keep in mind all of the fields
My research finds only two methods on solving this problem:
DLOOKUP
Manual check and set
If I use the DLOOKUP method:
cmbLocation = (DLookup("Location", "tblLocation", "idLocation=" & .Fields("idLocation")))
The problem is that msgBox cmbLocation will display the text and not the FK. If the user tries to edit the data, but makes no changes, it will try to save the text and not the FK.
I found a manual way that does work, but I'm not sure it is the best approach:
For i = 0 To (cmbLocation.ListCount - 1)
If Val(cmbLocation.Column(0, i)) = Val(.Fields("idLocation").Value) Then
cmbLocation = cmbLocation.ItemData(i)
Exit For
End If
Next
Again, this works - but I have to think that I'm doing something wrong - probably something obvious.
Is there a better way to do this?
you can dynamically change which data is displayed in a combobox. in your scenario, i suggest you use the OnClick event of the listbox (once the person is selected). Add the following code:
YourComboBoxName.RowSource = "SELECT * FROM tblLocation WHERE idLocation=" & FK
If after clicking on a person, the data doesn't change in the combobox, you may need a Me.Refresh
Base the form on a query that left joins in the location column.
Then that field when bound to a text box will will display automatic and without any code. And better is if the actual location value changes, then no update code etc. is required. In fact this is the whole beauty of a relational database!
I have a report whose record source is a query, say qryRecords. In the report header I want to add a lengthy notes field (longer than 255 characters). I have set up a table to hold these notes (with a field type "memo"), and because that table is separate from the record source for the report, I was going to put the Notes field in the report using VBA code.
In the open event of the report, I have added this code:
Dim rst as Recordset
Dim sql_qry as String
sql_qry = "SELECT notes FROM tblNotes WHERE id = 1;"
Set rst = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset(sql_qry)
rst.MoveFirst
Me.txtNote = rst![notes] 'I get the run-time error on this line
Unfortunately I get a run-time error where noted ("You can't assign a value to this object"). I found a person with a similar issue on a form, and the suggestion was to move the code from the open event to the OnCurrent event, but that event doesn't exist for a report. Any suggestions? Thanks.
--- Original Question ---
I have a form with an unbound text box (txtNotes), and when the user opens the form, the text box is populated with text that is longer than 255 characters (it concatenates various fields from the database). This works with no problem.
There's a button on the form that opens a report, and in the report, I set the Control Source for a text box to Forms![frmMain]![frmSub]![txtNotes], which is the text box mentioned above. That works too, but for some reason the text on the report is truncated at 255 characters. The form's text box is unbound, so there's no underlying table to limit the length. Does anybody know why this would happen or if there's a workaround?
Most likely when the data from the field is being cast as a Text type rather than as a Memo. Really there's no way to explicitly cast a Text as a Memo (you can go the other way around though with CStr). I had problems with truncation on the form as well when experimenting with this scenario.
I'd suggest you are probably generating this field on the form in the wrong way. Dollars to doughnuts you could generate it in a query (used in the form's Control Source), rather than concatenating it together and placing into an unbound field. Likewise, you could then use that same query as the control source for the report that you are opening.
If all of that is truly impossible, I'd point you at dumping the values from the form into a table specifically for the report and then using the table as a control source for the report.
---- Edit ----
I still contend that you can add it to your Report's data source. In my example below, I've tacked on tblNotes to a select on the Bar table.
SELECT bar.f0, bar.f1, bar.f2, bar.f3, tblNotes.notes
FROM bar, tblNotes
WHERE tblNotes.id = 1;
Yes, if there is 300 rows of Bar, you'll get 300 copies of the same Notes field, but that's a minor problem.
Form there, you just make txtNote's data source the tblNotes.Notes column. txtNote can certainly exist in the report/page header, and when MS Access generates it, it will only use one row. I'm not sure if picks the first/last row, or random row - never the less since they are all the same, it doesn't matter.
I have searched around, and it seems that this is a limitation in MS Access, so I'm wondering what creative solutions other have found to this puzzle.
If you have a continuous form and you want a field to be a combo box of options that are specific to that row, Access fails to deliver; the combo box row source is only queried once at the beginning of the form, and thus show the wrong options for the rest of the form.
The next step we all try, of course, is to use the onCurrent event to requery the combo box, which does in fact limit the options to the given row. However, at this point, Access goes nuts, and requeries all of the combo boxes, for every row, and the result is often that of disappearing and reappearing options in other rows, depending on whether they have chosen an option that is valid for the current record's row source.
The only solution I have found is to just list all options available, all the time. Any creative answers out there?
Edit Also, I should note that the reason for the combo box is to have a query as a lookup table, the real value needs to be hidden and stored, while the human readable version is displayed... multiple columns in the combo box row source. Thus, changing limit to list doesn't help, because id's that are not in the current row source query won't have a matching human readable part.
In this particular case, continuous forms make a lot of sense, so please don't tell me it's the wrong solution. I'm asking for any creative answers.
I also hate Access, but you must play with the cards you are dealt.
Continuous forms are a wonderful thing in Access, until you run into any sort of complexity as is commonly the case, like in this instance.
Here is what I would do when faced with this situation (and I have implemented similar workarounds before):
Place an UNBOUND combobox on the form. Then place a BOUND textBox for the field you want to edit.
Make sure the combobox is hidden behind (NOT invisible, just hidden) behind the textBox.
In the OnCurrent event fill the listBox with the necessary data. Go ahead and "Limit to list" it too.
In the OnEnter or OnClick event of the textBox give the combobox focus. This will bring the combobox to the forefront. When focus leaves the combobox it will hide itself once more.
In the AfterUpdate event of the combobox set the value of the textbox equal to the value of the combobox.
Depending on your situation there may be some other details to work out, but that should more or less accomplish your goal without adding too much complexity.
use continuous forms .. definitely. In fact you can build entire applications with great and intuitive user interface built on continuous forms. Don't listen to Toast!
Your solution of listing all options available is the correct one. In fact there is no other clean solution. But you are wrong when you say that Acccess goes nuts. On a continuous form, you could see each line as an instance of the detail section, where the combobox is a property common to all instances of the detail section. You can update this property for all instances, but cannot set it for one specific instance. This is why Access MUST display the same data in the combobox for all records!
If you need to accept only record-specific values in this combobox, please use the beforeUpdate event to add a control procedure. In case a new value cannot be accepted, you can cancel data update, bringing back the previous value in the field.
You cannot set the limitToList property to 'No' where the linked data (the one that is stored in the control) is hidden. This is logical: how can the machine accept the input of a new line of data when the linked field (not visible) stays empty?
You could also make the value of the combo box into an uneditable text field and then launch a pop-up/modal window to edit that value. However, if I was doing that, I might be inclined to edit the whole record in one of those windows.
I don't think that Access continuous forms should be condemned at all, but I definitely believe that they should be avoided for EDITING DATA. They work great for lists, and give you substantially more formatting capabilities than a mere listbox (and are much easier to work with, too, though they don't allow multi-select, of course).
If you want to use a continuous form for navigation to records for editing, use a subform displaying the detailed data for editing, and use the PK value from the subform for the link field. This can be done with a continuous form where you place a detail subform in the header or footer, linked on the PK of the table behind the continuous form.
Or, if you are using a continuous form to display child data in a parent form, you can link the detail subform with a reference to the PK in the continuous subform, something like:
[MySubForm].[Form]!MyID
That would be the link master property, and MyID would be the link child property.
We also encounter this a lot in our applicatins. What we have found to be a good solution:
Just show all rows in the comboboxes.
Then, as soon as the user enters the compobox in a specific row, adjust the rowsource (with the filter for that row). When the combobox loses the focus, you can re-set the rowsource to display everything.
I have a simpler way to go than Gilligan. It seems like a lot of work but it really isn't. My solution requires having my continuous form as a subform datasheet. On my subform I have two lookup comboboxes, among other fields, called Equipment and Manufacturer. Both simply hold a Long Integer key in the data source. Manufacturer needs to be filtered by what is selected in Equipment. The only time I filter Manufacturer.RowSource is in the Manufacturer_GotFocus event.
Private Sub Manufacturer_GotFocus()
If Nz(Me.Equipment, 0) > 0 Then
Me.Manufacturer.RowSource = GetMfrSQL() '- gets filtered query based on Equipment
Else
Me.Manufacturer.RowSource = "SELECT MfgrID, MfgrName FROM tblManufacturers ORDER BY MfgrName"
End If
End Sub
In Manufacturer_LostFocus I reset Manufacturer.RowSource to all Manufacturers as well. You need to do this because when you first click in the subform, GotFocus events fire for all controls, including Manufacturer, even though you are not actually updating any fields.
Private Sub Manufacturer_LostFocus()
Me.Manufacturer.RowSource = "SELECT MfgrID, MfgrName FROM tblManufacturers ORDER BY MfgrName"
End Sub
In the Enter event of Manufacturer you have to check if Equipment has been selected, if not set focus to Equipment.
Private Sub Manufacturer_Enter()
If Nz(Me.EquipmentID, 0) = 0 Then
'-- Must select Equipment first, before selecting Manufacturer
Me.Equipment.SetFocus
End If
End Sub
You also need to requery the Manufacturer combobox in Form_Current event (i.e. Me.Manufacturer.Requery), and you should set the Cycle property of this subform to "Current Record".
Seems simple enough, but you're not done yet. You also have to reset Manufacturer.RowSource to all Manufacturers in the SubForm_Exit event in the parent form in case the user goes to the Manufacturer combobox but does not make a selection and clicks somewhere on the parent form. Code sample (in parent form):
Private Sub sFrmEquip_Exit(Cancel As Integer)
Me.sFrmEquip.Controls("Manufacturer").RowSource = "SELECT MfgrID, MfgrName FROM tblManufacturers ORDER BY MfgrName"
End Sub
There is still one piece of this that is not clean. When you click on Manufacturer and have multiple rows in the datasheet grid, Manufacturer field will go blank in other rows (the data underneath the comboboxes is still intact) while you're changing the Manufacturer in the current row. Once you move off this field the text in the other Manufacturer fields will reappear.
This seems to work well.
CBOsfrmTouchpoint8 is a combobox shortened to just the dropdown square.
CBOsfrmTouchpoint14 is a textbox that makes up the rest of the space.
Never say never:
Private Sub CBOsfrmTouchpoint8_Enter()
If Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Tag = "Yes" Then
CBOsfrmTouchpoint14.SetFocus
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Tag = "No"
Exit Sub
End If
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Tag = "No"
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.RowSource = "XXX"
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Requery
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.SetFocus
End Sub
Private Sub CBOsfrmTouchpoint8_GotFocus()
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint14.Width = 0
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Width = 3420
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Left = 8580
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Dropdown
End Sub
Private Sub CBOsfrmTouchpoint8_LostFocus()
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.RowSource = "XXX"
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Requery
End Sub
Private Sub CBOsfrmTouchpoint8_Exit(Cancel As Integer)
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint14.Width = 3180
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Width = 240
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Left = 11760
Me.CBOsfrmTouchpoint8.Tag = "Yes"
End Sub
What if you turn off the "Limit To List" option, and do some validation before update to confirm that what the user might have typed in matches something in the list that you presented them?
Better...
Set you combo box Control Source to a column on the query where the values from your combo box will be stored.
For Me I think the best way and easiest way is to create a temporary table that has all your bound fields plus an extra field that is a yeas/no field.
then you will use this table as the data source for the continuous for. You can use onLoad to fill the temporary table with the data you want.
I think it is easy after that to loop for the choices, just a small loop to read the yeas/no field form the temporary table.
I hope this will help
Use OnEnter event to populate the combo box, don't use a fixed rowsource.
I've just done similar. My solution was to use a fixed row source bound to a query. The query's WHERE clauses reference the form's control i.e. Client=Forms!frmMain!ClientTextBox. This alone will fill the combo boxes with the first row's data. The trick then is to set an 'On Enter' event which simply does a re-query on the combo box e.g. ComboBox1.Requery, this will re-query that combo box alone and will only drag in the data related to that record row.
Hope that works for you too!
Disclaimer: I hate Access with a passion.
Don't use continuous forms. They're a red herring for what you want to accomplish. Continuous forms is the same form repeated over and over with different data. It is already a kludge of Access's normal mode of operation as you can't have the same form opened multiple times. The behavior you are seeing is "as designed" in Access. Each of those ComboBox controls is actually the same control. You cannot affect one without affecting the others.
Basically, what you have done here is run into the area where Access is no longer suitable for your project (but cannot ditch because it represents a large amount of work already).
What seems to be the most likely course of action here is to fake it really well. Run a query against the data and then create the form elements programmatically based on the results. This is a fair amount of work as you will be duplicating a good bit of Access's data handling functionality yourself.
Reply to Edit:
But as they are, continuous forms cannot accomplish what you want. That's why I suggested faking out your own continuous forms, because continuous forms have real limitations in what they can do. Don't get so stuck on a particular implementation that you can't let go of it when it ceases to work.