ID: Q139040
The information in this article applies to:
Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.
If the currently active control on the screen is in a subform, Screen.ActiveControl will correctly reference this control. Screen.ActiveForm, however, will reference the main form and not the subform that the control is contained on.
This article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to your version of the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access" manual.
NOTE: Visual Basic for Applications is called Access Basic in Microsoft Access version 2.0. For more information about Access Basic, please refer to the "Building Applications" manual.
A subform is not really a form, but a control (just like a text box or command button) that appears on a form. Screen.ActiveForm will always return the active form, not a subform control.
You can use the Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl function described in the "More Information" section to determine what subform control contains the Screen.ActiveControl. This function will set a global control variable Screen_ActiveSubformControl to the currently active subform control on screen.
Syntax:
Function Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl()
Return:
True: Screen_ActiveSubformControl was set to the subform control
that contains Screen.ActiveControl.
False: Screen.ActiveControl does not exist or is not in a subform.
The following steps show you how to create the set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl() function. Then the "How To Use the Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl() Function" section later in this article will show you how to use this function.
NOTE: In the following sample code, an underscore (_) at the end of a line is used as a line-continuation character. Remove the underscore from the end of the line when re-creating this code in Access Basic.
1. Create a module and type the following lines in the Declarations
section if they are not already there:
Option Explicit
Dim Screen_ActiveSubformControl As Control
Function Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl()
Dim frmActive As Form, ctlActive As Control
Dim hWndParent As Long
' Clear the control variable.
Set Screen_ActiveSubformControl = Nothing
' Assume a subform is not active.
Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl = False
' Get the active form and control.
On Error Resume Next
Set frmActive = Screen.ActiveForm
Set ctlActive = Screen.ActiveControl
If Err <> 0 Then Exit Function
' Get the unique window handle identifying the form
' .. the active control is on.
hWndParent = ctlActive.Parent.Properties("hWnd")
' If the active form window handle is the same as the window
' handle of the form the active control is on, then we are on the
' mainform, so exit.
If hWndParent = frmActive.hWnd Then Exit Function
' Find a subform control that has a window handle matching the
' .. window handle of the form the active control is on.
Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl = FindSubform(frmActive, _
hWndParent)
End Function
Function FindSubform(frmSearch As Form, hWndFind As Long)
Dim i As Integer
On Error GoTo Err_FindSubForm
' Assume we will find a subform control with a window
' .. handle matching hWndFind.
FindSubform = True
' Visit each control on the form frmSearch.
For i = 0 To frmSearch.Count - 1
' If the control is a subform control...
If TypeOf frmSearch(i) Is SubForm Then
' .. does the window handle match the one we are looking
' for?
If frmSearch(i).Form.hWnd = hWndFind Then
' We found it! Set the global control variable and exit.
Set Screen_ActiveSubformControl = frmSearch(i)
Exit Function
Else
' Otherwise, search this subform control (recursively)
' .. to see if it contains a sub-subform control
' .. with a window handle matching the one we are
' .. interested in.
' If we found a subform control, then exit.
If FindSubform(frmSearch(i).Form, hWndFind) Then
Exit Function
End If
End If
End If
Next i
Bye_FindSubform:
' If we didn't exit the function earlier, then there is no
' .. subform or sub-subform control on this form that has a window
' .. handle matching the one we are interested in, so return false.
FindSubform = False
Exit Function
Err_FindSubForm:
MsgBox Error$, 16, "FindSubform"
Resume Bye_FindSubform
End Function
The following steps use the sample database Northwind.mdb (or NWIND.MDB in 2.0) to demonstrate how to use the Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl() function.
1. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb and follow the steps in the
"More Information" section to create the module containing the
Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl procedure.
Macro Name Action
-------------------
{F2} RunCode
AutoKeys Actions
--------------------------------------------
RunCode
Function Name: =DisplayActiveSubformName()
Function DisplayActiveSubformName()
Dim Msg As String
Dim CR As String
CR = Chr$(13) ' Carriage Return.
If Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl() = False Then
Msg = "There is no active subform!"
Else
Msg = "Active Form Name = " & Screen.ActiveForm.Name
Msg = Msg & CR
Msg = Msg & "Active ControlName = " & Screen.ActiveControl.Name
Msg = Msg & CR
Msg = Msg & "Active Subform ControlName = "
Msg = Msg & Screen_ActiveSubformControl.Name
Msg = Msg & CR
Msg = Msg & "Active Subform Form Name = "
Msg = Msg & Screen_ActiveSubformControl.Form.Name
End If
MsgBox Msg
End Function
Database window.
Customers form to create a subform control. This will enable you to
test the function on a subform and a sub-subform.
Name: Testing 123
SourceObject: Orders
contains only orders for the current customer.
(subform), or the Orders Subform (sub-subform) and press the F2 key.
Keywords : FmsHowto
Version : 2.0 7.0 97
Platform : WINDOWS
Hardware : x86
Issue type : kbprbLast Reviewed: November 21, 1998