The user can have multiple non-modal, restored, forms open at once and can
switch between them as they want, often by just clicking on their titlebars.
These forms are all instances of F_URL. I am using Vista, Access 2007.

How do I run a routine anytime the user switches form?

F_URL.GotFocus doesn't fire because the Focus event only fires for the
particular control that has the focus on the form, and, there are many such
possible controls. F_URL.Activate doesn't fire.

So, four possibilities as far as I can see:

1. There is probably some obvious event that I'm just missing!

2. If not, how do people get around this? One way I've thought of is using a
timer but it seems an incredible use of resources to have it run (say) every
500ms to detect the active form, see if it has changed since the last time
the code was ran, and then to run it. And... I'd have to have a hidden form
permanently open to actually run the timer. Is there a better way?

3. Should F_URL.Activate be firing when the user switches form? I've checked
(and stepped-through) the app looking for anything that might interfere with
..Activate but there doesn't seem to be anything.

4. I *could* have a button on each form that the user clicks in order to run
the code after they've switched form. But I know that they'll forget, won't
see the point, and will complain about having to do it!

Does anyone have an *elegant* way of detecting when the user has switched
between already-open forms?

Take a look at the Activate event of the form.

--
Lynn Trapp
Trainer/Application Developer


"Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:642B3FA4-1563-48F7-BD89-(E-Mail Removed)...
> The user can have multiple non-modal, restored, forms open at once and can
> switch between them as they want, often by just clicking on their
> titlebars.
> These forms are all instances of F_URL. I am using Vista, Access 2007.
>
> How do I run a routine anytime the user switches form?
>
> F_URL.GotFocus doesn't fire because the Focus event only fires for the
> particular control that has the focus on the form, and, there are many
> such
> possible controls. F_URL.Activate doesn't fire.
>
> So, four possibilities as far as I can see:
>
> 1. There is probably some obvious event that I'm just missing!
>
> 2. If not, how do people get around this? One way I've thought of is using
> a
> timer but it seems an incredible use of resources to have it run (say)
> every
> 500ms to detect the active form, see if it has changed since the last time
> the code was ran, and then to run it. And... I'd have to have a hidden
> form
> permanently open to actually run the timer. Is there a better way?
>
> 3. Should F_URL.Activate be firing when the user switches form? I've
> checked
> (and stepped-through) the app looking for anything that might interfere
> with
> .Activate but there doesn't seem to be anything.
>
> 4. I *could* have a button on each form that the user clicks in order to
> run
> the code after they've switched form. But I know that they'll forget,
> won't
> see the point, and will complain about having to do it!
>
> Does anyone have an *elegant* way of detecting when the user has switched
> between already-open forms?

The following code in the form F_URL

Private Sub Form_Activate()
MsgBox "Here"
End Sub

never seems to run, either when the form is loaded for the first time, or
when a user swithces to any of the open instances of F_URL. I've already been
looking at this, which is why I asked in point 3 in my post if anyone knows
anything that could be stopping it from running? In Design mode, I have made
sure that the form lists "[Event Procedure]" as the property for the Event
(as sometimes when you write code directly, it won't notice).

"Lynn Trapp" wrote:

> Take a look at the Activate event of the form.
>
> --
> Lynn Trapp
> Trainer/Application Developer
>
>
> "Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:642B3FA4-1563-48F7-BD89-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > The user can have multiple non-modal, restored, forms open at once and can
> > switch between them as they want, often by just clicking on their
> > titlebars.
> > These forms are all instances of F_URL. I am using Vista, Access 2007.
> >
> > How do I run a routine anytime the user switches form?
> >
> > F_URL.GotFocus doesn't fire because the Focus event only fires for the
> > particular control that has the focus on the form, and, there are many
> > such
> > possible controls. F_URL.Activate doesn't fire.
> >
> > So, four possibilities as far as I can see:
> >
> > 1. There is probably some obvious event that I'm just missing!
> >
> > 2. If not, how do people get around this? One way I've thought of is using
> > a
> > timer but it seems an incredible use of resources to have it run (say)
> > every
> > 500ms to detect the active form, see if it has changed since the last time
> > the code was ran, and then to run it. And... I'd have to have a hidden
> > form
> > permanently open to actually run the timer. Is there a better way?
> >
> > 3. Should F_URL.Activate be firing when the user switches form? I've
> > checked
> > (and stepped-through) the app looking for anything that might interfere
> > with
> > .Activate but there doesn't seem to be anything.
> >
> > 4. I *could* have a button on each form that the user clicks in order to
> > run
> > the code after they've switched form. But I know that they'll forget,
> > won't
> > see the point, and will complain about having to do it!
> >
> > Does anyone have an *elegant* way of detecting when the user has switched
> > between already-open forms?
>

Is this happening only to that one form? Or does it happen with all forms?

--
Lynn Trapp
Trainer/Application Developer


"Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:AFCB17F2-57BC-41C8-8F0D-(E-Mail Removed)...
> The following code in the form F_URL
>
> Private Sub Form_Activate()
> MsgBox "Here"
> End Sub
>
> never seems to run, either when the form is loaded for the first time, or
> when a user swithces to any of the open instances of F_URL. I've already
> been
> looking at this, which is why I asked in point 3 in my post if anyone
> knows
> anything that could be stopping it from running? In Design mode, I have
> made
> sure that the form lists "[Event Procedure]" as the property for the Event
> (as sometimes when you write code directly, it won't notice).
>
> "Lynn Trapp" wrote:
>
>> Take a look at the Activate event of the form.
>>
>> --
>> Lynn Trapp
>> Trainer/Application Developer
>>
>>
>> "Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>> message
>> news:642B3FA4-1563-48F7-BD89-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > The user can have multiple non-modal, restored, forms open at once and
>> > can
>> > switch between them as they want, often by just clicking on their
>> > titlebars.
>> > These forms are all instances of F_URL. I am using Vista, Access 2007.
>> >
>> > How do I run a routine anytime the user switches form?
>> >
>> > F_URL.GotFocus doesn't fire because the Focus event only fires for the
>> > particular control that has the focus on the form, and, there are many
>> > such
>> > possible controls. F_URL.Activate doesn't fire.
>> >
>> > So, four possibilities as far as I can see:
>> >
>> > 1. There is probably some obvious event that I'm just missing!
>> >
>> > 2. If not, how do people get around this? One way I've thought of is
>> > using
>> > a
>> > timer but it seems an incredible use of resources to have it run (say)
>> > every
>> > 500ms to detect the active form, see if it has changed since the last
>> > time
>> > the code was ran, and then to run it. And... I'd have to have a hidden
>> > form
>> > permanently open to actually run the timer. Is there a better way?
>> >
>> > 3. Should F_URL.Activate be firing when the user switches form? I've
>> > checked
>> > (and stepped-through) the app looking for anything that might interfere
>> > with
>> > .Activate but there doesn't seem to be anything.
>> >
>> > 4. I *could* have a button on each form that the user clicks in order
>> > to
>> > run
>> > the code after they've switched form. But I know that they'll forget,
>> > won't
>> > see the point, and will complain about having to do it!
>> >
>> > Does anyone have an *elegant* way of detecting when the user has
>> > switched
>> > between already-open forms?
>>

Thank you for your quick responses by the way.

You ask a good question, I hadn't checked if it worked for other forms. It
does run when forms are loaded for the first time (which is an easy event to
catch anyway), but not when the user switches between open forms, which seems
to be a strangely hard event to catch.

"Lynn Trapp" wrote:

> Is this happening only to that one form? Or does it happen with all forms?
>
> --
> Lynn Trapp
> Trainer/Application Developer
>
>
> "Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:AFCB17F2-57BC-41C8-8F0D-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > The following code in the form F_URL
> >
> > Private Sub Form_Activate()
> > MsgBox "Here"
> > End Sub
> >
> > never seems to run, either when the form is loaded for the first time, or
> > when a user swithces to any of the open instances of F_URL. I've already
> > been
> > looking at this, which is why I asked in point 3 in my post if anyone
> > knows
> > anything that could be stopping it from running? In Design mode, I have
> > made
> > sure that the form lists "[Event Procedure]" as the property for the Event
> > (as sometimes when you write code directly, it won't notice).
> >
> > "Lynn Trapp" wrote:
> >
> >> Take a look at the Activate event of the form.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Lynn Trapp
> >> Trainer/Application Developer
> >>
> >>
> >> "Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> >> message
> >> news:642B3FA4-1563-48F7-BD89-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> > The user can have multiple non-modal, restored, forms open at once and
> >> > can
> >> > switch between them as they want, often by just clicking on their
> >> > titlebars.
> >> > These forms are all instances of F_URL. I am using Vista, Access 2007.
> >> >
> >> > How do I run a routine anytime the user switches form?
> >> >
> >> > F_URL.GotFocus doesn't fire because the Focus event only fires for the
> >> > particular control that has the focus on the form, and, there are many
> >> > such
> >> > possible controls. F_URL.Activate doesn't fire.
> >> >
> >> > So, four possibilities as far as I can see:
> >> >
> >> > 1. There is probably some obvious event that I'm just missing!
> >> >
> >> > 2. If not, how do people get around this? One way I've thought of is
> >> > using
> >> > a
> >> > timer but it seems an incredible use of resources to have it run (say)
> >> > every
> >> > 500ms to detect the active form, see if it has changed since the last
> >> > time
> >> > the code was ran, and then to run it. And... I'd have to have a hidden
> >> > form
> >> > permanently open to actually run the timer. Is there a better way?
> >> >
> >> > 3. Should F_URL.Activate be firing when the user switches form? I've
> >> > checked
> >> > (and stepped-through) the app looking for anything that might interfere
> >> > with
> >> > .Activate but there doesn't seem to be anything.
> >> >
> >> > 4. I *could* have a button on each form that the user clicks in order
> >> > to
> >> > run
> >> > the code after they've switched form. But I know that they'll forget,
> >> > won't
> >> > see the point, and will complain about having to do it!
> >> >
> >> > Does anyone have an *elegant* way of detecting when the user has
> >> > switched
> >> > between already-open forms?
> >>
>

"Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:F7AFF584-D2B4-484C-9DB9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thank you for your quick responses by the way.
>
> You ask a good question, I hadn't checked if it worked for other forms. It
> does run when forms are loaded for the first time (which is an easy event
> to
> catch anyway), but not when the user switches between open forms, which
> seems
> to be a strangely hard event to catch.


I am not able to reproduce this behavior in Access 2003. It could be a bug
(or "by design" change of behavior) in Access 2007, but before concluding
that, could you please confirm that VBA is in fact enabled in the database
in question? Do other VBA procedures run in that database? I ask because
Access 2007 is ... cautious ... about allowing VBA to execute, unless the
database is in a trusted location.

Am I right in understanding that the forms are all non-default instances of
the same form class? So you have instantiated them by code along the lines
of "Set frmA = New Form_F_URL"?

--
Dirk Goldgar, MS Access MVP
Access tips: www.datagnostics.com/tips.html

(please reply to the newsgroup)

"Dirk Goldgar" wrote:

> "Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:F7AFF584-D2B4-484C-9DB9-(E-Mail Removed)...
<snip>
> > It does run when forms are loaded for the first time (which is
> > an easy event to
> > catch anyway), but not when the user switches between open forms, which
> > seems to be a strangely hard event to catch.
>
>
> I am not able to reproduce this behavior in Access 2003. It could be a bug
> (or "by design" change of behavior) in Access 2007, but before concluding
> that, could you please confirm that VBA is in fact enabled in the database
> in question? Do other VBA procedures run in that database? I ask because
> Access 2007 is ... cautious ... about allowing VBA to execute, unless the
> database is in a trusted location.
>
> Am I right in understanding that the forms are all non-default instances of
> the same form class? So you have instantiated them by code along the lines
> of "Set frmA = New Form_F_URL"?

VBA is definately enabled, and many other routines and functions, commands
and events all run smoothly on this particular form, and on others.

The form in question (F_URL) is always instantiated by a routine in global
module, and a reference to the form is held in a global collection.

The following is all in "M_Global":

Public OwnURLFormsCollection As New Collection

Public Function EditPage(ByVal epID As Integer)
Dim epForm As Form_F_URL
If Nz(epID, 0) = 0 Then Exit Function

Set epForm = ReturnF_URL_ForURLIfAlreadyOpen(epID)
If Not (epForm Is Nothing) Then 'Already open
epForm.SetFocus
Else
Set epForm = New Form_F_URL
epForm.OpenPage epID
OwnURLFormsCollection.Add epForm 'Keeps the form open
End If

Set epForm = Nothing
End Function

The "OpenPage" function does a few things, including me.setfocus and
me.visible=true, and sets some values on control buttons, which all work.

F_URL.Activate doesn't run after the line "Set epForm = New Form_F_URL" or
when switching between open windows (which is where I most need to run code!).

I have found ways around having to detect when the form changes, but there
are still a few functions that require it.

"Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:A78C0A85-4044-43E9-9A94-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> VBA is definately enabled, and many other routines and functions, commands
> and events all run smoothly on this particular form, and on others.
>
> The form in question (F_URL) is always instantiated by a routine in global
> module, and a reference to the form is held in a global collection.
>
> The following is all in "M_Global":
>
> Public OwnURLFormsCollection As New Collection
>
> Public Function EditPage(ByVal epID As Integer)
> Dim epForm As Form_F_URL
> If Nz(epID, 0) = 0 Then Exit Function
>
> Set epForm = ReturnF_URL_ForURLIfAlreadyOpen(epID)
> If Not (epForm Is Nothing) Then 'Already open
> epForm.SetFocus
> Else
> Set epForm = New Form_F_URL
> epForm.OpenPage epID
> OwnURLFormsCollection.Add epForm 'Keeps the form open
> End If
>
> Set epForm = Nothing
> End Function
>
> The "OpenPage" function does a few things, including me.setfocus and
> me.visible=true, and sets some values on control buttons, which all work.
>
> F_URL.Activate doesn't run after the line "Set epForm = New Form_F_URL" or
> when switching between open windows (which is where I most need to run
> code!).

Hmm. Now I've tried it in Access 2007, in a simple setup with module-level
form variables set to instances of the same form, with a MsgBox coded in
that forms Activate event. This worked fine for me, exactly as I would have
exected. The Msgbox for each instance fired when I first instantiated the
form, and also whenever I clicked from one form to another.

HOWEVER, it did not fire if the form's PopUp property was set to Yes (True).
I recall this from the behavior of ordinary, default instances of forms --
the Activate event doesn't fire for PopUp forms. Is your form F_URL a popup
form, by any chance?

--
Dirk Goldgar, MS Access MVP
Access tips: www.datagnostics.com/tips.html

(please reply to the newsgroup)

"Dirk Goldgar" wrote:
> "Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > The form in question (F_URL) is always instantiated by a routine in global
> > module, and a reference to the form is held in a global collection.
<snip>
<snip>
> HOWEVER, it did not fire if the form's PopUp property was set to Yes (True).
> I recall this from the behavior of ordinary, default instances of forms --
> the Activate event doesn't fire for PopUp forms. Is your form F_URL a popup
> form, by any chance?

YES, that is it!!! When I set PopUp to false in design time, the Activate
event then fires.

But when PopUp is false the form always opens Maximized. There are no
Minimize or Restore buttons, and, if I stick DoCmd.Restore in the Activate
event, it doesn't do anything (no error either).

DoCmd.OpenForm "F_URL", acNormal, , , , acWindowNormal
and
Set epForm = New Form_F_URL

.... both open it in full screen... I've played with settings like AutoSize,
Width (worth a try) and checked that the ShowRestore and ShowMinimize
properties are set to true. This seems like something I should remember, but,
if PopUp=false, does that mean the form has to be maximized?

The point of these windows is that settings and text-editting can be done on
multiple instances of F_URL, side-by-side, frequently switching between them.
Unfortunately, having F_URL maximized is an even bigger problem than the
Activate event not firing!

Is it the case that (therefore!) the Activate event only fires for
maximized/non-PopUp windows?

Test users are now getting used to clicking a "Set Focus" command
(Cmd_DoActivate) button manually after switching between windows... on some
of the most-frequently used text fields in F_URL, I have implemented code in
OnChange that manually fires .Activate to help in times when the user doesn't
click Cmd_DoActivate... I could *also* do a timer that runs every 2 seconds
or something to capture Screen.ActiveForm, and pretty much bypass the need to
get the Activate event working.

> --
> Dirk Goldgar, MS Access MVP
> Access tips: www.datagnostics.com/tips.html
>
> (please reply to the newsgroup)
>

"Vexen Crabtree" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:3D81A053-D186-4CB6-A14F-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> YES, that is it!!! When I set PopUp to false in design time, the Activate
> event then fires.
>
> But when PopUp is false the form always opens Maximized. There are no
> Minimize or Restore buttons, and, if I stick DoCmd.Restore in the Activate
> event, it doesn't do anything (no error either).

Are you sure you aren't just seeing the form opened in tabbed document mode?
Access 2007 introduced a new default mode for displaying document windows,
"Tabbed Documents". In this mode, all non-popup forms and report previews
are displayed more or less maximized in the application window, with tabs at
the top to enable you to switch from one document to another.

If that's what's going on, you can change the database option back to the
traditional "overlapping windows" mode, which I prefer. To change it, click
the Office button, then choose Access Options..., then the Current Database
tab, and change the "Document Window Options" setting from "Tabbed
Documents" to "Overlapping Windows".

> Is it the case that (therefore!) the Activate event only fires for
> maximized/non-PopUp windows?

Only for non-PopUp windows, but whether the form is maximized or not has
nothing to do with it.

> Test users are now getting used to clicking a "Set Focus" command
> (Cmd_DoActivate) button manually after switching between windows... on
> some
> of the most-frequently used text fields in F_URL, I have implemented code
> in
> OnChange that manually fires .Activate to help in times when the user
> doesn't
> click Cmd_DoActivate... I could *also* do a timer that runs every 2
> seconds
> or something to capture Screen.ActiveForm, and pretty much bypass the need
> to
> get the Activate event working.

I suspect that all this work is unnecessary, but will wait for your response
to my suggestion above about the document window option setting.

--
Dirk Goldgar, MS Access MVP
Access tips: www.datagnostics.com/tips.html

(please reply to the newsgroup)