auto increment function missing in Access 2007?

[Nozzlehead]

Just loaded Access 2007 and can't turn on automatic value incrementing of a
blank field. This was very handy in Access 2003, to enter a series of numbers
into a blank field just by holding the Enter key.
Is this feature gone now?

 

[Jeff Boyce]

It sounds like you are working directly in a table, not a good idea, since
folks mistake an Access table for an Excel spreadsheet even though they are
not related.

The preferred option for entering values in a table is via a form.


Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[Nozzlehead]

I do a lot of work directly in tables; using Access and Excel where each is
appropriate. This feature was a real time saver when assigning ranks to
filtered data. Any way to get it turned on again?

 

[Jeff Boyce]

While it may have saved you time in loading your tables directly, many
(MANY) folks found the automatic numbering "feature" in the earlier versions
of Access to be terribly annoying. My own experience was that I spent more
time undoing what Access so "helpfully" added than I ever spent getting a
job done more quickly.

If I recall, that "feature" was removed (i.e., fixed) in 2007.

Have you considered doing your automatic numbering in Excel and importing
the data to Access?

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[Nozzlehead]

I guess one person's feature can be another's annoyance.
It's back to EditFillSeries, then.
Thanks.

 

[Clif McIrvin]

I'm using A2003, and have one function where that auto-increment is real
handy, but as the field in question is text the auto-increment didn't do
what I wanted.

If you're interested I'd share the VBA code I wrote to auto-increment
text fields. It will increment letters as well as digits, and prepends a
space for digits 1-9 to keep the ASCII sort order working 'numerically'
for values between 1-99.