Custom Buttons

[magmike]

I have been playing around with using rectangles and labels as
buttons. However, I was curious what others have come up with to
create their own buttons. As my visual designs are changing, I'm
hoping for something a little more up-to-date and jazzy - and being
more able to control what the buttons look like, in spite of the users
OS.

Also, in playing with the rectangles and labels, there is not an event
for hovering. Is there a way to code in hovering actions?

Thanks in advance for your input,
magmike

 

[magmike]

The biggest problem with using rectangles, images, or labels in place of
buttons is that they cannot have focus so they cannot be executed from
the keyboard.  For some people that's a big deal.

Hover text (Control Tips) should work with labels (not sure about
rectangles).

By "hovering" I meant to be able to change the properties of the
control (i.e. SpecialEffect, BorderColor, ForeColor, BackColor, etc.)

magmike

 

[Pete D.]

I use transparent buttons with pictures behind them and below are a couple
of other tricks.
http://www.databasedev.co.uk/command_button.html
http://www.msaccesstips.com/2008/04/colorfull-command-buttons.shtml

 

[Dirk Goldgar]

I have been playing around with using rectangles and labels as
buttons. However, I was curious what others have come up with to
create their own buttons. As my visual designs are changing, I'm
hoping for something a little more up-to-date and jazzy - and being
more able to control what the buttons look like, in spite of the users
OS.

Also, in playing with the rectangles and labels, there is not an event
for hovering. Is there a way to code in hovering actions?

You can use a control's MouseMove event to trigger various effects.
Normally, that involves two main tricks:

(1) Use the MouseMove event of a surrounding control -- or, commonly, the
form section holding the subject control -- to reset whatever effect you set
in the control's MouseMove event.

(2) To avoid rerunning the "special effect" code over and over while the
mouse moves over the control, use a static or module-level flag variable to
indicate the control state, and check that variable before reapplying the
effect.

 

[Larry Linson]

As my visual designs are changing, I'm
hoping for something a little more up-to-date
and jazzy - and being more able to control
what the buttons look like, in spite of the
users OS.

That's very interesting -- are you wanting "up-to-date and jazzy" because
you think that makes the users of your database more productive? My clients
have always wanted simple, straightforward, and obvious controls so their
employees could solve their business issues quickly and efficiently. Even
if their employees were of the "gamer generation", they would not pay a
single nanocent to entertain them with "glitz and glitter".

Also, in playing with the rectangles and labels,
there is not an event for hovering. Is there a way
to code in hovering actions?

As you've read, recent versions of the operating system allow you some
latitude in customzing your own visual interface, but Access itself pretty
much classifies these as design view operations.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Office Access MVP

 

[magmike]

 > As my visual designs are changing, I'm
 > hoping for something a little more up-to-date
 > and jazzy - and being more able to control
 > what the buttons look like, in spite of the
 > users OS.

That's very interesting -- are you wanting "up-to-date and jazzy" because
you think that makes the users of your database more productive?  My clients
have always wanted simple, straightforward, and obvious controls so their
employees could solve their business issues quickly and efficiently.  Even
if their employees were of the "gamer generation", they would not pay a
single nanocent to entertain them with "glitz and glitter".

 > Also, in playing with the rectangles and labels,
 > there is not an event for hovering. Is there a way
 > to code in hovering actions?

As you've read, recent versions of the operating system allow you some
latitude in customzing your own visual interface, but Access itself pretty
much classifies these as design view operations.

 Larry Linson
 Microsoft Office Access MVP

I don't do this for pay or clients. This is my own personal database
that I use at work which also doubles as my hobby and creative outlet.
It keeps my hands from getting idle ;-)