Display Status Bar Text on Form

[Hilary Ostrov]

I've never been crazy about ToolTips on a form because (IMHO) they can
be annoying once one actually knows what one is doing - and sometimes
they even get in the way of progress! So, I've used Status Bar Text
instead. But I've often found that some users seem to have an
aversion to training themselves to remember 'when in doubt, cast your
eye to the Status Bar'. So what I'd like to do is display the Status
Bar text in a txtBox on the form itself.

Is there some general code I could use that would accomplish this - or
do I need to create GotFocus and LostFocus Events for each control,
and if the latter what would be the appropriate expression(s) to use?

Thanks.
hro

 

[Rick B]

Never tried this, but it seems that you could create an unbound text box and
set it's contents to the current fields status text. I can't think of
anyway to refresh the field though. Adding an OnGotFocus event to refresh
that field is about the only way I could think of. Not sure if that is very
efficient, and would make overhead pretty high if you need to modify the
design of the form.

You could do an OnKeyPress using 'tab' or 'enter' but it would not get mouse
clicks. I guess you could also refresh everytime a mouse click occurred.
Either of these would be cleaner because you would not have to add code
everytime you added a control to the form.

Good Luck. I will follow this post and keep notes. Sounds like a trick I
may want to use some day.

Rick B




I've never been crazy about ToolTips on a form because (IMHO) they can
be annoying once one actually knows what one is doing - and sometimes
they even get in the way of progress! So, I've used Status Bar Text
instead. But I've often found that some users seem to have an
aversion to training themselves to remember 'when in doubt, cast your
eye to the Status Bar'. So what I'd like to do is display the Status
Bar text in a txtBox on the form itself.

Is there some general code I could use that would accomplish this - or
do I need to create GotFocus and LostFocus Events for each control,
and if the latter what would be the appropriate expression(s) to use?

Thanks.
hro

 

[Pavel Romashkin]

Below is my opinion - not a solution to the technical question.
In my opinion, this is not a question of technique to use but whether or
not the user wants to use the online help features. If they are annoyed
by tool tips, unwilling to look at the status bar and too lazy to press
the F1 key, are you going to now try to put the informational screen
right in the middle of the form?
I am sorry, but there is no way you can force the user to *read* the
text, no matter where you put it. Online help in all forms is a
resource, and if they don't want it and you still want them to be able
to use the application without training, the only option is to make
controls so intuitive that they require no explanations at all.
Pavel
P.S. Like, when I clicked on the URL in your signature, I got taken to a
flash home page with sound! This is not considerate to my bandwidth.
What if I am on a dialup? Enjoying multimedia, just like online hel,
should be an option, not something forced upon you.

 

[Hilary Ostrov]

Never tried this, but it seems that you could create an unbound text box and
set it's contents to the current fields status text.

Well, I did get as far as creating an unbound text box. But I'm still
a newbie and I have no idea what the syntax might be to reference a)
the current field and b) the StatusBar Text

I suppose I could simply add a label which reads "If in doubt check
the status bar at the bottom left of this window", but I think the
other would be much more elegant (and wouldn't truncate if text was
too long to display in status bar!)

I can't think of
anyway to refresh the field though. Adding an OnGotFocus event to refresh
that field is about the only way I could think of. Not sure if that is very
efficient, and would make overhead pretty high if you need to modify the
design of the form.

You could do an OnKeyPress using 'tab' or 'enter' but it would not get mouse
clicks. I guess you could also refresh everytime a mouse click occurred.
Either of these would be cleaner because you would not have to add code
everytime you added a control to the form.

Good Luck. I will follow this post and keep notes. Sounds like a trick I
may want to use some day.

Thanks - and that'll make at least two of us following this thread!
Hopefully, one of the gurus will point us in the right direction.

news:[email protected]...

[...]

So what I'd like to do is display the Status
Bar text in a txtBox on the form itself.
Is there some general code I could use that would accomplish this - or
do I need to create GotFocus and LostFocus Events for each control,
and if the latter what would be the appropriate expression(s) to use?

hro

 

[Hilary Ostrov]

Below is my opinion - not a solution to the technical question.
In my opinion, this is not a question of technique to use but whether or
not the user wants to use the online help features. If they are annoyed
by tool tips, unwilling to look at the status bar and too lazy to press
the F1 key, are you going to now try to put the informational screen
right in the middle of the form?

Not really "right in the middle" ... Just unobtrusively off to the
side And I haven't had a chance to write the Help File yet, anyway!
It would be great if one had the same quick 'n easy way to incorporate
context sensitive help on an Access form as one does on a Word form.

I am sorry, but there is no way you can force the user to *read* the
text, no matter where you put it. Online help in all forms is a
resource, and if they don't want it and you still want them to be able
to use the application without training, the only option is to make
controls so intuitive that they require no explanations at all.

The controls are intuitive and - for the most part - when I've used
StatusBarText it is merely to remind the user who wants to become less
mouse-dependent (and more efficient and productive!) of the native
windows keyboard shortcuts s/he can use to navigate and/or
(particularly for hunt 'n peck typists) to remind them of input
shortcuts. e.g. "Enter date as m/d. When you TAB this will be
automatically formatted as etc." or "Don't worry about using capitals,
when you TAB text will be automatically formatted correctly" or "Use
ALT+F4 to close this pop-up window" etc.etc.

Pavel
P.S. Like, when I clicked on the URL in your signature, I got taken to a
flash home page with sound! This is not considerate to my bandwidth.
What if I am on a dialup? Enjoying multimedia, just like online hel,
should be an option, not something forced upon you.

I agree, and I apologize for that. I've been meaning to modify the
whole page for months, and include a non-flash option. And I will get
around to it, one of these days!

hro