Scrolling list?

[njem]

Isn't there a way to make a scrolling list of fields on a form? I only
use Access occasionally and it used to be 2003 and now it's 2007. I
used 2007 for a project last year too so it's not like I'm just in
transition. But if I have a form of say people, and on that form I
want an endless scrollable list of say appointments (which links to
its own table), isn't there some way, maybe using a bound object frame
or something, to set that up? I've found a video tutorial online about
putting one form on another, the same effect I guess as using the
subform item in form design. But it seems more awkward and
tempermental than a simple scrolling box. I was sure I'd done it a
different way before but don't find it. Probably something very simple
I'm overlooking.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Tom van Stiphout]

Perhaps you mean a subform?
While designing your form, drop the Appointments table on it.

-Tom.
Microsoft Access MVP

 

[njem]

Perhaps you mean a subform?

While designing your form, drop the Appointments table on it.

Right, that's what seems to be the current solution (what I described
as putting one form on another). It works but... I made the subform a
datasheet since that seemed closest to what I wanted. I turned off
most windows features for it like no border, no close box, not
resizable, no auto-sizing. I set it to only have a vertical scroll
bar. It has two columns, a date and a comment (for a meeting). The
comment might be wider than the viewable space. They can see enough to
get the idea. They can put the cursor in it and move right to see the
rest. They can print a report that will give multiple lines and show
all text. But when it displays enough records to need the vertical
scroll bar, and if there is a wide comment, a horizontal scrollbar
pops up anyway (only if the vertical is required too, curiously). If I
put the cursor in the comment box the whole form view scrolls left to
show me more of the comments column and the date column is now not
visible. It will stay invisible even if you move to other people
records. The operator can just scroll it back but I try to keep it
simple because some operators are...only up to dealing with a simple
interface. You can also accidentally grab the column width bar and
change the width of the date column to take up the whole space or be
too narrow. I haven't seen an option to lock that. Then the whole darn
subform shrinks and grows. I look at it on a widescreen and there's a
bunch of excess form background sticking out to the right, I'm
guessing somehow connected to viewing wide comments. Then I change
resolution to look at it on a narower screen and it wants to keep that
subform width, so now the useable part of the subform has narrowed.
I've tried playing with the width of the actual form, the width of the
subform, the width of fields, the width of the form sheet itself in
design view, turned off all auto-sizing or resizing. I finally got it
to behave but seems touchy. All the while I'm sure I remember either
in earlier Access or some other db a way to put something like a bound
rectangle on a form, put a datasheet type view in it, its dumb and
can't be altered in any way by the user, only has a vertical scroll
bar, simple and steady. Is this subform method really the only way to
do it?

Thanks,
Tom