Microsoft KB Archive/139040

= ACC: Screen.ActiveForm Returns Main Form, Not Subform =

Article ID: 139040

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 2.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 95 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q139040





SYMPTOMS
Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.

If the currently active control on the screen is in a subform, Screen.ActiveControl will correctly reference this control. Screen.ActiveForm, however, will reference the main form and not the subform that the control is contained on.

This article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to your version of the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access" manual.

NOTE: Visual Basic for Applications is called Access Basic in Microsoft Access version 2.0. For more information about Access Basic, please refer to the "Building Applications" manual.



CAUSE
A subform is not really a form, but a control (just like a text box or command button) that appears on a form. Screen.ActiveForm will always return the active form, not a subform control.



RESOLUTION
You can use the Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl function described in the "More Information" section to determine what subform control contains the Screen.ActiveControl. This function will set a global control variable Screen_ActiveSubformControl to the currently active subform control on screen.   Syntax:

Function Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl

Return:

True: Screen_ActiveSubformControl was set to the subform control that contains Screen.ActiveControl. False: Screen.ActiveControl does not exist or is not in a subform.



MORE INFORMATION
The following steps show you how to create the set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl function. Then the "How To Use the Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl Function" section later in this article will show you how to use this function.

NOTE: In the following sample code, an underscore (_) at the end of a line is used as a line-continuation character. Remove the underscore from the end of the line when re-creating this code in Access Basic.

  Create a module and type the following lines in the Declarations section if they are not already there: Option Explicit Dim Screen_ActiveSubformControl As Control   Type the following two procedures: Function Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl Dim frmActive As Form, ctlActive As Control Dim hWndParent As Long

' Clear the control variable. Set Screen_ActiveSubformControl = Nothing

' Assume a subform is not active. Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl = False

' Get the active form and control. On Error Resume Next Set frmActive = Screen.ActiveForm Set ctlActive = Screen.ActiveControl If Err <> 0 Then Exit Function

' Get the unique window handle identifying the form ' .. the active control is on. hWndParent = ctlActive.Parent.Properties("hWnd")

' If the active form window handle is the same as the window ' handle of the form the active control is on, then we are on the ' mainform, so exit. If hWndParent = frmActive.hWnd Then Exit Function

' Find a subform control that has a window handle matching the ' .. window handle of the form the active control is on. Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl = FindSubform(frmActive, _            hWndParent)

End Function

Function FindSubform(frmSearch As Form, hWndFind As Long) Dim i As Integer On Error GoTo Err_FindSubForm

' Assume we will find a subform control with a window ' .. handle matching hWndFind. FindSubform = True

' Visit each control on the form frmSearch. For i = 0 To frmSearch.Count - 1 ' If the control is a subform control... If TypeOf frmSearch(i) Is SubForm Then ' .. does the window handle match the one we are looking ' for? If frmSearch(i).Form.hWnd = hWndFind Then ' We found it! Set the global control variable and exit. Set Screen_ActiveSubformControl = frmSearch(i) Exit Function Else ' Otherwise, search this subform control (recursively) ' .. to see if it contains a sub-subform control ' .. with a window handle matching the one we are ' .. interested in.

' If we found a subform control, then exit. If FindSubform(frmSearch(i).Form, hWndFind) Then Exit Function End If           End If         End If      Next i

Bye_FindSubform: ' If we didn't exit the function earlier, then there is no     ' .. subform or sub-subform control on this form that has a window ' .. handle matching the one we are interested in, so return false. FindSubform = False Exit Function

Err_FindSubForm: MsgBox Error$, 16, "FindSubform" Resume Bye_FindSubform End Function 

How to Use the Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl Function
The following steps use the sample database Northwind.mdb (or NWIND.MDB in 2.0) to demonstrate how to use the Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl function.

 Open the sample database Northwind.mdb and follow the steps in the "More Information" section to create the module containing the Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl procedure.  Create a new macro called AutoKeys as followed: Macro Name  Action ---     {F2}         RunCode

AutoKeys Actions RunCode Function Name: =DisplayActiveSubformName </li>  Add the following function to the module that you created in step 1: Function DisplayActiveSubformName Dim Msg As String Dim CR As String CR = Chr$(13) ' Carriage Return.

If Set_Screen_ActiveSubformControl = False Then Msg = "There is no active subform!" Else Msg = "Active Form Name = " & Screen.ActiveForm.Name Msg = Msg & CR           Msg = Msg & "Active ControlName = " & Screen.ActiveControl.Name Msg = Msg & CR           Msg = Msg & "Active Subform ControlName = " Msg = Msg & Screen_ActiveSubformControl.Name Msg = Msg & CR           Msg = Msg & "Active Subform Form Name = " Msg = Msg & Screen_ActiveSubformControl.Form.Name End If

MsgBox Msg

End Function </li> Open the Customers form in Design view and press F11 to switch to the Database window.</li> Drag the Orders form from the Database window to the bottom of the Customers form to create a subform control. This will enable you to test the function on a subform and a sub-subform.</li> Select the new subform control and set the following properties:

Name: Testing 123

SourceObject: Orders

</li> View the Customers form in Form view. Note that the Orders subform contains only orders for the current customer.</li> Set the focus to a control in the Customers form, the Orders form (subform), or the Orders Subform (sub-subform) and press the F2 key.</li></ol>

Keywords: kbprb KB139040

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