Microsoft KB Archive/182435

= ACC97: DoMenuItem Method Fails in a Modal Pop-up Form =

Article ID: 182435

Article Last Modified on 1/22/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q182435



Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.



SYMPTOMS
When you use the DoMenuItem method in a form whose PopUp and Modal properties are set to Yes, the action called by the DoMenuItem method may fail silently or return the following error message:

The command or action isn't available now.

NOTE: Some actions called by the DoMenuItem method also fail if you set the PopUp property of a form to Yes, regardless of whether or not the Modal Property is set to Yes.

This problem can occur when you use the Command Button Wizard to create a button on a pop-up form, because the wizard generates a Visual Basic for Applications procedure that uses the DoMenuItem method.



RESOLUTION
If you need to set the Modal and PopUp properties of a form to Yes, you can replace the DoMenuItem method with the equivalent RunCommand method. However, some DoMenuItem action commands do not have equivalent RunCommand actions. For more information, search the Help Index for "DoMenuItem action" and view the topic "DoMenuItem Action Commands Not Available with the RunCommand Action."

The following steps demonstrate how to change actions of the DoMenuItem method to the corresponding actions of the RunCommand method:  Follow steps 1 through 12 in the "Steps to Reproduce Problem" section later in this article. Open the frmDoMenuTest form in Design View.  Right-click the Delete Record button; then click Build Event on the shortcut menu. Note the Visual Basic for Applications code created by the Command Bar wizard: Private Sub Command10_Click On Error GoTo Err_Command10_Click

DoCmd.DoMenuItem acFormBar, acEditMenu, 8,, acMenuVer70 DoCmd.DoMenuItem acFormBar, acEditMenu, 6,, acMenuVer70

Exit_Command10_Click: Exit Sub

Err_Command10_Click: MsgBox Err.Description Resume Exit_Command10_Click

End Sub   Type an apostrophe (') at the beginning of the following lines      DoCmd.DoMenuItem acFormBar, acEditMenu, 8,, acMenuVer70 DoCmd.DoMenuItem acFormBar, acEditMenu, 6,, acMenuVer70

so that they appear as follows:

     'DoCmd.DoMenuItem acFormBar, acEditMenu, 8,, acMenuVer70 'DoCmd.DoMenuItem acFormBar, acEditMenu, 6,, acMenuVer70

This changes the lines of code so that they become comments, which are not executed.   Immediately after the lines that you changed to comments in step 4, type the following lines: <pre class="fixed_text">     DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdSelectRecord DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdDeleteRecord </li> Close the Module window and save the form.</li> On the View menu, click Form View.</li> Click the Delete Record button. Note that you are prompted to confirm that you want to delete the record.</li></ol>

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STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Access 97.

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MORE INFORMATION
The Visual Basic for Applications code generated by the Command Button wizard often uses the DoMenuItem method.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

 * 1) Start Microsoft Access 97 and open the sample database Northwind.mdb.
 * 2) In the Database window, click the Tables tab, and select the Order Details table.
 * 3) On the Insert menu, click AutoForm. Save the form as frmDoMenuTest.
 * 4) On the View menu, click Design View.
 * 5) If the toolbox is not already visible, click Toolbox on the View menu.
 * 6) Make sure that the Control Wizard button is pressed in; the button face of the Control Wizard button is a picture of a wand.
 * 7) Click the command button tool in the toolbox and add a command button to the detail section of the form.
 * 8) On the first screen of the Command Button Wizard, select Record Operations in the Categories list and Delete Record in the Actions list. Click Finish.
 * 9) On the Edit menu, click Select Form.
 * 10) On the View menu, click Properties, and then click the Other tab. Set the PopUp property and the Modal property of the form to Yes.
 * 11) Save and close the frmDoMenuTest form.
 * 12) Open the frmDoMenuTest form in Form view and click the Delete Record button. Note that the action fails silently and the current record is not deleted.

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