Imoveable Forms

[Patrick Fisher]

Later versions of Access have form property called Moveable which, if
set, prevents users from moving forms yet still allows the form to
retain a border.

Access 97 does not have this property therefore the only way to
prevent users from moving forms is to have forms with no borders, is
there a way in Access 97 to mimic the Moveable Property?
Patrick

[Larry Linson]

"Patrick Fisher" <in**@psoftuk.c om> wrote

Access 97 does not have this property
therefore the only way to prevent users
from moving forms is to have forms with
no borders, is there a way in Access 97
to mimic the Moveable Property?

Best solution is to allow the user to have control of his/her own desktop --
that has traditionally been "The Windows Way". Otherwise, you could draw
your own "pseudo-border" on a borderless form and intercept any attempt to
resize the form in the "On Resize" event.

My personal preference is to let the user have control, but I realize there
are sometimes reasons to not do so.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

[Patrick Fisher]

Larry
On Resize only works when you have the border set to Sizeable and you
try to resize the form, it has no effect on moving the form.

The problem with letting users move forms about is that once they
realize that they can have as many forms open as they like not only do
the use up resources but any On Close event procedures that may have
been programmed may not be allowed to work thus causing potential data
chaos.

Surely over the years someone has come up with a solution to this?
Patrick
On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 22:12:34 GMT, "Larry Linson"
<bo*****@localh ost.not> wrote:

"Patrick Fisher" <in**@psoftuk.c om> wrote

Access 97 does not have this property
therefore the only way to prevent users
from moving forms is to have forms with
no borders, is there a way in Access 97
to mimic the Moveable Property?

Best solution is to allow the user to have control of his/her own desktop --
that has traditionally been "The Windows Way". Otherwise, you could draw
your own "pseudo-border" on a borderless form and intercept any attempt to
resize the form in the "On Resize" event.

My personal preference is to let the user have control, but I realize there
are sometimes reasons to not do so.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

[Chuck Grimsby]

Why is moving the forms a problem?

Oh, well, you can always open the form "full screen" so that there's no
where for the user to move the form, or if it really doesn't matter if
they move the form, you can use the MoveSize command to more the form
back to where you want it to be.

If there's something under the form you don't want the user to see, try
hiding that form when the "one on top of it" opens.

[David W. Fenton]

Patrick Fisher <in**@psoftuk.c om> wrote in
news:o9******** *************** *********@4ax.c om:

The problem with letting users move forms about is that once they
realize that they can have as many forms open as they like not
only do the use up resources but any On Close event procedures
that may have been programmed may not be allowed to work thus
causing potential data chaos.

Then maybe you should be using modal forms, i.e., by opening them
with the acDialog argument? That means the user has to dismiss the
form before moving onto the next form.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton
dfenton at bway dot net http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc

[Patrick Fisher]

I have found a solution that I believe is perfectly acceptable and
that is to use the On Timer Event Procedure to reposition the form
with a setting of 500 using MoveSize.
Thanks for your suggestions
Patrick

On 7 Jun 2005 15:38:34 -0700, "Chuck Grimsby"
<c.*******@worl dnet.att.net> wrote:

Why is moving the forms a problem?

Oh, well, you can always open the form "full screen" so that there's no
where for the user to move the form, or if it really doesn't matter if
they move the form, you can use the MoveSize command to more the form
back to where you want it to be.

If there's something under the form you don't want the user to see, try
hiding that form when the "one on top of it" opens.

[Rick Brandt]

"Patrick Fisher" <in**@psoftuk.c om> wrote in message
news:68******** *************** *********@4ax.c om...

I have found a solution that I believe is perfectly acceptable and
that is to use the On Timer Event Procedure to reposition the form
with a setting of 500 using MoveSize.
Thanks for your suggestions
Patrick

It seems counter-productive to me to add needless timer events because you are
concerned about wasting resources. Timer events use more resources then having
a few extra forms opened.

--
I don't check the Email account attached
to this message. Send instead to...
RBrandt at Hunter dot com

[Tim Marshall]

Patrick Fisher wrote:

The problem with letting users move forms about is that once they
realize that they can have as many forms open as they like not only do
the use up resources but any On Close event procedures that may have
been programmed may not be allowed to work thus causing potential data
chaos.
If this is the issue, then your solution is a very bad one, in my
opinion, for precisely the reasons Larry has mentioned. It's counter
intuitive to users.

Think about flow of events and what you're trying to accomplish and
incorporate subs which close all open forms or specific ones in the on
open event of certain key (ie, major crossroads in the flow). Set up
and control your processes such that there are very few forms open at
one time.

I would also largely avoid on close events that do affect data. That's
a personal choice of mine. For data entry, I more often use unbound
controls/forms than bound ones. In such cases, I have an OK button that
performs an insert/update and then closes the form, but I do NOT depend
on the close even of the form to do any data manipulation.

Your solution you've proposed elsewhere is counterintuitiv e and will be
irritating, I can guarantee you, to a windows user.
Surely over the years someone has come up with a solution to this?
Patrick

Yes, good design. 8)

My apologies if I am sounding brutal and mean to you, but I am trying to
offer some alternatives based on my own experiences (which are limited
compared to some of the big guns - Larry, Chuck, David & Rick - here
that have responded to you so far) and not trying to cut you down.
--
Tim http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~tmarshal/
^o<
/#) "Burp-beep, burp-beep, burp-beep?" - Quaker Jake
/^^ "Whatcha doin?" - Ditto "TIM-MAY!!" - Me

[David W. Fenton]

Patrick Fisher <in**@psoftuk.c om> wrote in
news:68******** *************** *********@4ax.c om:

I have found a solution that I believe is perfectly acceptable and
that is to use the On Timer Event Procedure to reposition the form
with a setting of 500 using MoveSize.

Timers can have very weird side effects that are hard to trace down,
and I use them only when I must.

I think you're solving a problem created by not properly structuring
your program flow, using modal forms where appropriate.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton
dfenton at bway dot net http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc

[Patrick Fisher]

David
I think you may have a point, I have never really thought much about
using the modal property on my main forms, only for smaller popups.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Patrick

On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 20:10:59 GMT, "David W. Fenton"
<dX********@bwa y.net.invalid> wrote:

Patrick Fisher <in**@psoftuk.c om> wrote in
news:68******* *************** **********@4ax. com:

I have found a solution that I believe is perfectly acceptable and
that is to use the On Timer Event Procedure to reposition the form
with a setting of 500 using MoveSize.

Timers can have very weird side effects that are hard to trace down,
and I use them only when I must.

I think you're solving a problem created by not properly structuring
your program flow, using modal forms where appropriate.