Activating Timer after an event

[Stoic]

Hi,
I have a for in my database with several fields. Now I want for the timer to be activated after entering data into a particular field. I have this but I am not getting the result.

Private Sub Form_Current()
    If Me.Number = "*" Then
        Me.TimerInterval = 500
    Else
        Me.TimerInterval = 0
        Me.lblProcessing.Visible = False
    End If
End Sub

    With Me.lblProcessing
        .Visible = Not Me.lblProcessing.Visible
    End With

Can anyone help me out on what I am doing wrong here?
Thanks,

[NeoPa]

Stoic:
Now I want for the timer to be activated after entering data into a particular field.

Your explanation doesn't match the code. The code checks each record it finds.

For your second code block you give no clues as to where it is found. As such, it is almost no indication of anything at all.

I suspect if you work a little on your question we will be in a position to be able to help without having to guess too much of what you really want. This should suit everyone.

[Rabbit]

You probably think that Me.Number = "*" will be true if there's anything in the field. That's not correct. An equal operator does not accept wild cards. What you need to do instead is check that the length of the field is larger than 1.

[TheSmileyCoder]

Curios why do you need the timer?
Anyway, as rabbit says there are various ways to check for data.

One is:

IF len(Me.Number & "")>0 then

The & "" ensures that should the field be empty (null) then that is handled as well.

Another approach if you want to be more specific (based on the name of your control might be to use the IsNumeric function.

[Stoic]

Thanks guys for the efforts so far. I inadvertently forgot to include where my second code is. Here is my thought.
I have several fields on my form. Among the fields, I have a field called Number. I also have a label called lblProcessing placed in the form property timer to alternate/flash. Now, I want for the timer to be activated after updating the 'Number' field; when timer is activated, the label 'lblProcessing' will flash, else the timer interval is set at 0 and nothing which means the Number field is empty. My first code:

Private Sub Form_Current()
    If Me.Number = "*" Then
        Me.TimerInterval = 500
    Else
        Me.TimerInterval = 0
        Me.lblProcessing.Visible = False
    End If
End Sub

says if the number field is updated then the timer is activated the the 'lblProcessing' label is visible and flashes, else the timer is set at 0 and the 'lblProcessing label stops flashing and not visible.

My second code

Private Sub Form_Timer()
    With Me.lblProcessing
        .Visible = Not Me.lblProcessing.Visible
    End With
End Sub

runs the timer for the 'lblProcessing' label to flash if the timer is activated.

I hope I have provided some clarity.
Thanks

[TheSmileyCoder]

The forms current event is fired each time you navigate to a different (or new) record in your form. I think you need to code it differently based on what you have described.

A single procedure to check:

Private Sub UpdateTimer()
    If IsNumeric(Me.Number) Then
        Me.TimerInterval = 500
    Else
        Me.TimerInterval = 0
        Me.lblProcessing.Visible = False
    End If
End Sub

With code in both the FORMS current and the NUMBER CONTROL's afterupdate:

Private Sub Form_Current()
  Call UpdateTimer
End Sub
 
Private Sub Number_AfterUpdate()
  Call UpdateTimer
End Sub

Hope that Helps.

[Stoic]

Thanks TheSmileyCoder, but it didn't work.

[NeoPa]

Stoic:
I want for the timer to be activated after updating the 'Number' field; when timer is activated, the label 'lblProcessing' will flash, else the timer interval is set at 0 and nothing which means the Number field is empty.

As Smiley indicated (and I did earlier also) this is just not logical. The value in your [Number] control can be non-blank without it having been changed in the current sesssion. Your response is very helpful certainly, and leaving bits out of the question is an oversight that many members make. It would probably be helpful if you could resolve for us exactly what you do mean here though. Is it when this value is changed that you want it to flash or is it when the value is other than Null (blank)?

Stoic:
Thanks TheSmileyCoder, but it didn't work.

A perfectly polite and friendly response, but we also need information when something fails. Was there an error message? Were the results other than you expected with no crash? Just saying it doesn't work is generally not very much to work with ;-)

For the UpdateTimer procedure I'd suggest :

Private Sub UpdateTimer()
    With Me
        .TimerInterval = IIf(IsNull(.Number), 0, 500)
        .lblProcessing.Visible = (.TimerInterval > 0)
    End With
End Sub

For the Timer procedure itself :

Private Sub Form_Timer()
    With Me.lblProcessing
        .Visible = Not .Visible
    End With
End Sub

[Stoic]

Thanks for the efforts guys. I just added the code to the afterupdate for the Number field and it worked.

Private Sub Number_AfterUpdate()
If Me.Number > 0 Then
        Me.TimerInterval = 500
    Else
        Me.TimerInterval = 0
        Me.lblProcessing.Visible = False
    End If
End Sub