I need a click event on a sub form to append a text box on the parent form

[sooli]

I have a subform with check boxes for verification of a task. I have been asked to make it so that when the check box is clicked, that it append a text box to show the particular task was done and give it a time stamp.

I am having trouble getting the click event to set the focus back to the parent form.

So I have a form called PrintServerBackups, and a subform called PrintServerCheckList. There are about 40 check boxes on the subform - which is table driven. The subform is simply a list of server names with check boxes in front of each server name.

On the parent form I have a comments box PrintServerBackups!txtComments where my user can put notes.

I would like to populate this text box with the server name and a date stamp by means of appending, when the user clicks the check box next to a server name, so a list of servers and the time stamp is created in the text box.

I set the table field for txtComments to be append only and then
I tried the following to get just one click to work for now, but ultimately I will need it to add to the text box when another check box is checked:

 
Forms!PrintServerBackUps!txtComments.SetFocus = True
txtComments.Value = "server01: " & now()
 

I also tried:

Me.Forms!PrintServerBackUps!txtComments.SetFocus = True
Me.txtComments.Value = "server01: " & now()
 

but nothing happens when I click the check box? what did I miss?

I had thought about using the =ColumnHistory on this but I don't really understand it well enough to modify it from the standard

=ColumnHistory([RecordSource],"txtComments","[ID]=" & Nz([ID],0))
 

all I want is for the comments box to update with the server name and a date stamp each time a checkbox is checked, and I need the last entry to stay put.

[TheSmileyCoder]

Regarding Focus:
To modify a control value, that control does NOT need to have focus.

Most basic controls in Access have a .Text property, and a .Value property.

The .Text is usually used when you are validating the contents of a textbox as the user is typing, and the .Text can only be used when the control has the focus.

The .Value on the other hand can be accessed anytime.

Regarding Forms!
The Forms! collection belongs to the application. Therefore Me.Forms! doesn't make sense. Me refers to the form behind which the code is placed. From the subform, you can access the parent form in (at least) 2 ways. One is
Forms!NameOfParentForm.NameOfControl="NewValue"
the other is:
Me.Parent.NameOfControl="NewValue"

I would use the first if I was on a completely different form, i.e. a popup form, but I would always use the second approach from a subform.

Regarding txtComments and Scope
If txtComments is a control on the parent form, then you cannot from the subform use:
txtComments="somethinh"
Because the subform does not directly know of or about txtComments. However, we could use:
Me.Parent.txtComments="something"
or
Me.Parent.txtComments.Value="something"

Note that these 2 are equivalent, because the DEFAULT property of a textbox is the .Value property. Therefore most programmers tend to use the first, as it is less verbose.

Regarding Append Only
I have not played with the append only mode of a memofield from VBA. My own approach is simply to lock the control, and do it "append only" style from code.
Me.Parent.txtComments=me.Parent.txtComments & vbnewline & _
format(Date(),"yyyy-mm-dd") & ": " & "Server check"


Hope that helps.

[sooli]

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Your explainations were supurb! and now I understand what i was missing.

I did end up having to use Forms! to make this work, without the me.

final code to work the magic i needed:

Forms!Printserverbackups.txtComments.SetFocus
Forms!Printserverbackups.txtComments = Forms!Printserverbackups.txtComments & vbNewLine & ("archpprtp01: " & Now())
 

Thank you so much for pointing out the vbNewLine snippet! this will make my life so much easier all over the place!!! You ROCK!