Access can't create any more controls on this form or report

[dfwelch]

So, can someone tell me what the story is here? I remember reading somewhere that you can only put a certain number of controls on a form, but I can't find it anymore. I've done the "rename the form" trick and I've REALLY reached the limit.

So, what are my options? I also tried creating a subform that I added 15 or 20 controls to, and it did not seem to help. Is that a fix for this problem?

 

[KenReay]

Hi

There is a limit on the number of controls on a form, and on the number of columns in a table,

in the case of the limit on columns in a table, if you create column, then delete it, the slot is 'used' and you do not get it back until you do a compact and repair of the db, same may be true of forms/reports and numbe rof controls, have you tried a compact?

Regards

Ken Reay
Freelance Solutions Developer
Boldon Information Systems Ltd
Website needs upgrading, but for now -

http://www.kenneth.reay.btinternet.co.uk

UK

 

[dfwelch]

That's what I will try now. I have compacted it, as this i the front end that I have to share with 3 other people, but not since I started getting this message. In case this does not help, what can you tell me about the solution of putting some of the control on a subform within the form?

Thanks for any help!

 

[dfwelch]

Yeah, that didn't help.

 

[missinglinq]

Access limits you to 256 controls per form. The problem is that Access counts every control that has ever been on the form. Even if a control is deleted, such as frequently happens during design, it's counted towards the 256 limit. Renaming the form doesn't help. If I remember correctly, what you have to do is create a second form, copy all the controls from your current form to the second form, then save this second form with the name of the original. You'll get a message "This form already exists in this DB. Do you wish to replace" or some such. Answer Yes.

Hope this helps.

The Missinglinq

"It's got to be the going,
not the getting there that's good!"
-Harry Chapin

 

[KenReay]

Hi

A sub form is a single control so putting (say) ten controls which are currently on the main form onto a sub form should save you 9 slots, if you see what I mean

Regards

Ken Reay
Freelance Solutions Developer
Boldon Information Systems Ltd
Website needs upgrading, but for now -

http://www.kenneth.reay.btinternet.co.uk

UK

 

[SgtJarrow]

Is there any way to logically break the number of controls over a couple of forms??? Me, I generally try to stay away from subforms as things can get complicated fast as far as coding goes. I like to create a "main" form...this is where you enter all relevant data that pertains to the record itself. The I create command buttons on this main form that open other forms where you enter additional data...I try to group all the data entry as much as possible.

For example, let's say I am building an app to record and display the menus of several restaurants. My "main" form has info such as restaurant name, address, phone number, etc. There would be several command buttons, once for breakfast, lunch/dinner, drinks, etc....

=======================================
People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. (Calvin from Calvin And Hobbs)

Robert L. Johnson III
CCNA, CCDA, MCSA, CNA, Net+, A+
w: rljohnso@stewart.com
h: wildmage@tampabay.rr.com

 

[missinglinq]

Robert,

I agree with your comments about subforms complicating things, as well as your approach to breaking up data entry over a main form and several ancillary forms. All you really have to do is scan this or any other Access forum to get an idea of how much aggravation is caused by subforms. Aside from that, they always appear to really crowd a form, and scrolling up and down and side to side is a pain too. I personally would much rather use a separate form to display data some display in subforms, or better yet, use a tabbed page to display the data . That way you can view the data, say orders for a company, without actually leaving the form.

As to the 256 control limit, I really have to say that, IMHO, any DB that has a form that needs that many controls probably needs to be re-designed.

The Missinglinq

"It's got to be the going,
not the getting there that's good!"
-Harry Chapin

 

[dfwelch]

Hey guys, in my defense, I have broken the form up using a tab control. We're talking about a four-page fringe benefit survey data entry form. So, I have a 4-tab control on the form. The thing is, about 50 of the 60 questions on the survey are Yes/No. I used radio buttons, which uses two controls for each question, and each question has two parts, full-time and part-time. So, each Yes/No question uses four controls.

I've figured it out, and the only catch is on the fourth tab, I put the last five questions on a subform that is not sunken and has no border, so as far as crowding, you can't even tell it's a subform, LOL. So, the only catch is what I mentioned in another post,

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?SQID=821160&SPID=702&page=1.

When the user gets to the fourth tab, the first question on that tab AS WELL AS the first question in the subform are "highlighted" which is just green and bold, so the data enterer knows which question they are working on. I think we can live with that, at this point, LOL. But, any suggestions there are welcome.

 

[missinglinq]

No need to defend yourself, the whole idea in coming here is to share and learn. We all give ourselves a "dope slap" from time to time when someone points out the obvious that we've overlooked. For instance, you could have cut the number of controls for your yes/no answersin half by using one check box instead of two radio buttons. The survey takers check a box for "Yes". Simple, no? It's often easier looking at a problem when you haven't been knee deep in it for eons.

The Missinglinq

"It's got to be the going,
not the getting there that's good!"
-Harry Chapin

 

[sillysod]

use check boxes instead of radio buttons? that will half the number of controls

 

[sillysod]

Gah cant find edit post button,

as was already said if you are using 256 controls on a single form, I too would suggest a rethink.

It must be quite sluggish.

You say its a questionaire that you are entering, does the questionaire have distinct sections or catagories that you could break up the questionaire into, if this is the case and you have, say 5 sections.

split up the questionaire and make 5 forms, then on the top of each form have 5 cmd buttons, named 1 2 3 4 5. so when the user clicks a section it takes them to another form for section whatever, you could also set to on lost focus event of the last field to switch forms and set focus on first field, to make the form transition as smooth as possible.

Im not really a tab form/subform person. i prefer to seperate the entry down into many forms, this way its easier to track down bugs, and also any the naming of controls on a form doesnt get out of control, excuse the pun

 

[dfwelch]

Thanks for the encouragement. Yeah, I considered that about the checkbox. But, my brainless supervisor figures it would be nice to track the the questions that had not been answered, and the actual survey was designed with Yes/No fill-in-the-dots, so I didn't have much choice. Any suggestions on the other issue with BOTH of those controls getting the first focus for that tab? I thought about adding some VB code to remove the focus from the first control in the subform. Here, let me take a screen shot and show you what the form looks like:

http://www.ibuildyourcomputer.com/survey.jpg

So, you see, question 56 should not be green when the user first gets to this tab.

 

[dfwelch]

Yup, wish I had thought about that button idea before I had done this one. Too late now, survey's mailed tomorrow, so this thing needs to be ready to go.

 

[sillysod]

no idea about the greenyness,

ok so a checkbox wouldnt work.

How about (will involve a little coding) but a textbox that the user types Y/N or leaves blank.

I think access would accept a Y as Yes and an N as No on a yes/no field. just need to put some validation on the text box to only accept Y or N or "" (combo box with limit to list just sprang to mind too) and to automatically move to next field once asingle character has been entered (theres an FAQ on this)

Personally from a data entry point of view i would prefer that to radio buttons since it can all entry can be done via keyboard easily, its very annoying to keep having to type a value then use mouse then type a value and mess with mouse bla blah blah I know you can use space on radio buttons etc, but most users dont know that.

Ease of data entry should be something you are concious of, since its a long form and if you have alot of records to create it can get very laborious and tiring (which is when errors occur)

easier to zip through the form, having access swap the fields over without you hitting tab or using mouse and only having to type one letter etc etc