ACC2: How to Create a Custom Toolbar Using a Form

• Microsoft Access version 2.0

SUMMARY

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

This article describes how to create a custom, floating toolbar using a Microsoft Access form. Using a form for a custom toolbar provides the following advantages:

• Labels, combo boxes and list boxes can be placed on the toolbar.
• Buttons with custom bitmaps can be placed on the toolbar.
• You can prevent users from closing or moving the toolbar.
• You can take advantage of form modules to store the code being used by the controls on the toolbar with the toolbar itself.
• You can disable the shortcut menus from being used on the toolbar.

MORE INFORMATION

The example below demonstrates how to create a custom, floating toolbar that has buttons to find, save, delete, and undo a record, as well as buttons to navigate among the records, including buttons to go to the first record, go to the previous record, go to the next record, go to the last record, and add a new record.

  1. Open the sample database NWIND.MDB and create a new, blank form.

  2. Set the following form-level properties:

       Caption: Toolbar
       ShortcutMenu: No
       ScrollBars: Neither
       RecordSelectors: No
       NavigationButtons: No
       PopUp: Yes
       BorderStyle: Dialog
       MinButton: No
       MaxButton: No

  3. Activate the toolbox by choosing Toolbox from the View menu. Make sure
     the Wizard button is chosen (the button should appear sunken).

  4. Choose the command button tool, and then click anywhere in the form.

  5. In the Categories box, select Record Navigation. In the When Button Is
     Pressed box, select Find Record. Choose Finish.

  6. Drag the new button to the upper left corner of the detail section.

  7. Repeat steps 4-6 to create the other buttons for the toolbar. Use the
     following selection combinations from the Categories and the When
     Button Is Pressed boxes. Move each of the new buttons directly to the
     right of the button before it.

       Categories             When button Is Pressed
       ---------------------------------------------
       Record Operations      Save Record
       Record Operations      Delete Record
       Record Operations      Undo Record
       Record Navigation      Go to First Record
       Record Navigation      Go to Previous Record
       Record Navigation      Go to Next Record
       Record Navigation      Go to Last Record
       Record Operations      Add New Record

  8. Drag the bottom of the detail section up so that it is flush with the
     bottom of the buttons. Drag the right side of the detail section so
     that it is flush with the right side of the last button.

  9. From the View menu, choose Code.

 10. Create the following Access Basic function in the toolbar form module:

       Option Explicit

       Function ActivateToolbarForm ()
          On Error Resume Next
          Forms(Me.Tag).SetFocus
          If Err Then
             ActivateToolbarForm = False
          Else
             ActivateToolbarForm = True
          End If
       End Function

     This function will be used to reactivate the form the toolbar is
     floating on, so that the chosen operation is performed on that form
     rather than against the toolbar form itself.

 11. For each button on the toolbar form, insert the following line of code
     at the very top of the button's OnClick event procedure. To insert the
     code, select a button, click the secondary mouse button in the OnClick
     property field, and then choose Build.

       If ActivateToolbarForm() = False Then Exit Sub

     For example, the code for the Search button might look like the
     following:

       Sub Button0_Click ()
       If ActivateToolbarForm() = False Then Exit Sub
       On Error GoTo Err_Button0_Click

          DoCmd DoMenuItem A_FORMBAR, A_EDITMENU, 10, , A_MENU_VER20

       Exit_Button0_Click:
          Exit Sub

       Err_Button0_Click:
          MsgBox Error$
          Resume Exit_Button0_Click
       End Sub

     This code ensures that the form the toolbar is floating on is selected
     for the chosen operation.

 12. Save the form with the name Toolbar, and then close the form.

 13. Create a new Access Basic module. Add the following code:

       Option Explicit

       Sub SetToolbarForm (F As Form)
          If IsLoaded("Toolbar") Then Forms![Toolbar].Tag = F.Name
       End Sub

     The SetToolbarForm subroutine uses the IsLoaded() function that is in
     the Utility Functions module in NWIND.MDB. You should copy this
     function for use in other databases.

 14. For every form that you intend to use the custom toolbar with, add the
     following line of code to the form's OnActivate property:

       SetToolbarForm Me

     For this example, add the line of code above to the OnActivate
     property of the Customers and Employees forms:

      a. Open the Employees form in Design view.

      b. From the View menu, choose Code.

      c. Select Form in the first combo box on the code toolbar.

      d. Select Activate in the second combo box on the code toolbar.

      e. Add the above line of code so the subroutine appears as follows:

          Sub Form_Activate ()
             SetToolbarForm Me
          End Sub

      f. Repeat steps a-e for the Customers form.

     This line of code instructs the custom toolbar to store the name of
     the form to be used when a toolbar button is chosen. This ensures that
     the toolbar actions are performed against the active form.

Using the Custom Toolbar

Open the Customers and Employees forms in Form view, and then open the Toolbar form. Switch back and forth between the Employees form and the Customers form, using the navigation buttons on the custom toolbar to navigate among the form records.

Suggested Enhancements to the Custom Toolbar

• You may want to automate the loading and closing of a custom toolbar form from another form's load and unload events. For example, to have the custom toolbar open only with the Customers form, add the following code to the Customers form's OnLoad and OnUnLoad properties:

        Sub Form_Load ()
           DoCmd OpenForm "Toolbar"
        End Sub
  
        Sub Form_Unload (Cancel As Integer)
           DoCmd Close A_FORM, "Toolbar"
        End Sub
  
  

• You can set the BorderStyle property of the toolbar form to None, so that no border and no caption bar appears. This will prevent users from being able to move the toolbar around.
• You may want to automatically position the toolbar form to a specific location on the screen. To do this, use a MoveSize macro action in the toolbar form's OnLoad property. The following sample code will position the toolbar form to the upper left corner of the screen:

        DoCmd MoveSize 0, 0
  

REFERENCES

For information about how to create a custom toolbar using a form in Microsoft Access for Windows 95 version 7.0, please see the following article here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID Q142187
   TITLE:     ACC95: How to Create a Custom Toolbar Using a Form