ACC2: Memo Field Truncated with SetValue Action

• Microsoft Access version 2.0

SYMPTOMS

Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.

When you use the SetValue macro action to transfer text from a Memo control on one form to another form that does not have a Memo control, the first 256 characters from the Memo field disappear. The remaining characters are transferred successfully.

RESOLUTION

Add a control bound to a Memo field to the destination form.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Access version 2.0. This problem no longer occurs in Microsoft Access version 7.0.

MORE INFORMATION

This problem only occurs if you try to set the value of a Memo field from another Memo control that contains more than 256 characters. If both forms contain a control bound to a Memo field, the SetValue action will work as you expect.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. Start Microsoft Access, open any database, and create a new table with the following two fields:

         Field Name: ID
            Data Type: Counter
         Field Name: Memo1
            Data Type: Memo
   
      Save the table as Table1.
   
   

2. Create another new table with the following fields, and then save the table as Table2:

         Field Name: ID
            Data Type: Counter
         Field Name: Memo2
            Data Type: Memo
   
   

3. Create a new form based on Table1. Add the ID field to the form. Save the form as Form1.

4. Create a new form based on Table2. Add the ID and Memo2 fields to the form. Save the form as Form2.

5. Create the following new macro and then save the macro as TestMemo:

         Macro Name    Macro Action
         --------------------------
         TestMemo      SetValue
   
         TestMemo Actions
         ------------------------------------
         SetValue
            Item: Forms![Form1]![Memo1]
            Expression: Forms![Form2]![Memo2]
   
   

6. View Form2 in Design view. Add a command button to the form, and then set the command button's OnClick property to the TestMemo macro. Save the form.

7. View both Form1 and Form2 in Form view, and then type the following line in the Memo2 control.

   NOTE: In the following text, an underscore (_) at the end of a line is used as a line-continuation character. Remove the underscore from the end of the lines when entering this line.

         This is a test to see how many characters are pasted back to the _
         first table. This test needs at least 256 characters to demonstrate _
         the fact that the first 256 characters will not be pasted to the _
         first table. This text is just representative text and can actually _
         be any text at all. The total length of this text is 334 characters.
   

8. Click the command button on Form2.

9. Look at the contents of the Memo1 field. If you count the characters in the field, you will note that the first 256 characters of the text are missing.