ACC97: Hyperlink Executes If Selected w/ Keyboard from Combo Box

• Microsoft Access 97

SYMPTOMS

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

When you use the ENTER key to select a hyperlink in a combo box, Microsoft Access follows the hyperlink, instead of putting your selection in the combo box.

CAUSE

When you press ENTER, you are not selecting an item from the combo box list. Instead, the ENTER key is acting on what is already in the text box portion of the combo box. If the text box contains a hyperlink, Microsoft Access follows the link. There is no way to distinguish between pressing ENTER while the list is dropped down and pressing ENTER when it is not dropped down.

RESOLUTION

If you want to use the keyboard to select a hyperlink in a combo box, press TAB or ALT+DOWN ARROW after you select an item in the list. This action places the selected hyperlink in the text box portion of the combo box without following any link.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

NOTE: When Microsoft Access 97 follows the hyperlink after you press ENTER, it does not follow the hyperlink you just selected in the combo box; rather, it follows the hyperlink that was already present in the combo box, as illustrated by the following example:

1. Start Microsoft Access and open the sample database Northwind.mdb.

2. Click the Forms tab in the Database window, and then click New.

3. In the New Form dialog box, select Design View, and then click OK.

4. Add the following controls to the Detail section of the form:

         Combo box:
            Name: cbHyperlink
            RowSource: SELECT Suppliers.HomePage FROM Suppliers;
         Text box:
            Name: Text2
   
   

5. Save the form as frmKeyboardCombo, and then switch to Form view.

6. Press ALT+DOWN ARROW in the combo box to display the list of home pages in the Suppliers table.

7. Use the DOWN ARROW key to select CAJUN.HTM in the list, and then press ENTER. Note that nothing happens. Press the TAB key to select CAJUN.HTM and move to the text box on your form.

8. Press TAB to move back to the combo box, and once again press ALT+DOWN ARROW to display the list.

9. Use the DOWN ARROW key to select Mayumi's (on the Web), and then press ENTER. Note that your Web browser starts and displays the Cajun Delights Web page. This is the selection that was already in the combo box, and not the item you just selected in the list.

REFERENCES

For more information about the Hyperlink data type, search the Help Index for "Hyperlink fields," or ask the Microsoft Access 97 Office Assistant.