ACC: How to Create a "Please Wait" Message

• Microsoft Access versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 7.0, 97

SUMMARY

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

Sometimes you may want to display a status message to inform a user he or she must wait for an action to be completed. For example, you may want to display the text "Please Wait" while Microsoft Access is initializing a database, running a long query, and so on. You can do this by using a form and a macro. This article presents a simple example using the sample database Northwind.mdb (or NWIND.MDB in version 1.x or 2.0).

NOTE: This article explains a technique demonstrated in the sample files, FrmSampl.exe (for Microsoft Access for Windows 95 version 7.0) and FrmSmp97.exe (for Microsoft Access 97). For information about how to obtain these sample files, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q150895
   TITLE     : ACC95: Microsoft Access Sample Forms Available on MSL

   ARTICLE-ID: Q175066
   TITLE     : ACC97: Microsoft Access 97 Sample Forms Available on MSL

MORE INFORMATION

To display a status message in Microsoft Access, do the following:

1. Create a new form not based on any table or query, and name it PLEASEWAIT. Add a label with the message you want to display. For example, type "Please Wait" (without the quotation marks) as the caption. The form properties should be set to the following:

         Form: PLEASEWAIT
         ----------------
         ScrollBars: Neither
         Popup: Yes
         Modal: Yes
         RecordSelectors: No
         NavigationButtons: No
   

2. Create the following macro named Test1:

         Macro Name             Action
         -----------------------------
         Test1                  OpenForm
                                RepaintObject
                                OpenQuery
                                Close
   
         Test1 Actions
         -----------------------------
         OpenForm
            Form Name: PLEASEWAIT
            View: Form
            Data Mode: Read Only
            Window Mode: Normal
         RepaintObject
            Object Type: Form
            Object Name: PLEASEWAIT
         OpenQuery
            Query Name: Order Details Extended
            View: Datasheet
         Close
            Object Type: Form
            Object Name: PLEASEWAIT
            Save: No     (Microsoft Access 7.0 and 97)
   
      NOTE: The above argument for OpenQuery is just an example of what you
      may want to run; this can be anything. The main macro actions in Test1
      are OpenForm, RepaintObject, and Close.
   
   

3. Run the macro. The PLEASEWAIT form should open. As soon as the query completes processing, the form disappears and the query results appear.