BUG:Text & Value Properties of DBGrid Column Show Empty String

The information in this article applies to:

- Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Editions of Microsoft

   Visual Basic, 16-bit and 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

When using the DBGrid control, attempting to access the Text or Value properties of columns that are not visible on the screen returns an empty string regardless of the actual data in the column.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, reference the data directly from the data control instead of from the grid control. For example, instead of using

   Print DBGrid1.Columns("Telephone").Text

   Print Data1.Recordset("Telephone")

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to reproduce problem

1. Start Visual Basic, or if it is already running, click New Project on the File menu.

2. In the toolbox, click DBGrid, and drag a new data-bound grid onto Form1. Make the grid approximately 3-4 inches wide.

3. Double-click the data control button in the toolbox to add a data control named Data1 to the form.

4. Set the following properties of the data control:

      Control name   Property         Value
      =============================================
      Data1      DatabaseName      biblio.mdb
      Data1      RecordSource      Publishers
   
   

5. Set the DataSource property of DBGrid1 to Data1 to bind the grid to the data control.

6. On the Run menu, click Start or press the F5 key to run the program. The application will start and the grid will be filled with data from the Publishers table in the biblio database.

7. Press CTRL+BREAK. On the Run menu, click Break, or click Pause on the toolbar to pause execution of the program.

8. In the debug window type:

         Print DBGrid1.Columns("Telephone").Text
   

   The contents of the Telephone field in the database should be printed, however because this field is not visible, an empty string is printed.

9. In the debug window type:

         Print Data1.Recordset("Telephone")
   

   The contents of the Telephone field in the database is printed.

10. Continue the program (F5) and scroll so the Telephone column becomes

        visible.
    

11. Press CTRL+BREAK. On the Run menu, click Break, or click Pause on the

        toolbar to pause execution of the program.
    

12. In the debug window type:

          Print DBGrid1.Columns("Telephone").Text
    

        The DBGrid control returns the correct value of "212-869-7440".
        The correct value is returned because the column is now visible.