10+ things that are broken in Access 2007
Thursday, August 27, 2009 12:47 PM
If you switch to Access 2007, you'll encounter more than just a radical new interface--some things are just plain broken. See what you can hotfix and what you'll have to live with.
Microsoft Access
10+ things that are broken in Access 2007
New software versions never ship bug-free, and Access 2007 is no exception. A number of things don't work as you expect. A few things don't work at all.
Although there are too many issues to list here, we'll look at some of the problems that might be troublesome to most users at some time or another.
#1: Access 2007 loses printer specification
Access associates reports with the default printer when you create it. However, you can save a non-default printer to a report via the Page Setup dialog box. Unfortunately, Access 2007 loses that setting and sends the report to the default printer.
Interestingly, if the non-default printer was set using a previous version, it still works. Download and install the hotfix.
#2: Where oh where has my Spell Check gone?
The decision to make Spell Check invisible probably annoys me more than any other change. Spell Check isn't exactly broken--it's just hard to find. Then, when you do find it, it isn't always available.
At least you can still press F7 to check spelling. Or you might want to add Spell Check to the Quick Access toolbar to keep it handy:
- Click the Office button.
- Click Access Options (at the bottom right).
- Choose Customize.
- Select Popular Commands from the Choose Commands From list.
- Scroll down and select Spelling, as shown in Figure A.
- Click Add.
- Click OK.
- Now the Spell Check feature is readily available via the Quick Access toolbar, shown in Figure B.
Figure A
Figure B
Even with the feature accessible, it won't work all the time. If you save and close an object, Spell Check is often available when you reopen the object. That shouldn't be necessary, but I've run into it several times.
#3: Some shortcut menus are broken
Subform shortcut menus, also known as context menus, don't work in Access 2007. In earlier versions, a right-click displays a context-sensitive menu. Download and install the hotfix to get subform shortcut menus back.
#4: There's no more single-click browsing
Now here's one that's sure to confuse most users. In earlier versions, you could hold down the Previous and Next navigation buttons in a form's Navigation toolbar to quickly cycle through all the records.
This behavior is similar to clicking the First or Last button, but you can actually see Access cycling through the records. This behavior is totally gone in Access 2007 and there's no fix for it. It's just gone.
#5: Don't go changing...
I haven't been able to re-create this one, but I've seen reports that Access 2007 won't let you change a text box to a label.
Now, realistically, I don't imagine you'd want to do this too often, but it's strange enough to warrant reporting. In Design view, right-click a text box and choose Label from the Change To command. Then, save the form. If Access 2007 crashes, you have the bug. Just delete the text box and manually add a label.
#6: Date Picker enabled, despite setting
Access 2007 automatically adds the Date Picker to Date/Time controls, making it easier for users to enter and change date values. In Design view, you can set the Date/Time field's Show Date Picker property to No to inhibit this enhancement.
In other words, if you set this property to No, none of the inheriting objects will display the Date Picker--except it doesn't work consistently. Specifically, queries still show the Date Picker. There's no fix for it, and my guess is, it'll stay broken.
#7: Name conflicts may occurAccess 2007 doesn't handle forms that share the same name as a table or query, which was never a problem in earlier versions. It's supposed to, but it doesn't. You might get one of two errors if a form is named the same as a table or query:
- The expression On Click you entered as the event property setting produced the following error: The expression you entered refers to an object that is closed or doesn't exist.
- The expression may not result in the name of a macro, the name of a user-defined function, or [Event Procedure]. There may have been an error evaluation the function, event, or macro.
This problem takes a bit of work to fix:
- Click the Office button and then click Access Options.
- Choose Current Database.
- Check Perform Name AutoCorrect in the Name AutoCorrect Options section, as shown in Figure C, and click OK.
- Close and reopen the database.
- Right-click the form in the Navigation Pane and choose Rename.
- Enter a new name for the form.
- Click Save on the Quick Access toolbar. Or close the form and click Yes when prompted to save.
Figure C
When you edit a value, that control's OldValue property equals the control's previous value until you save the record. In other words, OldValue equals the value that Access restores if you undo a change (by pressing Ctrl + Z or choosing Undo from the Edit menu).
Access 2007's combo box control has a bug in this area: A bound combo's OldValue property will return the current value and not the old value when the combo is bound to 2007's new multivalue field.
This bug is going to be a serious problem if you need this functionality. As far as I know, there's no fix. My best advice is to capture the current value as a static variable instead of using OldValue.
#9: Rich text is unavailable in subforms
Microsoft has added rich text capability to 2007 text controls--sometimes. Okay, the truth is, the capability is there, but you might not know how to put it to work because the Format ribbon is unavailable in Form View.
However, you can use the tools in the Font group--sometimes. This group is disabled for subforms. What all that means is you can't assign formats to a rich text control in a subform using a tool or menu. You can, however, highlight the text and use keyboard shortcuts, such as Ctrl + B for bold and Ctrl + U for underscore. Since this is more a result of tool placement and not an actual bug, I doubt Microsoft will fix it.
#10: Memo fields are flaky
Memo fields have always been a bit buggy if you did anything besides enter lots of characters. 2007 memo fields have two problems:
- If you change the Append Only property to No, Access 2007 wipes out the column's history. Don't expect a fix for this because this is by design and not a bug, according to Microsoft.
- Running a query that contains a GROUP BY clause on a Memo field against a list in Windows SharePoint Services may corrupt the data in the Memo field. For now, Microsoft suggests you use a Text field instead of a Memo field, which doesn't really help if you actually need a Memo field. And if you don't need a Memo field, why would you be using one?
#11: It just doesn't add up!
For several versions, you've been able to add fields in Datasheet view. In Access 2007, a new table created in this manner comes complete with an ID field, and as you add fields to the new table, Access increments the first ID value by 1. Surprise! For instance, if you add three fields before you save the table, the ID value is 3, as shown in Figure D.
Figure D
There are three simple workarounds:
- Add a second row before you add fields to the table.
- Save the table before you add a field to the table.
- Avoid creating tables in Datasheet view (the best solution).
#12: Layout view crashes Access 2007
If you change a control's Control Source property in Layout view, Access 2007 may close unexpectedly (crash!). You may or may not get one of the following error messages, and neither really helps:
- Microsoft Office Access has stopped working.
- Microsoft Office Access has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
For now, the simplest workaround is to change the Control Source property in Design view.
#13: Vista users aren't immune
If you install more than one version of Access under Windows Vista, you'll run into trouble. It's a Registry problem: Regardless of which version you open, Access uses the library registered last. Interestingly, Access 2007 will run, after a quick installation fix.
There are numerous and complicated workarounds, but the best solution is to avoid installing multiple versions of Access on Vista. Better yet, just avoid Vista altogether.
Microsoft VBA
Use a VBA function to populate list controls with names of months
Populating a combo or list box with the months of the year isn't difficult. You can type the literal names as the control's row source or use the MonthName() function in a simple VBA For loop.
When displaying months in a control on a userform (Excel and Word), use the following code to populate a list control named cboMonths with the names of the months:
Private Sub UserForm_Activate()
‘Populate cboMonths with months, by name.
Dim i As Integer
For i = 1 To 12
cboMonths.AddItem MonthName(i)
Next
End Sub
You can use similar code to populate a list control in Access, but use the form's Load or Open event as follows:
Private Sub Form_Load()
‘Populate cboMonths with months, by name.
Dim i As Integer
For i = 1 To 12
cboMonths.AddItem MonthName(i)
Next
End Sub
Be sure to set the list control's Row Source Type to Value List (in Access).
Microsoft Powerpoint
Hide a slide
Presentations don't have to proceed in linear fashion, from the first to the last slide. You can jump to any slide using hyperlinks or the Go To Slide option.
Occasionally, you may even hide a slide if it contains information that isn't right for every audience. Then, you can decide on the fly if the audience should see the slide.
First, you have to hide the slide, as follows:
- In Normal view, click the Slides tab and select the slide you want to hide.
- Choose Hide Slide from the Slide Show menu.
PowerPoint will display a special icon – 
-- denoting the slide's hidden status. The slide is still in the presentation file, but PowerPoint won't automatically show it during a slide show.
To show a hidden slide during a presentation, right-click the background and choose Go To Slide from the resulting shortcut menu. Simply select the hidden slide. (Numbers in parentheses indicate hidden slides.) To permanently unhide a slide, repeat the instructions above for hiding it.
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