changing size of textbox to match form

  • Thread starter Thread starter Phil Reynolds
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Phil Reynolds

I have a single text box (a large one) in a form that pops up. I want the
text box to change size as the user changes the size of the form. However,
doing me.txtbox.width = me.width doesn't work, as the width value of the
form doesn't seem to change, even as the form is resized by the user.

How can get the textbox to always be the same size as the form that contains
it?
 
Phil said:
I have a single text box (a large one) in a form that pops up. I want
the text box to change size as the user changes the size of the form.
However, doing me.txtbox.width = me.width doesn't work, as the width
value of the form doesn't seem to change, even as the form is resized
by the user.
How can get the textbox to always be the same size as the form that
contains it?
Click to expand...

First, realize that the user is not resizing the form. They are resizing
the *window* that the form is hosted in and that IS different.

You can use the Resize event of the form (confusing I know), and when the
window is made larger you will first have to make the form section where
the TextBox resides wider and/or taller and then resize the TextBox. If the
form is made smaller you have to first resize the TextBox and then resize
the form section. Doing these in the wrong order will cause an error. You
cannot make the TextBox domensions extend beyond the section and you cannot
make the section so small that it infringes on space already being used by
the TextBox. It gets a bit more complicated because in one move the user
can make the width smaller while making the height greater or vise-versa.

All of these adjustments will be relative to the InsideHeight and
InsideWidth properties of the form.

I do this fairly often so users with higher resolution displays can make a
parent form taller so that they see more rows of a continuous subform than
the default. I also save the size in a table per user so that the form
opens that size the next time.
 
Thanks, Rick, that's what I needed.

Rick Brandt said:
First, realize that the user is not resizing the form. They are resizing
the *window* that the form is hosted in and that IS different.

You can use the Resize event of the form (confusing I know), and when the
window is made larger you will first have to make the form section where
the TextBox resides wider and/or taller and then resize the TextBox. If
the form is made smaller you have to first resize the TextBox and then
resize the form section. Doing these in the wrong order will cause an
error. You cannot make the TextBox domensions extend beyond the section
and you cannot make the section so small that it infringes on space
already being used by the TextBox. It gets a bit more complicated because
in one move the user can make the width smaller while making the height
greater or vise-versa.

All of these adjustments will be relative to the InsideHeight and
InsideWidth properties of the form.

I do this fairly often so users with higher resolution displays can make a
parent form taller so that they see more rows of a continuous subform than
the default. I also save the size in a table per user so that the form
opens that size the next time.
Click to expand...
 
Hey, Rick. One more question for you. If I want to close and reopen the form
when the user moves to a new record, how can I place the form in the same
position on the screen as it was before it was closed. In other words, the
user has this pop-up form open; they move to a new record; the OnCurrent
event closes the form, then reopens it, using the InsideHeight and
InsideWidth properties to resize the form to how it was before it was
closed. But how put it in the same place on the screen where it was before
it was closed? Thanks.
 
You can use the MoveSize function in the form's Open event. Help has more
information, but in general you would use the Top and Left arguments only,
and leave the Height and Width arguments blank since you have code to take
care of that.
 
Right -- but how would I get the Top and Left values for the window before I
close it, so I can restore those values?
 
You can use the WindowLeft and WindowTop properties to determine the values
needed for the first two arguments in the MoveSize property. Define the
variables in a standard module:
Public lngLeft As Long
Public lngTop As Long

Assign values in the form's Close event:
lngLeft = Me.WindowLeft
lngTop = Me.WindowTop

In the form's Open event:
DoCmd.MoveSize lngLeft, lngTop

If the values need to be stored for another session they would need to be
stored in a table rather than in a variable.

Storing the values should work in a split database in which every user has a
separate front end. I think you can have front-end tables in a split
database, but I am not certain how that works. If the database is not
split, and if it can have several users at once, it could become tricky to
set the values in such a way that each user will have customized settings.

Using the variables to store the values for the current session will
likewise become complex, I think, in a multi-user environment in which there
is no user-specific login and the database is not split. If this is an
issue in a multi-user environment, post details of the situation.
 
If the database is not split, and if it can have several users at once, it could become tricky to
set the values in such a way that each user will have customized settings.
Click to expand...


If so you have MUCH bigger issues than form resizing. In such a
situation it is not IF your database will become corrupted but WHEN.
 
Thanks!

BruceM said:
You can use the WindowLeft and WindowTop properties to determine the
values needed for the first two arguments in the MoveSize property.
Define the variables in a standard module:
Public lngLeft As Long
Public lngTop As Long

Assign values in the form's Close event:
lngLeft = Me.WindowLeft
lngTop = Me.WindowTop

In the form's Open event:
DoCmd.MoveSize lngLeft, lngTop

If the values need to be stored for another session they would need to be
stored in a table rather than in a variable.

Storing the values should work in a split database in which every user has
a separate front end. I think you can have front-end tables in a split
database, but I am not certain how that works. If the database is not
split, and if it can have several users at once, it could become tricky to
set the values in such a way that each user will have customized settings.

Using the variables to store the values for the current session will
likewise become complex, I think, in a multi-user environment in which
there is no user-specific login and the database is not split. If this is
an issue in a multi-user environment, post details of the situation.
Click to expand...
 
Actually, that doesn't work. There is not WindowLeft or WindowTop property
of a form in Access 2000. Those properties are not listed in the help
either.

So I'm still stuck with needing to know how to get the Top and Left values
for a window before I close it, so that I can restore those values when it's
reopened.
 
Actually, that doesn't work.
Click to expand...

"I couldn't make that work." is always kinder and almost always more
correct.

Here's some code.It works!

Does it work for what you want to do?
I can't find your code in this thread (is it there?) so I have no
idea.

Can you make it work?
I don't care.

May it help someone else?
I hope.

Private Declare Function GetWindowRect Lib "user32" _
(ByVal hWnd As Long, lpRect As Rectangle) As Long

Private Type Rectangle
Left As Long
Top As Long
Right As Long
Bottom As Long
End Type

Public Function FormLeft&(ByRef Form As Form)
Dim FormRectangle As Rectangle
GetWindowRect Form.hWnd, FormRectangle
FormLeft = FormRectangle.Left
End Function

Public Function FormTop&(ByRef Form As Form)
Dim FormRectangle As Rectangle
GetWindowRect Form.hWnd, FormRectangle
FormLeft = FormRectangle.Top
End Function
 
lyle said:
"I couldn't make that work." is always kinder and almost always more
correct.
Click to expand...

True. But in this case, since there is no WindowLeft or WindowTop property
in Access 2000, it just doesn't work.

But thanks for the ediquette tip.
 
True. But in this case, since there is no WindowLeft or WindowTop property
in Access 2000, it just doesn't work.

But thanks for the ediquette tip.
Click to expand...

They certainly do work, except for the small error in the second
function. It is because there is no WindowLeft or WindowTop
properties in Access 2000 that Lyle provided these very nice
functions.
 
"I couldn't make that work." is always kinder and almost always more
correct.

Here's some code.It works!

Does it work for what you want to do?
I can't find your code in this thread (is it there?) so I have no
idea.

Can you make it work?
I don't care.

May it help someone else?
I hope.

Private Declare Function GetWindowRect Lib "user32" _
(ByVal hWnd As Long, lpRect As Rectangle) As Long

Private Type Rectangle
Left As Long
Top As Long
Right As Long
Bottom As Long
End Type

Public Function FormLeft&(ByRef Form As Form)
Dim FormRectangle As Rectangle
GetWindowRect Form.hWnd, FormRectangle
FormLeft = FormRectangle.Left
End Function

Public Function FormTop&(ByRef Form As Form)
Dim FormRectangle As Rectangle
GetWindowRect Form.hWnd, FormRectangle
FormLeft = FormRectangle.Top
End Function
Click to expand...

Public Function FormTop&(ByRef Form As Form)
Dim FormRectangle As Rectangle
GetWindowRect Form.hWnd, FormRectangle
FormTop = FormRectangle.Top
End Function

Thanks, Arch.
 
OK, you and Lyle are coming late to the game here, so I can see you're not
following completely.

This thread started with a question about resizing a textbox as a
form/window is resized. Rick Brandt answered that, and his solution worked
fine. No problem.

About a week later I replied to Rick again and asked how can I restore the
position of the window after the user closes it and reopens it, since
InsideHeight and InsideWidth (the properties that Rick referred me to for
resizing) only referred to the size.

Rick didn't respond, but then BruceM replied to use the MoveSize function to
restore that position. That was fine; but it didn't address how to store the
position parameters in the first place. So I replied to Bruce and asked how
I would get the Top and Left values for the window to store for later
reopening.

Bruce replied to use the WindowLeft and WindowTop properties to get to
position coordinates.

AND IT WAS TO THAT that I said, "That doesn't work. There is not WindowLeft
or WindowTop property of a form in Access 2000."

In other words, the question being asked was "How to get the Left and Top
properties," and the answer was, "Use WindowLeft and WindowTop." Those
properties don't exist in Access 2000, so the solution didn't work. Plain
and simple.

They certainly do work, except for the small error in the second
function.
Click to expand...

Yes, but that was ALL that was being asked -- how to get the Left and Top
properties. And the answer was wrong. So, even if it was a "small error," it
was still 100% of what was being asked.
It is because there is no WindowLeft or WindowTop
properties in Access 2000 that Lyle provided these very nice
functions.
Click to expand...

Correct. And so Lyle's solution works, and the original didn't. What's the
issue here?

Please don't get me wrong. I do appreciate BruceM taking the time to help
me. And when I said, "That doesn't work," I was not being rude or
unappreciative. It was just a simple statement of fact. I asked how to get
the Left and Top values for a window. He said, "Use the WindowLeft and
WindowTop." But those properties don't exist in Access 2000, so I said,
"That doesn't work." What's the issue here?
 
When I post questions I sometimes forget to provide version information, and
when I answer questions I tend to assume the person who asked has the same
version as I do. I think this thread demonstrates the importance of
providing version information. Had you mentioned Access 2000 I might have
remembered to provide the caveat that my reply is based on Access 2003, and
that I can't be sure it is in other versions.
In any case, I took your reply to mean just what you explained: that the
properties are not part of Access 2000. Glad to hear you found something
that works.
 
Right -- I take responsiblity for not providing that version information.
And, as I noted, I don't really know what the issue is here, except that I
said, "It doesn't work," instead of, "I couldn't get it to work." But I
appreciate your taking the time to write either way! :-)
 
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