Unwanted arrow in locked combo

  • Thread starter Thread starter jody
  • Start date Start date
J

jody

Hi,

When I lock and disable a combo box, it keeps the drop-
down arrow visible. Since the user can't change the
data, this arrow icon is confusing. Any way to remove
this?

The reason I have a combo is to facilitate a look up.
Behind the combo is a query builder statement that
returns the corresponding field of a bound key field (a
foreign key number which wouldn't make any sense to the
user).

I would use a text box (to avoid this drop down), but the
foreign key data element is returned (which is a number).

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Cheers,
Jody
 
jody said:
Hi,

When I lock and disable a combo box, it keeps the drop-
down arrow visible. Since the user can't change the
data, this arrow icon is confusing. Any way to remove
this?

The reason I have a combo is to facilitate a look up.
Behind the combo is a query builder statement that
returns the corresponding field of a bound key field (a
foreign key number which wouldn't make any sense to the
user).

I would use a text box (to avoid this drop down), but the
foreign key data element is returned (which is a number).

Any suggestions are appreciated.
Click to expand...

Probably the best solution is to do the lookup in the form's
recordsource query instead of using a combo box. To do this, include
the lookup table in the form's recordsource query, appropriately joined,
and include the text field to be displayed in the fields returned by the
query. Then use a text box bound to that field instead of a combo box
bound to the foreign key field.

If that is impractical for some reason and you must use a combo box, you
can cover up the drop-down arrow with a rectangle (a.k.a "box") control
on the form. Set the rectangle's Back Style to Normal, its Back Color
equal to the section's Back Color, and its Border Style to Transparent,
then size and position it so that it covers up the dropdown arrow. I
would do that if I wanted the combo box to be enabled and functional
sometimes, and other times not. However, since you are only using the
combo box to display the lookup text, I really recommend doing the
lookup in the form's recordsource query instead.
 
-----Original Message-----
Hi,

When I lock and disable a combo box, it keeps the drop-
down arrow visible. Since the user can't change the
data, this arrow icon is confusing. Any way to remove
this?

The reason I have a combo is to facilitate a look up.
Behind the combo is a query builder statement that
returns the corresponding field of a bound key field (a
foreign key number which wouldn't make any sense to the
user).

I would use a text box (to avoid this drop down), but the
foreign key data element is returned (which is a number).

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Cheers,
Jody

Try pasting a blank label over the arrow which can be
Click to expand...
made visible or invisible as conditions warrent.
 
thanks Dirk!

Jody
-----Original Message-----


Probably the best solution is to do the lookup in the form's
recordsource query instead of using a combo box. To do this, include
the lookup table in the form's recordsource query, appropriately joined,
and include the text field to be displayed in the fields returned by the
query. Then use a text box bound to that field instead of a combo box
bound to the foreign key field.

If that is impractical for some reason and you must use a combo box, you
can cover up the drop-down arrow with a rectangle (a.k.a "box") control
on the form. Set the rectangle's Back Style to Normal, its Back Color
equal to the section's Back Color, and its Border Style to Transparent,
then size and position it so that it covers up the dropdown arrow. I
would do that if I wanted the combo box to be enabled and functional
sometimes, and other times not. However, since you are only using the
combo box to display the lookup text, I really recommend doing the
lookup in the form's recordsource query instead.

--
Dirk Goldgar, MS Access MVP
www.datagnostics.com

(please reply to the newsgroup)


.
Click to expand...
 
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