Re: Combo Box Display Missing After Office 2003 Service Pack 3

Further testing by an MVP confirms that the problem does occur with text
field (not with numeric field) in Vista too. This has been reported to
Microsoft. I cannot say what may or may not be the response from Microsoft,
sorry. If this is a major issue, you may need to change your applications to
use the concatenation; or, if it can be done, roll back to SP2.

--

Ken Snell
<MS ACCESS MVP>



"Stephen K. Young" <sky @ stanley associates . com> wrote in message
news:OEAAeAz%23HHA.320@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yes, the combo box works normally after changing the SQL to add a zero
length string:

SELECT FieldX & "" FROM TableName.

I am running under Windows XP SP2.

By the way, there was a similar Access 2003 SP3 issue with combo boxes
mentioned in comp.databases.ms-access:
http://tinyurl.com/2bkq2y
(goes to http://groups.google.com)

It's interesting that the combo box issue does not arise for a numeric
field. In that case, the combo box is fine no matter what the numeric
field format.

And it is interesting that it does not occur under Vista.

Now, do I wait for a Microsoft hotfix, or run some code to change field
formats or combo boxes...

Thanks - Steve

"Ken Snell (MVP)" <kthsneisllis9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uZlLBow%23HHA.5464@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have not installed SP3 for ACCESS 2003 yet, but I've asked fellow ACCESS
MVPs to check this out.

So far, it doesn't appear to be found with Vista operating system.

But reports about this behavior are being made in the Italian newsgroup,
and has been confirmed by one MVP in Polish version of ACCESS. There
likely will be additional results (good or bad) in the near future.

In the meantime, an MVP has suggested this as the workaround -- use an
SQL statement similar to this in the combo box's RowSource property:

SELECT FieldX & "" AS NewFieldX
FROM TableName;

Let us know if this workaround gives you back the formatting display
characteristics.

--

Ken Snell
<MS ACCESS MVP>




"Stephen K. Young" <sky @ stanley associates . com> wrote in message
news:eGhrVIs%23HHA.1184@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I just installed the new Service Pack 3 for Office 2003.

This has caused a strange display problem in Access 2003 with combo
boxes on
tables that have a formatted text field.

To see this problem, create a table named TableX with a single key field
FieldX that is a text field. (Use any table name or field name you
like.)
Add a few rows of data, such as a, b, c.

Create a simple test form with a combo box that has SQL such as "Select
FieldX From TableX". Save the form. The combo box dropdown displays just
fine and you can select values.

Now go to design view on TableX and change the format property of FieldX
to
have any format, such as &[Blue]. (This particular format displays the
FieldX
in a blue color, which I use to indicate key fields during development,
and it
propagates to queries. But any format seems to cause the problem.
The users, of course, always view data in forms.)

Suddenly the combo box on the test form is completely blank. The combo
box
does have data (for example, from the Immediate Window,
?Screen.ActiveControl.ListCount has the correct value of 3),
but the display is all blank and you cannot actually see any of the
dropdown rows.

It does not matter what format is applied to FieldX, or whether the form
combo
box has formatting or not, the combo dropdown is blank.

The formatting on FieldX should have nothing to do with the combo box
display.

But for some reason, the field format interferes with the combo box
display.

Prior to Service Pack 3, this was never an issue. (Nor was it ever an
issue in
prior versions of Access.) Am I missing something? Any suggestions for a
work-around?

- Steve Young








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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Combo Box Display Missing After Office 2003 Service Pack 3
    ... an MVP has suggested this as the workaround -- use an SQL ... Let us know if this workaround gives you back the formatting display ... have any format, such as &. ... after sp3 access insert true. ...
    (microsoft.public.access.modulesdaovba)
  • Re: Service Pack 3 & Combo box problem
    ... I just installed the new Service Pack 3 for Office 2003. ... This has caused a strange display problem in Access 2003 with combo boxes on ... FieldX that is a text field. ... Now go to design view on TableX and change the format property of FieldX ...
    (comp.databases.ms-access)
  • Re: Combo Box Display Missing After Office 2003 Service Pack 3
    ... an MVP has suggested this as the workaround -- use an SQL ... SELECT FieldX & "" AS NewFieldX ... This has caused a strange display problem in Access 2003 with combo boxes ... Now go to design view on TableX and change the format property of FieldX ...
    (microsoft.public.access.modulesdaovba)
  • Re: Combo Box Display Missing After Office 2003 Service Pack 3
    ... colunms in the combo list but format the number ... "Ken Snell (MVP)" wrote: ... SELECT FieldX & "" FROM TableName. ... Let us know if this workaround gives you back the formatting display ...
    (microsoft.public.access.modulesdaovba)
  • Re: Combo Box Display Missing After Office 2003 Service Pack 3
    ... "Ken Snell (MVP)" wrote: ... SELECT FieldX & "" FROM TableName. ... Let us know if this workaround gives you back the formatting display ... Now go to design view on TableX and change the format property of FieldX ...
    (microsoft.public.access.modulesdaovba)
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