ACC: How to Prompt User to Save Changes to Record in a Form (95/97) (175911)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Access for Windows 95 7.0
  • Microsoft Access 97
This article was previously published under Q175911
Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

SUMMARY

When you move to the next record on a form or close a form, Microsoft Access automatically saves any changes that you have made to the current record. This article shows you how to use a BeforeUpdate event procedure to prompt you to verify the save operation before Microsoft Access will continue.

This article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to your version of the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access" manual.

MORE INFORMATION

CAUTION: Following the steps in this example will modify the sample database Northwind.mdb. You may want to back up the Northwind.mdb file and perform these steps on a copy of the database.

This example uses the BeforeUpdate event procedure in the Customers form to prompt the user to confirm changes before Microsoft Access will save the record:
  1. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb, and view the Customers form in Design view.
  2. On the View menu, click Properties, and then click the Event tab.
  3. Set the form's BeforeUpdate property to the following event procedure: 
          Private Sub Form_BeforeUpdate(Cancel As Integer)

         ' This procedure checks to see if the data on the form has
         ' changed. If the data has changed, the procedure prompts the
         ' user to continue the save operation or cancel it. Then the
         ' action that triggered the BeforeUpdate event is completed.
     
         On Error GoTo Err_BeforeUpdate

         ' The Dirty property is True if the record has been changed.
         If Me.Dirty Then
            ' Prompt to confirm the save operation.
            If MsgBox("Do you want to save?", vbYesNo + vbQuestion, _
                    "Save Record") = vbNo Then
               Me.Undo
            End If
         End If

      Exit_BeforeUpdate:
         Exit Sub

      Err_BeforeUpdate:
         MsgBox Err.Number & " " & Err.Description
         Resume Exit_BeforeUpdate
      End Sub
  4. On the Debug menu, click Compile Loaded Modules.
  5. Save the Customers form.
When you make a change to a record, and then you either move to a different record or close the form, you are prompted to confirm that you want to save the current record. If you choose No, the record is reset and the operation continues as normal.

REFERENCES

For more information about the Controls collection, search the Help Index for "Controls collection."

For more information about the For Each loop, search the Help Index for "For Each...Next Statement."
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/20/2003
Keywords:kbhowto KB175911
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.