Yes, that's another whole story, Pat.
I'm pretty sure there will be one or more User Group presentations on some of the features in the near future. First, though, we're talking a breather for a bit.
Same here. I spent some time over the last few days working on mine with an eye to moving it to a class at some point.
The process has been a learning curve for a lot of us.
Thank you, Pat. We value your thorough review. You really dug into it.Dev version. Superficial reaction.
My initial reaction is negative due to certain design choices.
So far, I really don't like the structure. The autoexec, prevents access to some design features so I have to close the app and then reopen with the shift key depressed. Without a menu form, it is difficult to figure out what object I want to work with. I think the lack of a more standard menu/switchboard is going to be a challenge for others as well. I just made it a little easier by changing the Nav pain (sic) sort order to by type rather than modified date. But It is really frustrating to have to reopen the database to get the menu so I can try stuff but then have to close and reopen using the shift/bypass to get to design view. I really would have preferred a form menu. I know the ribbon is cool and "modern" but it makes it very difficult to switch between running a form and modifying it. I suppose if I ever spent enough time with the app to become familiar with all the objects, it would be less frustrating but this particular design choice might turn off people from trying to understand what's behind the scenes. ----- I just noticed that not all forms have this problem. Some have the developer options available from the right click menu and some don't. I don't know what is causing this.
The other downside of the ribbon menu is the vertical space. Several of the forms get chopped off at the bottom when you have the ribbon expanded so you have to minimize it. But, that closes your menu so then you have to expand it again.
Is there a way to reload the custom ribbon without losing the developer features?
I also hate the tab view but that's just me. Mostly, i hate the way multiple forms stay open AND you can open multiple instances of the same form. I think this just confuses people and that always leads to errors. Was there a conscious decision to allow multiple instances of a the same form to open? This actually makes more sense in the form view because you can see both forms at the same time but with the tab view, you can only see one form at a time so comparing them is pretty near impossible - at least for my pea brain. BUT, if you do want to open multiple instances of the same form - you shouldn't be able to open multiple forms to the same record. I created conflict errors by trying to update the same order from different form instances. This may just be an inconsistency but the companies form won't open two instances of even different companies.
Lots of people allow runtime changes to combos so I can see why you would include an example. I don't for a lot of reasons. One which came to mind as I tried to enter a new Title on the Employee form. Of course, I realized too late that I had misspelled what I added and I had no way to fix it. If your users can't type and can't spell, allowing changes this way just lets them be sloppy and you end up with two, or more, entries one of which is spelled correctly hopefully.
Things I liked
- Using a bright colored background for hidden fields. I've been doing that for years.
- Style of the forms is clean. A little too much white space on the single record forms though but not horrible the way many web pages are.
- Ability to re-date the data is very useful. As this template ages, it will make it much easier to use.
- Ability to delete the data. I didn't try this. Does it leave the lookup list data?
- Showing the ID on the tab for some of the tabs. It would be nice if the employee form did also.
Things I don't see:
1. No maintenance forms for lookup lists - The Titles can be updated on the fly but not all can. Some need to be controlled by IT because the values affect program logic but all other lookups should have maintenance options.
2. How to add employee privileges - just found the subform but it doesn't seem to be connected to the employee form. I couldn't find a way to get to it except by opening it from the Nav Pane.
Specs:
I looked at the documentation and I don't see anything about how the inventory works or how to do a stocktake. I get an error about "Expected Quantity" but I don't know what that means. Do you have any documentation about how the inventory works. For example when the various quantity fields get updated. I know the app isn't supposed to be a real app but parts of this work as I would expect but not others. It would be nice to know how much of the inventory actually works.
I didn't look at any of the code or data macros or error handler. Later
If you disregard my personal pet peeves, the app is better organized and potentially more useful than older versions.
Re "I tried to enter a new Title on the Employee form. Of course, I realized too late that I had misspelled what I added and I had no way to fix it."Dev version. Superficial reaction.
My initial reaction is negative due to certain design choices.
So far, I really don't like the structure. The autoexec, prevents access to some design features so I have to close the app and then reopen with the shift key depressed. Without a menu form, it is difficult to figure out what object I want to work with. I think the lack of a more standard menu/switchboard is going to be a challenge for others as well. I just made it a little easier by changing the Nav pain (sic) sort order to by type rather than modified date. But It is really frustrating to have to reopen the database to get the menu so I can try stuff but then have to close and reopen using the shift/bypass to get to design view. I really would have preferred a form menu. I know the ribbon is cool and "modern" but it makes it very difficult to switch between running a form and modifying it. I suppose if I ever spent enough time with the app to become familiar with all the objects, it would be less frustrating but this particular design choice might turn off people from trying to understand what's behind the scenes. ----- I just noticed that not all forms have this problem. Some have the developer options available from the right click menu and some don't. I don't know what is causing this.
The other downside of the ribbon menu is the vertical space. Several of the forms get chopped off at the bottom when you have the ribbon expanded so you have to minimize it. But, that closes your menu so then you have to expand it again.
Is there a way to reload the custom ribbon without losing the developer features?
I also hate the tab view but that's just me. Mostly, i hate the way multiple forms stay open AND you can open multiple instances of the same form. I think this just confuses people and that always leads to errors. Was there a conscious decision to allow multiple instances of a the same form to open? This actually makes more sense in the form view because you can see both forms at the same time but with the tab view, you can only see one form at a time so comparing them is pretty near impossible - at least for my pea brain. BUT, if you do want to open multiple instances of the same form - you shouldn't be able to open multiple forms to the same record. I created conflict errors by trying to update the same order from different form instances. This may just be an inconsistency but the companies form won't open two instances of even different companies.
Lots of people allow runtime changes to combos so I can see why you would include an example. I don't for a lot of reasons. One which came to mind as I tried to enter a new Title on the Employee form. Of course, I realized too late that I had misspelled what I added and I had no way to fix it. If your users can't type and can't spell, allowing changes this way just lets them be sloppy and you end up with two, or more, entries one of which is spelled correctly hopefully.
Things I liked
- Using a bright colored background for hidden fields. I've been doing that for years.
- Style of the forms is clean. A little too much white space on the single record forms though but not horrible the way many web pages are.
- Ability to re-date the data is very useful. As this template ages, it will make it much easier to use.
- Ability to delete the data. I didn't try this. Does it leave the lookup list data?
- Showing the ID on the tab for some of the tabs. It would be nice if the employee form did also.
Things I don't see:
1. No maintenance forms for lookup lists - The Titles can be updated on the fly but not all can. Some need to be controlled by IT because the values affect program logic but all other lookups should have maintenance options.
2. How to add employee privileges - just found the subform but it doesn't seem to be connected to the employee form. I couldn't find a way to get to it except by opening it from the Nav Pane.
Specs:
I looked at the documentation and I don't see anything about how the inventory works or how to do a stocktake. I get an error about "Expected Quantity" but I don't know what that means. Do you have any documentation about how the inventory works. For example when the various quantity fields get updated. I know the app isn't supposed to be a real app but parts of this work as I would expect but not others. It would be nice to know how much of the inventory actually works.
I didn't look at any of the code or data macros or error handler. Later
If you disregard my personal pet peeves, the app is better organized and potentially more useful than older versions.
Dev version. Superficial reaction.
My initial reaction is negative due to certain design choices.
So far, I really don't like the structure. The autoexec, prevents access to some design features so I have to close the app and then reopen with the shift key depressed. Without a menu form, it is difficult to figure out what object I want to work with. I think the lack of a more standard menu/switchboard is going to be a challenge for others as well. I just made it a little easier by changing the Nav pain (sic) sort order to by type rather than modified date. But It is really frustrating to have to reopen the database to get the menu so I can try stuff but then have to close and reopen using the shift/bypass to get to design view. I really would have preferred a form menu. I know the ribbon is cool and "modern" but it makes it very difficult to switch between running a form and modifying it. I suppose if I ever spent enough time with the app to become familiar with all the objects, it would be less frustrating but this particular design choice might turn off people from trying to understand what's behind the scenes. ----- I just noticed that not all forms have this problem. Some have the developer options available from the right click menu and some don't. I don't know what is causing this.
The other downside of the ribbon menu is the vertical space. Several of the forms get chopped off at the bottom when you have the ribbon expanded so you have to minimize it. But, that closes your menu so then you have to expand it again.
Is there a way to reload the custom ribbon without losing the developer features?
I also hate the tab view but that's just me. Mostly, i hate the way multiple forms stay open AND you can open multiple instances of the same form. I think this just confuses people and that always leads to errors. Was there a conscious decision to allow multiple instances of a the same form to open? This actually makes more sense in the form view because you can see both forms at the same time but with the tab view, you can only see one form at a time so comparing them is pretty near impossible - at least for my pea brain. BUT, if you do want to open multiple instances of the same form - you shouldn't be able to open multiple forms to the same record. I created conflict errors by trying to update the same order from different form instances. This may just be an inconsistency but the companies form won't open two instances of even different companies.
Lots of people allow runtime changes to combos so I can see why you would include an example. I don't for a lot of reasons. One which came to mind as I tried to enter a new Title on the Employee form. Of course, I realized too late that I had misspelled what I added and I had no way to fix it. If your users can't type and can't spell, allowing changes this way just lets them be sloppy and you end up with two, or more, entries one of which is spelled correctly hopefully.
Things I liked
- Using a bright colored background for hidden fields. I've been doing that for years.
- Style of the forms is clean. A little too much white space on the single record forms though but not horrible the way many web pages are.
- Ability to re-date the data is very useful. As this template ages, it will make it much easier to use.
- Ability to delete the data. I didn't try this. Does it leave the lookup list data?
- Showing the ID on the tab for some of the tabs. It would be nice if the employee form did also.
Things I don't see:
1. No maintenance forms for lookup lists - The Titles can be updated on the fly but not all can. Some need to be controlled by IT because the values affect program logic but all other lookups should have maintenance options.
2. How to add employee privileges - just found the subform but it doesn't seem to be connected to the employee form. I couldn't find a way to get to it except by opening it from the Nav Pane.
Specs:
I looked at the documentation and I don't see anything about how the inventory works or how to do a stocktake. I get an error about "Expected Quantity" but I don't know what that means. Do you have any documentation about how the inventory works. For example when the various quantity fields get updated. I know the app isn't supposed to be a real app but parts of this work as I would expect but not others. It would be nice to know how much of the inventory actually works.
I didn't look at any of the code or data macros or error handler. Later
If you disregard my personal pet peeves, the app is better organized and potentially more useful than older versions.
You will need to show hidden members. Then it is in the VBA.Information class.
You could try the link @GPGeorge posted earlier.
support.microsoft.com
I changed preferred item in "Office authoring language and proofing" to "English (United States)" ... Northwind appears
Application.SetOption "Error Trapping", 2That did the magic. Though I downloaded the template from the link given by @theDBguy, But it's good to know for future cases.
