Table view problem (4 Viewers)

[John Sh]

From time to time, in table view. I get this strange behaviour.
I am running Access 2019 and still on W10.

First image, Open table view. The first field is already highlighted.
Second image, select "Main_Family". All fields to the left are highlighted.
Third image, select record 107. All records above are highlighted.
It's as if I were holding down the "Shift" key.
If I try to sort a field, it is always the left most highlighted field that controls the sort.
If I restart Access this behaviour disappears for a while but will eventually return.

Why is it so and how do I stop it?

 

[June7]

I think I have experienced this sometime in the distant past.

Possible corruption of database or Access?

 

[BlueSpruce]

From time to time, in table view. I get this strange behaviour.
I am running Access 2019 and still on W10.

First image, Open table view. The first field is already highlighted.
Second image, select "Main_Family". All fields to the left are highlighted.
Third image, select record 107. All records above are highlighted.
It's as if I were holding down the "Shift" key.
If I try to sort a field, it is always the left most highlighted field that controls the sort.
If I restart Access this behaviour disappears for a while but will eventually return.

Why is it so and how do I stop it?
View attachment 121971View attachment 121972View attachment 121973

Did you by any chance ever exit or save the table, and then exit the accdb while those fields and records were highlighted?.. This reminds me of not removing code breaks in the VBE editor and exiting the accdb. Then itza real PITA to remove those sticky Gremlins

The easiest solution I suggest is to open the affected table, highlight and unhighlight the same field/records, save the table and exit the accdb. If that doesn't work, try importing the accdb into a new blank accdb.

 

[John Sh]

I think I have experienced this sometime in the distant past.

Possible corruption of database or Access?

I do a compact and repair on close so corruption is unlikely.
Also everything else is working as expected.
It just starts for no apparent reason and sometimes just stops doing it.
Usually restarting Access fixes it for a while.
Just a nuisance really, especially when trying to sort a field.

 

[John Sh]

Did you by any chance ever exit or save the table, and then exit the accdb while those fields and records were highlighted?.. This reminds me of not removing code breaks in the VBE editor and exiting the accdb. Then itza real PITA to remove those sticky Gremlins

The easiest solution I suggest is to open the affected table, highlight and unhighlight the same field/records, save the table and exit the accdb. If that doesn't work, try importing the accdb into a new blank accdb.

1} No.
2) The test accdb is regularly replaced with the active file, although I don't delete one and paste in the other.
The behaviour has persisted over multiple copies of the accdb.

I have to replace my very old cpu with one compatible with W11.
I'll see if that makes a difference when the new cpu arrives.
Thank you both.
John

 

[BlueSpruce]

I do a compact and repair on close so corruption is unlikely.

I hope you're not setting Compact/Repair on close in Access Options to automatically do it every time. That is known to cause corruption problems. I only CR after making frontend modifications and after first making a backup of backend tables if there's a data corruption problem.

 

[DHookom]

I would try a different mouse.

 

[BlueSpruce]

I would try a different mouse.

The OP said he's using an old PC and thinks a new one running Win11 is the solution. I think Win11 hurts more than helps. Anything new that Microsoft puts out has bugs. They have no QA, we the users are the alpha testers.

 

[xavier.batlle]

Sometimes some extrange behaviors have happened because of non printable characters on some fields. Nowadays it's common to copy and paste data from some webpages and it's common to copy non printable characters to de database and then...
- Some comboboxes don't populate properly.
- Some reports raise errors or don't print the expected data.
- Some data is not displayed in the forms.
- Etc.
I sanitize the data from time to time to avoid these issues.

 

[BlueSpruce]

Sometimes some extrange behaviors have happened because of non printable characters on some fields. Nowadays it's common to copy and paste data from some webpages and it's common to copy non printable characters to de database and then...
- Some comboboxes don't populate properly.
- Some reports raise errors or don't print the expected data.
- Some data is not displayed in the forms.
- Etc.
I sanitize the data from time to time to avoid these issues.

That's possible. Another possibility could be something got corrupted in msaccess.exe and re-installing Access could be the solution.

 

[sonic8]

It's as if I were holding down the "Shift" key.

Do you have "Sticky Keys" turned on in the Windows Accessibility ("Ease of Access" in Win10) settings?
If yes, pressing [Shift] twice will activate a "holding down [Shift]"-mode in Windows until you again press [Shift] twice.
This will cause exactly the behavior you are describing. However, it will not be limited to Access but will apply to all applications.

This happened to me sometimes when still on Windows 8, as there holding [Shift] for several seconds (as one might do deliberately as bypass key when opening an Access file) turned on "Sticky Keys". From Windows 10 onward "Sticky Keys" is (de)activated by pressing [Shift] 5 times consecutively, which is much less likely to happen accidentally.

 

[CJ_London]

I do a compact and repair on close so corruption is unlikely

Be aware that won’t always remove corruption - depends on the nature of the corruption

 

[Isaac]

I would try a different mouse.

or keyboard

 

[John Sh]

Do you have "Sticky Keys" turned on in the Windows Accessibility ("Ease of Access" in Win10) settings?
If yes, pressing [Shift] twice will activate a "holding down [Shift]"-mode in Windows until you again press [Shift] twice.
This will cause exactly the behavior you are describing. However, it will not be limited to Access but will apply to all applications.

This happened to me sometimes when still on Windows 8, as there holding [Shift] for several seconds (as one might do deliberately as bypass key when opening an Access file) turned on "Sticky Keys". From Windows 10 onward "Sticky Keys" is (de)activated by pressing [Shift] 5 times consecutively, which is much less likely to happen accidentally.

Lots to ponder here.
I only use CR on close, on my development environment.. My live software is all accde and the backend is backed up after every use.
I do have a mouse issue when the batteries are a bit low but that is mainly erratic movement and I have just replaced them without affecting the problem. I have just, mid sentence replaced the keyboard batteries and the problem did not go away.
I will replace them both with spares and see what happens.
I do not have "Stickey Keys" turned on.
I have had issues with NPC's in the past but none of my code, or data, is downloaded, except for the odd code snippet from this forum.
I am now using a different mouse and keyboard and the behavior remains the same.
If nothing else, I now have fresh batteries.
Thanks to all. I will advise of a solution, when I find it.
John.

 

[BlueSpruce]

Lots to ponder here.
I only use CR on close, on my development environment.. My live software is all accde and the backend is backed up after every use.
I do have a mouse issue when the batteries are a bit low but that is mainly erratic movement and I have just replaced them without affecting the problem. I have just, mid sentence replaced the keyboard batteries and the problem did not go away.
I will replace them both with spares and see what happens.
I do not have "Stickey Keys" turned on.
I have had issues with NPC's in the past but none of my code, or data, is downloaded, except for the odd code snippet from this forum.
I am now using a different mouse and keyboard and the behavior remains the same.
If nothing else, I now have fresh batteries.
Thanks to all. I will advise of a solution, when I find it.
John.

Have you tested that accdb on another computer to see if it also happens there? What kind of keyboard and mouse drivers are you using? 3rd-party software, like a utility program, a keyboard driver, or even an anti-virus suite can interfere with how Access registers mouse clicks and keyboard states, leading to that sporadic range-selection issue.

 

[John Sh]

Have you tested that accdb on another computer to see if it also happens there? What kind of keyboard and mouse drivers are you using? 3rd-party software, like a utility program, a keyboard driver, or even an anti-virus suite can interfere with how Access registers mouse clicks and keyboard states, leading to that sporadic range-selection issue.

I only have one machine with MS Office, so unable to test here but I can test it at the Uni tomorrow.
The drivers are probably standard windows drivers, I have never had cause to question them and I am using Windows Defender as my only AV software.
Re the CPU update.
All this hoo haa about throwing a way good computers, I have an AMD X370 motherboard which is old but fully compatible with W11.
A Ryzen 5 5600 cpu, for about AUD120 brings the system up to W11 standard. All indications are that W11 has pretty much come of age, so we'll see.
John

 

[BlueSpruce]

I only have one machine with MS Office, so unable to test here but I can test it at the Uni tomorrow.

Yes, do test it on another box. That way you can rule out your computer being the problem if it also happens on another box, and focus on the accdb or Office/Access as the culprit.

All this hoo haa about throwing a way good computers, I have an AMD X370 motherboard which is old but fully compatible with W11.

Don't throw away your box or upgrade to Win11 even if your box can run it. Use Win10 and your box until its wheels fall off If possible, test your accdb on another Win10 and 11 box. I would imagine the university has boxes with both of those Win versions and Office365?

 

[John Sh]

If possible, test your accdb on another Win10 and 11 box. I would imagine the university has boxes with both of those Win versions and Office365?

I have the system running on 10 and 11 at the uni so will do a few tests tomorrow.
Watch this space!

 

[LarryE]

From time to time, in table view. I get this strange behaviour.
I am running Access 2019 and still on W10.

First image, Open table view. The first field is already highlighted.
Second image, select "Main_Family". All fields to the left are highlighted.
Third image, select record 107. All records above are highlighted.
It's as if I were holding down the "Shift" key.
If I try to sort a field, it is always the left most highlighted field that controls the sort.
If I restart Access this behaviour disappears for a while but will eventually return.

Why is it so and how do I stop it?
View attachment 121971View attachment 121972View attachment 121973

I have two fields in my table named OwnerLastName and OwnerFirstName. If I open the table in Datasheet view and sort First by OwnerLastName and then by OwnerFirstName ACCESS will retain that sort even after closing and reopening the table. If I open the table in Design View, you can see the sorts that were last used. ACCESS retains those sorts.

What you are experiencing is more than likely normal behavior when opening tables directly and sorting fields. I never do this and don't know why you are doing it, but ACCESS automatically retains the latest sort. At least that has been my experience.

This sort will still be retained and applied even if I re-sort only by OwnerLastName. I needed to open the table in Design View again and then physically delete the Order By property of the table in order for it to release the last sort like shown below

Now I can start a new sort.

 

[BlueSpruce]

I have two fields in my table named OwnerLastName and OwnerFirstName. If I open the table in Datasheet view and sort First by OwnerLastName and then by OwnerFirstName ACCESS will retain that sort even after closing and reopening the table. If I open the table in Design View, you can see the sorts that were last used. ACCESS retains those sorts.
View attachment 121999
What you are experiencing is more than likely normal behavior when opening tables directly and sorting fields. I never do this and don't know why you are doing it, but ACCESS automatically retains the latest sort. At least that has been my experience.

This sort will still be retained and applied even if I re-sort only by OwnerLastName. I needed to open the table in Design View again and then physically delete the Order By property of the table in order for it to release the last sort like shown below
View attachment 122000
Now I can start a new sort.

Wow, I totally forgot about the sorting. I didn't see those tiny ewok icons next to the field names. That will certainly cause the persistent highlighting if you sort and close the table. Filters will also behave the same. Good catch!