Accidental them changed (1 Viewer)

axsprog

Registered User.
Local time
Today, 08:32
Joined
Jun 11, 2019
Messages
15
I have been doingAccess design since 1992 - yep In the good ole days I would muti select a group of buttons and format them the same through the property sheet settings. The I started using the format painter to duplicate a style I liked As for themes never used them - Always set "Use Theme" to no then did my own thing



Well I finally designed a button that is pretty cool and so like an idiot I decided to make a theme from it Now afer the fact I don't beieve you can LOl


and I applied the color settings wrongly and it has applied that mistake color theme to every thing (and yes I know why - NOW)



The two examples the help gives you while your adjusting colors - well it sucks That's another thing the as a past full time emp at MS I can say their effort to really be intuitive to the developer has missed the spot. Ok i digressed - I need to figure out after I design a button and maybe even A form - how can I persist that as my color scheme instead of trying to guess what that stupid image of a chart is for text backround1 and lighter and all that other stuff instead of like the old windows theme creator where you saw the actual object you were designing for.



A little mad right now lol coding isn't ever an issue and shouldn't be most of the time its the storyboarding and the getting the design right for the users that takes time - this one just set me back aaarrrrggghhhh
 

Uncle Gizmo

Nifty Access Guy
Staff member
Local time
Today, 15:32
Joined
Jul 9, 2003
Messages
16,244
I'm not 100% sure if you are actually asking a question! However just in case, I've bumped it up the list so that it gets another look!
 

axsprog

Registered User.
Local time
Today, 08:32
Joined
Jun 11, 2019
Messages
15
LOL It was in ther in a form of a rant

Question - is there a way to design a form but put various controls on it , using coliors and special effects and what not and then save it as a theme without having to go to that darn color example which I'm sorry is not very intuitive
 

Micron

AWF VIP
Local time
Today, 11:32
Joined
Oct 20, 2018
Messages
3,476
there are 2 things I know of that one can do. One would be to design a form with every control that needs to be customized, and set all those properties. Save that form in FormDb and import it into every new db and copy paste from there. The other I'm a little rusty on, and would hav to look it up, so you might as well unless someone else chimes in. It involves dragging controls onto a form and setting their properties but doing something else so that the setting is retained for that control. I'm having a problem remembering what that something else is at the moment in spite of the fact that I did it successfully some time ago. Getting old sucks!
 

The_Doc_Man

Immoderate Moderator
Staff member
Local time
Today, 10:32
Joined
Feb 28, 2001
Messages
26,999
I usually took the approach of creating a "template form" that was the prototype for all the other forms I was going to build. Then when I need a new form with the same look and feel as the rest of my stuff, I would copy the prototype to the desired name and then start to customize it. My prototypes had buttons like CREATE and DELETE and SAVE and CANCEL and CLOSE and a couple of others depending on function. The event routines were there and filled in only part of the way, leaving plenty of room for the custom requirements.

I agree with you that "STYLE" wasn't such a good thing for me. In fact, like you, I had to turn off styles and switch to the template idea. But it worked.
 

Uncle Gizmo

Nifty Access Guy
Staff member
Local time
Today, 15:32
Joined
Jul 9, 2003
Messages
16,244
Whilst doing a bit of research on building an add-in, I found this by Helen Feddema

Access Archon Column #76 – Design Schemes Add-In, Part 1
By Helen Feddema

Item 76 & 77 Here:-
https://www.helenfeddema.com/Access Archon.htm

Extract:-

What the Add-In Does
My goal for the Design Schemes add-in included the following features: I wanted to be able to select one of a set of standard form types for a new form from the Form Wizard, and then select one of a set of standard color schemes, including fonts, colors, and control special effects. The standard color schemes used color combinations I had found to be workable in a variety of display types and screen resolutions (there’s no point in selecting a color scheme that looks great if you have 7 million colors, but is converted to something truly awful on a screen with a more limited color palette). I also wanted to be able to select a color scheme to apply to existing forms in a database

I've no idea if it still works or if everything you need is available, or even if it works with your version of MS Access.
 

axsprog

Registered User.
Local time
Today, 08:32
Joined
Jun 11, 2019
Messages
15
What I did is just like Micron posted. I created a form with all of the controls I generally use. I then formatted them to a central theme I use. The I impor the form . When I need to format a new button , all I do Is quickly add as many butons as I think I might need on a form , then copy the button I designed onto that form and and and select the paint format tool for multiple controls and apply the format to those controls.I know I could probably put it into a module and run it for the controls on a new form but sometimes I even tweak the "master" formatted buttons.


BTW I reglossed PKStormy's Non activex calendar control - it is awesome looking.. if anyone wants a copy let me know.
 

Micron

AWF VIP
Local time
Today, 11:32
Joined
Oct 20, 2018
Messages
3,476
What I did is just like Micron posted
You have an interesting approach though. What I had in mind was to copy one or more controls from the template form, then select the new form (in design view) and paste them in. If I copied 1 textbox, I'd just ctrl+v 5 times if that's how many I needed. I suppose your way is better if you create the form via wizard, however I never keep the control names that Access gives in that case.
 

axsprog

Registered User.
Local time
Today, 08:32
Joined
Jun 11, 2019
Messages
15
I actually have done it your way as well. I generally do not use a wizard accept for getting text boxes to match the name of the underlying fields to allow to iterate through the fields (rst(f1) = me(f1.name) sort of thing. I firmly believe you are born with only so many ketstrokes so i shortcut where ever possible. LOL The other reason I cant always pre-create those buttons is you never know what the client will throw at you. I've gotten so bad that I tell clients right up front that I use soft tones,light blues,light greys , some white offsets , and at the end of the project if they do not like the aesthetics then they can create a change order so I can start billing while all the stake holders argue about their color preferences. LOL


I just wish you could create a form and somewhere there would be an option that says - Make this my theme- instead of that horrible sample 1 sample 2 color customization pop up
 

Micron

AWF VIP
Local time
Today, 11:32
Joined
Oct 20, 2018
Messages
3,476
I generally do not use a wizard accept for getting text boxes to match the name of the underlying fields
If we started a discussion on that point, I'm sure I would not be the only one who takes the view that it's seldom (if ever) advisable to have controls and fields with the same name as fields. Have seen issues around this although never the issue that caused me to stop the practice - "Ambiguous name detected." I extend this to subform controls as well - not the same name as the subform.

I have said that about keystrokes myself, but I mostly apply the savings to code and supporting design as much as possible. The only time I can recall doing anything similar to what you describe is for 42 textboxes a custom calendar form.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom