Creating a Drop-Down List Box

[ramhanuman]

I'm trying to create a drop-down list box on my form. I am able to create a combo box and a list box but not a drop-down list box. The microsoft help page says you can just select them from the toolbar and add them but the only things I see in the toolbar are the combo box and list box, there is no drop-down list box. Anyone know how to add it? Thank you.

 

[spikepl]

Probably because neither we - nor Access - know what a "drop-down listbox" is. What is it?

 

[ramhanuman]

It has the properties of a list box such that
-You can't edit it by typing in values, but rather all typed values will be treated as a search

And also has the properties of a combo box such that
-You can display all the relevant items in a drop down box

The microsoft access website says you can add it but assumes that you have already have it in your toolbar, which i don't.

 

[missinglinq]

Like spike, I never heard of this creature in Access. Perhaps if you could post the URL of the website we could take a look!

Linq ;0)>

 

[spikepl]

I googled it "drop-down list box A control on a data access page"

Are you making a "data access page"? That is, AFAIK, a deprecated 2003 feature.

 

[ramhanuman]

So there's no way to add this? I'm surprised, a drop-down list box is a basic feature I see on any registration page or selection menu.

 

[missinglinq]

Once again, as spike said, this feature is only available on Data Access Pages, which is why we aren't familiar with it. And the feature was removed with version 2007. Are you using v2003?

Linq ;0)>

 

[spikepl]

In my universe I have never met a "drop-down list box" so I am still not sure what it is you are looking for. Apparently it is some special control for data access pages in 2003.

 

[Aeristan]

[ fasts forward 7 years ]

I stumbled upon this thread looking into this very thing. A "drop-down ListBox" was a control available in Visual Studio / Visual C#. They are just as ramhanuman describes: looking and behaving just like a ComboBox, with an arrow on the side that drops the list down, except that the user cannot type directly into the control. It's a ComboBox, minus the TextBox part.

This is also a "thing" in Microsoft Forms - one can choose between the standard ListBox style, and one that displays check boxes (for multi-select) or radio buttons (for single select).

I am also confused as to why this is not in the standard Control toolbox in Access. I have just been using ComboBoxes with multiple values set to True, and setting the other properties as best I can to prevent the user from doing anything other than selecting item(s) from the list.

 

[Mal Ba]

[ fasts forward 7 years ]

I stumbled upon this thread looking into this very thing. A "drop-down ListBox" was a control available in Visual Studio / Visual C#. They are just as ramhanuman describes: looking and behaving just like a ComboBox, with an arrow on the side that drops the list down, except that the user cannot type directly into the control. It's a ComboBox, minus the TextBox part.

This is also a "thing" in Microsoft Forms - one can choose between the standard ListBox style, and one that displays check boxes (for multi-select) or radio buttons (for single select).

I am also confused as to why this is not in the standard Control toolbox in Access. I have just been using ComboBoxes with multiple values set to True, and setting the other properties as best I can to prevent the user from doing anything other than selecting item(s) from the list.

I've been suggesting it to Microsoft for ages. As you say it is a fairly well-known feature elsewhere. You can even do it in vb.net. But I think Access is very much the poor relation in the Office suite. The best you can do is to create a combo box with a listbox below it - or on a dialog box - and hide and unhide it as necessary. With a bit of playing and around and a bit of code, it works. It's not as elegant but it does.