Extra tools in Access XP

[DennisJones]

Although I have been using access for a year or two (self taught) I have only recently noticed that the form toolbox (the one with combo boxes and buttons etc on it) appears to have a library of procedure calls for calendars and all sorts of things sitting there waiting to be used. Is there a list somewhere of what all this lot does? I have been playing with a couple of date pickers but I don't particularly want to go through all of the rest to see what they do or if they would be useful.

Thanks

 

[boblarson]

Those are ActiveX controls and the list includes all of those ActiveX controls on your system, even if they are written as Public Not Creatable. So, you can't necessarily use a lot of them that are listed.

Personally, even though they LOOK cool and could do some good stuff, I avoid using ActiveX controls like that as they can wreak havoc on various machines due to them either not having them installed or being registered the same. Those errors are known as REFERENCE errors and, when being used by multiple computers, can be a nightmare to manage. So, I have gone to trying everything I can to find a non-ActiveX solution for whatever it is I want to do and if I must use one I have to go through major coding hoops to ensure that my users can use the database without those reference errors.

So, my suggestion to you is - RESIST the temptation to use them.

 

[DennisJones]

Thanks for the advice and now I know where those reference errors are coming from.

Cheers
Dennis