Is it risky to "use windows themed controls on forms"

[jacko6]

When I deploy my Access apps to client PC's I like them to look like I designed them.

There is an Access property "use windows themed controls on forms". In my opinion this can make radio buttons (particularly) and check boxes look better.

I've done some testing and while not drastic I am noticing colour changes to field borders, text etc when I set this to true.

If this is set to true, do you run the risk of a user's Windows theme considerably changing the look of your access app?

 

[Pat Hartman]

If this is set to true, do you run the risk of a user's Windows theme considerably changing the look of your access app?

We have no control over bugs that MS introduces into Access. We can only hope that people report them promptly and that the team is willing to fix them promptly.

I leave the property set to yes and no one has complained but that doesn't mean that the color change isn't happening on some PCs.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Windows themes don't change the nature of controls - only their appearance. That is, the look-and-feel will vary according to a user's choice of Windows theme. However, a radio button would still look like a radio button and a text box would still look like a text box. The "effects" might change to match the Windows choices. Effects like whether a pressed button looks beveled or not, raised or flat or lowered,... that sort of thing. The colors would also potentially change according to theme.

As to "risk"... please define what you consider to be a negative outcome of taking the risk and being wrong to have done so?

I would presume you are using ThemeColorScheme objects or something like that.

ThemeColor object (Office)

Office VBA reference topic

learn.microsoft.com

 

[isladogs]

Where themes are implemented throughout a database, users can easily change the appearance of database controls in a few seconds (though very few will know how or wish to do so)
As already stated, there is no risk to data or to database functionality. I have never heard of any issues since they were introduced with A2010.
If end users do change themes and don't like the outcome, they can just as easily change it back again

As well as just improving the appearance of individual controls, I have found themes useful for customising apps sold to different clients in order to match their corporate colour schemes.

The expert on using themes is Peter Cole:

https://thememydatabase.co.uk/

 

[jacko6]

Thanks, appreciate the replies.

 

[omarkhansqa]

I would just like to note some exceptions and 1 or 2 "experiences" (which are just words of warning and may be refuted but they were, as I stated MY experiences):

"Windows themes don't change the nature of controls - only their appearance."

Accurate, but I will cite at least one example where the use of the THEME property in a control (tab control specifically) may drastically impact how some of its other functional properties: multi row option, will NOT function with use theme set to YES for example. Setting it to NO gives the tab control much additional flexibility in terms of displaying tabs and tab rows. It even adds arrows (left/right) to navigate the tabs when the tab/buttons themselves become too condensed or not visible at all (when multi row is off)!
I cannot recall, there was another recent example where "use theme = Yes" caused some other hiccups that you wouldn't even think of, just online forums pointing to a fix related to toggling this on/off... when in doubt play with this option on individual controls.

Another experience: I played with themes and turning it off and I think it changed the look of my entire database, and I could not find any way to recover it! Other than using a backup. That was my experience anyway. I do consider from time to time starting off with it turned off so my "custom" visuals will live independent of the theming, but I do believe some visual flair is lost that perhaps cannot even be added/set manually so that isn't desirable altogether.

 

[isladogs]

This is indeed correct. Multi-row tab controls do not work when Access themes are enabled.
However this isn't documented (or wasn't when I last checked)
I reported the issue to the Access team a couple of years ago and Shane Groff explained the cause.

See my article from May 2023 for an explanation as to what is going on:

The Curious Case of the Multirow Tab Control

When you have many tabs on a control, the Multi Row property may seem to be the solution, but it no longer works by default. This article explains how to successfully use the Multi Row property of the Access tab control and suggests several alternatives

isladogs.co.uk

Offhand, I cannot think of any other controls whose behaviour changes when themes are enabled

 

[omarkhansqa]

Thanks! PS, I am a bit of a fan of yours, many years now.

It's sort of like speaking with a celebrity (not the Hollywood variety), cheers!

And as with so many of your contributions and discussions, that is another very impressive outline of the tab control!