Memo Field

[Bob Leonard]

I have a memo field as the last field on my data entry form. What is the best way to exit the memo field to proceed to the next record?

 

[jimbrooking]

When you have Access help you put a Memo field on a form, say by drag 'n' drop from the field list, it defaults the "Enter Key Behavior" to "New Line in Field". This lets one put newlines into the memo field with the Enter key, but to leave the field, a Tab is used. (To insert a Tab in the field, use Ctrl-Tab.)

If you change the "Enter Key Behavior" to "Default", the first user "Enter" while in the memo field will go to the next record. (The "Default" setting will take the action defined in the Tools|Options Keyboard tab.)

If you want the user to be able to insert newlines into the memo field with "Default" set, the user can do it with Ctrl-Enters.

As a matter of personal preference, if I want users to be inserting newlines in a memo field I let the "New Line in Field" stay, and provide a Next Record button close by so the users that haven't picked up on the Tab key have something intuitive that'll get them to the next record.

Jim