Question Switchboard item desgn app not working

[turkee]

I have an access 2007 app that uses a switchboard command "design application". Every time that button is pressed I get "Command Not Available".
It workrd fine in 2003, what's up with 2007? I couldn't find the answer anywhere on the internet including microsoft. Anybody know why this command doesn't work?
Thanks a lot - this is driving me crazy!

 

[turkee]

ok, The switchboardid is 1, item 6 "Edit Switchboard". Command 5 is "Design Application". I don't what the argument shoud be, if any.

Switchboard Items
Switchboard ItemsSwitchboardIDItemNumberItemTextCommandArgument10Garden Menu0Default11View/Edit/Add Garden Items3New Garden12Update Tables1213Current Year Reports1314Past Year Reports1515Fair Entry Reports1416Edit Switchboard5
17Exit7Exitr

 

[turkee]

Sorry, this is the best I can do listing Switchboard tableSwitchboard Items. The switchboard is 1 and the switchboard item is 6. The command is 5 "Design Application" and the argument is blank

SwitchboardID ItemNumber ItemText Command Argument 1 0 Garden Menu 0 Default 1 1 View/Edit/Add Garden Items 3 NewGarden 1 2 Update Tables 1 2 1 3 Current Year Reports 1 3 1 4 Past Year Reports 1 5 1 5 Fair Entry Reports 1 4 1 6 Edit Switchboard 5
1 7 Exit 7Exitr

 

[turkee]

maybe this is better....it's switchboard 1 item 6 "Edit Swutchboard".

 

[gemma-the-husky]

you don't have to edit the switchboard interactively

you can just open the switchboard items table, and edit it manually - its dead easy.

eg the top level is menu 1

to go to another menu the action is 1, and argument is the new menu number
- so say you create a new menu no 20

then
menu 20, item 0 is the title
menu 20, items 1 thru 8, are menu options

so for each of these

action 1 - goes to a different menu page
action 3 - opens a form - argument is the form name
action 6 -exits

you must have an item 1 on each page, or it causes problems with the form behaviour.

I hardly ever use the other options and I am not sure what they are offhand, but
they are things like open form(add mode), open report, and run macro.

 

[turkee]

Isn't that interesting? I tried it, too and you're right it works fine. I'll try making a new switchboard. I should probably be using a menu form anyway.

Hey, thanks a bunch for checking into this!

 

[gemma-the-husky]

I quite like the switchboard for multi-level menus, although a lot of users here aren't too keen. I have never used the switchboard manager - I always just edit the table directly.

Mind you, 8 items isn't enough - I modifed the standard switchboard to give more items - 17 originally and now 21. I have 2 columns of 10, and a an extra one for a "return to previous menu"

 

[turkee]

How did you get 21 items on a standard switchboard??

 

[gemma-the-husky]

21 items

just copy all the buttons and labels to wherever you like, to get a layout you like

the buttons and labels HAVE to follow the naming procedure in use - so check the existing ones, and rename everything to match - so label1, label2 etc etc

the button click events (on both labels and buttons) have to follow the naming procedure - so change those as well

And I think there is a constant in the code that needs changing to the same value as the number of buttons you have.

That's it.

 

[gemma-the-husky]

Dave said, “I quite like the switchboard”

I am in agreement with Dave; I think the switchboard functionality provided by the Microsoft add-in is fantastic. On the face of it, it looks simple; however it’s not that simple, it’s basically a table driven form, in that the look of the form is controlled by information stored in the table. This method of programming your form, using data from a table, it’s quite an advanced concept and possibly beyond some people. It’s a concept well worth studying and the switchboard provides an excellent example.

I do understand why people “don’t like it” it’s a terrible interface, hard to use, non intuitive and puts off amateur and expert programmer alike. I do the same as Dave I edit the information directly in the table.

A simple change to the switchboard code allows you to call functions with “arguments”, not something it does straight out of the box. This can add another level of sophistication to your switchboard.

A project I have in mind for the switchboard which I hope to get around to one day is to devise a way for the user to change what is displayed on each menu page themselves. In other words the user will be able to build up a menu system of their own which suits the way they work.

I think users in companies, who are used to older 3GL type systems expect to see a menu like this- and they are comfortable with it.

I tried to come up with a way of letting users design their own menus - but it isnt easy, as if you release new functionality, it won't be in their version of the menu system - also, they need to know what you actually call all your forms - so it gets tricky in a big system - especially as some forms are often not directly useable - but are subforms, or popup dialog forms called by other forms.

 

[Chameleon]

I have a similar problem I converted 2 databases from 2003 to 2007 versions. On one the stitcboard app worked fine and on the other it would not create a valid switchboard. I tried editing the table direct but without success. Should I export all the data from tables and re-import into a new database in 2007 to fix the problem?