Just an FYI - If it is in the form's before update event, then the form is dirty if the before update event fires. It doesn't fire if nothing has changed. So, If Me.Dirty would be redundant in this case.
i first thought i must have been b/c i had my controls not in the 'detail' section of the forms, but even when i have these in the 'detail' section, i get that error. in a previous database, i remember this worked for a brief time, and only in some forms, but others would always return that error. i could never figure out what the difference was between the forms...
i know this is a simple thing to do in a db, and many people use it, so i'm a bit perplexed that i've never managed to get it to work
that would explain my problem - so how do you do it?
everyone here seems to be able to use the code Boblarson suggests (despite it being impossible) if not that, then what? and how come it works for everyone else??
To be honest I have never tried it because I read somewhere once that it could not be done. The same poster said to use the AfterUpDate event instead so that is what I do.
The main use of BeforeUpdate is running code to test the validity of a new value. I assume it does not allow values to be changed because one would not want another control changed if the update was rejected.
Edit:
Having now read the rest of the thread I'm curious. Would not be the first myth I have subscribed to after reading it somewhere.