Solved Working on different resolution monitors results in data showing as #### (1 Viewer)

[Ajabu]

Okay, I have a strange problem. I have an Access database which I transferred over to a laptop with a very high screen resolution.

When I copied the database back to my desktop all the textboxes in the reports show no values but instead just show #. If there's one number present I see #, three numbers shows ###, dates show as ######. All textboxes are affected; the label boxes are fine.

Changing the box size has no affect. Nor does changing the font size or weight.

If I go into Layout View, select a box and press F2, the number suddenly shows up.

You have the same thing sometimes when you move an Excel document from one computer to another. On one the width of the column shows all of the data while on the other computer it shows #### and you have to enlarge the column size to accommodate the data. But in this case I can't seem to change anything on the report design to make the numbers visible. Even creating a new report still shows ## instead of the numbers. So the problem is not specific to the report design but seems to be with the database. I've tried compacting/repair but that does nothing.

Somehow it appears that the file has taken over the higher resolution from the other computer. If I transfer it back to the laptop everything is fine. Tables and queries are fine. Only reports are affected.

Does anybody have an idea how to solve this? Incidentally, the version of Access used on both computers is the same.

 

[Ajabu]

Okay, another strange thing I've found. Rather than recreate the whole database from scratch, I started a new one and pasted the original tables, queries, and reports into the new database (data + structure).

That fixed the problem; the numbers appeared again as expected in the textboxes -- UNLESS I had changed the font for the textbox. Bold font or changing the font size would result in ### being shown. But only if it was a number. If I change the textbox to a word I can then change the font size and make it bold without any problem.

The size of the textbox is big enough for the content. I can put the word "three" in without a problem, change the font size, change it to bold, and I see everything. But as soon as it has a number (just "3", not decimal places) and change the font features I then get #.

 

[Ajabu]

I have found a possible solution for this problem though it doesn't fix everything.

Select the properties for the form, then change the option "Layout for Print" from Yes to No.

And with that all the numbers are suddenly all visible again. No more ###.

That solves that problem. But Print Preview does not work; rather, it just gives a blank page. If I want to print the report I'll have to transfer the database to the laptop and from there it works.

If anybody knows what's going on here and how to solve this, I'd love to hear. Thanks.

 

[arnelgp]

you post a sample db with your report and i will show you
how to deal with this.

 

[Pat Hartman]

You have to design your forms/reports for the lowest common denominator. ie. resolution. Otherwise, you need code in the application to handle different resolutions that shrinks and grows the images.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Access examines your screen settings to determine resolution and the size of one TWIP - the unit of an Access screen. If the screen quality is set low enough (coarse), Access cannot display correctly. By the way, this problem ALSO happens on printed reports, because Access looks at the printer resolution too. As Pat noted, either design for the coarsest screen (and printer) or look on the form for "Adjusting text size".

 

[Ajabu]

Thanks all for your feedback. Good to learn more.

I have found the problem. The resolution of the other computer was a red herring. It turns out that when I transferred the amended database back to the original computer the page setup settings had changed. Using another computer made the database change the page margins leaving just a sliver of space for the document. Who knew that could happen? Or why?

I don't know how this works but I'm guessing all the numbers turned to #s, not because the text boxes were so small but because the page margins created such a small document. No idea why it only affected numbers though, or why copying and pasting the tables and queries to a new database didn't fix the problem.

Once I'd expanded the margins I was able to change the option "Layout for Print" again and was able to use the Print Preview option again. Problem solved.