Troubleshoot forms

Viewing and editing data

My form is blank.

A form may appear blank for any of the following reasons:

I can see data from only one table.

To see data from more than one table, you must base your form on a query that brings the data from the tables together. To create a multiple-table query without closing the form, do the following:

  1. In form Design view, double-click the form selector to open the form's property sheet.

  2. Click in the RecordSource property box, and then click the Build button next to the property box to open the Query Builder.

  3. In the Query Builder, add the tables and fields you want to include in the underlying query, and then close the Query Builder.

Microsoft Access updates the RecordSource property to use the query you created.

Note   You can also create a multiple-table form by using the Form Wizard, PivotTable Wizard, or PivotChart Wizard.

I can't edit data in my form.

You may not be able to edit data in a form for any of the following reasons:

PivotTable forms

Some of the data in the PivotTable form is cut off and there aren't any scroll bars to see the rest of the data.

I clicked the button to edit the PivotTable form, but Microsoft Excel won't let me make any modifications.

Before you can modify a PivotTable form, you need to update the data that's displayed in it.

  1. Open the PivotTable form in Form view.

  2. Click the Edit PivotTable Object button.

  3. On the Data menu in Microsoft Excel, click Refresh Data.

Note   When you're editing the PivotTable form, you are using Microsoft Excel and can get Excel Help on PivotTable reports. If you don't find the answer you need in the Excel Help topics, you can use Microsoft Access Help when the PivotTable form is open in Form view, in Access.

If I open Microsoft Excel without going through the form containing the PivotTable object, I can't find the PivotTable form.

A PivotTable object is an embedded object that is stored in Microsoft Access. If you want to work with the PivotTable object by using Excel's PivotTable Report Wizard, click the Edit PivotTable Object button on the Access form. Once you have the PivotTable object open in Excel, you can save a copy of it as an Excel PivotTable report. However, the PivotTable report in Excel and the PivotTable object on the Access form aren't linked. If you change the PivotTable object in Access, the changes won't be reflected in the PivotTable report in Excel, and vice versa, so the data will be inconsistent.

My PivotTable form looks different from a PivotTable form that is created using Microsoft Access 2002

You cannot create PivotTable forms in Access 2002. Instead, you can open a form in PivotTable view or PivotChart view to get the same functionality as a PivotTable form. You can also use the PivotTable or Chart wizards to build the view for a new form.

Subforms

All of my records show up in my subform - they don't change when I move from record to record in the main form.

You need to link your main form and subform using the LinkChildFields and LinkMasterFields properties.

  1. Open the main form in Design view.

  2. Make sure the subform control is selected, and then click Properties on the toolbar to display the property sheet for the subform control.

  3. Type the linking fields or controls in the LinkChildFields and LinkMasterFields properties. To enter more than one linking field or control, separate the field or control names with a semicolon. If you enter more than one field or control name, you must enter the names in the same order in both properties.

  4. Switch to Form view to test the link.

If you've already set the LinkChildFields and LinkMasterFields properties and the subform still doesn't work, make sure that you aren't using fields that have been renamed or deleted. Also make sure that you've spelled the field names correctly.

Notes

I get #Error? or #Name? when I try to display data from my subform on my main form.

To display a value from a subform on a main form, create a calculated control that refers to the subform control using the following syntax:

=Forms![formname]![subformname]![controlname]

For example, suppose you have an Orders form and an Orders subform. In the form footer of the subform, you have a text box named OrderSubtotal that sums the records in the subform. To display the value of this control on the main form, use the following expression:

=Forms![Orders]![Orders Subform]![OrderSubtotal]

If you're already using this syntax and you still get an error, check to make sure that the form, subform, and control names are correct. Make sure that the names you're referring to are the names specified in the Name property for each object. Also make sure that you're including the exclamation point in the right places.

I can't display form headers or form footers in my subform datasheet.

A form or subform viewed in Datasheet view doesn't display a form header and footer even if you've included them in Design view. You can display a form header and footer in a subform and make it look like a datasheet by sizing the detail section of the form to the size of a single row and setting the DefaultView property of the subform to Continuous Forms.

Property sheet

I canÆt open the property sheet in Form view or Datasheet view.

To be able to open the property sheet when a form is open in Form view or Datasheet view, the AllowDesignChanges property of the form must be set to All Views.

Images

I get an error message when I try to add an image in JPEG graphic format.

Do one of the following: