Tag Archives: Access

Access 2007 Debugging Disabled?

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So I was trying to debug a rather convoluted report-generating VBA module in Access 2007 (code which I did not write, but which I have inherited for pro-bono support). But no matter what I tried, Access would not stop for debugging breakpoints.

I did my normal Google searches to see if this was an issue, and I was finding nada on the subject, until I came across this lovely little post.

Turns out there’s a little setting in the Current Database options screen called “Use Special Access Keys.” The little help icon seems to indicate that this setting controls whether or not the special key combinations to bring up the database window, etc., will be enabled (you might disable this normally for end-users using an Access app, for instance). But what it fails to mention is that this setting also controls whether or not the debugger is active!

Check the box, close and re-open the database, and voila, breakpoints. Now I have to go back and remove all those message boxes that I was using when I couldn’t get debugging to work…

Access 2003 combo box displaying blank entries!

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A client’s database suddenly was showing blank entries in dropdown selection boxes (combo boxes), on forms, reports, and even the datasheet.  The data was there, and the combo boxes actually have items and attached values, just no display.  After futzing for a while and googling away, finally discovered that this is a “known issue” with Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3.  One more reason to be shy about service packs, especially the kind that automatically update.  Surprise!

The solution was to remove the “Format” property for the fields in the combo box.  An alterative, from Microsoft, is to use the SQL query for the combo box to append a blank string to the string value (thus ignoring the Access field Format property).

KB945280 — Combo box controls and list box controls display no value or incorrect values in Access 2003 after you install Office 2003 Service Pack 3

Microsoft also issued a hot-fix for Access issues post SP3, which I haven’t tried yet, but it’s supposed to fix this problem.

KB945674 — Description of the Access 2003 post-Service Pack 3 hotfix package: December 18, 2007

C’est la vie.