Scroll Wheel & Continuous Forms
By Richard Rost
13 months ago
Stop Scroll Wheel from Moving Records in Access Forms
In this Microsoft Access tutorial, I will show you how to stop the scroll wheel from moving records in continuous forms when you are in a notes field. We will tackle this common issue by using a subform to isolate the notes field, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted data entry.
Lindsay from Maplewood, Minnesota (a Platinum Member) asks: I have a continuous form for my customer list, similar to the one in your TechHelp template, but I've added a notes field at the bottom so I can read the notes for each customer. The issue I'm having is that when I click on the notes field and use my mouse scroll wheel, it scrolls the records in the continuous form as well. Is there a way to prevent this from happening?
Update
I wasn't planning on a Part 2 to this video, but after an awesome tip from one of the members, I decided I had to share it all with you.
Members
In the extended cut, I will show you how to use VBA code to automatically resize the subform to fit the main form perfectly. This ensures that your notes field aligns properly even if you make design changes later.
Silver Members and up get access to view Extended Cut videos, when available. Gold Members can download the files from class plus get access to the Code Vault. If you're not a member, Join Today!
Prerequisites
Links
Recommended Courses
Keywords
TechHelp Access, Continuous forms Microsoft Access, stop scroll wheel moving records Access, prevent mouse scroll Access notes field, Access forms tutorial scroll wheel, subform workaround Access, customer list TechHelp template, design view Access forms, Access subform notes field.
Transcript
Today we're going to talk about scroll wheels on your mouse and continuous forms. I'm going to show you how to stop the scroll wheel from moving the records up and down while you're in a notes field in the footer. It's a real irritative issue for me too. So let's take a look at today's question.
Today's question comes from Lindsay in Maplewood, Minnesota, one of my platinum members. Lindsay says, "I have a continuous form for my customer list, similar to the one in your TechHelp template, but I've added a notes field at the bottom so I can read the notes for each customer. The issue I'm having is that when I click on the notes field and use my mouse scroll wheel, it scrolls the records in the continuous form as well. Is there a way to prevent this from happening?"
Yes, there is. Let's take a look.
Okay, here I am in my TechHelp free template. This is a free database. You can download it on my website, and you can also watch a video that explains how the whole thing was built. I have a customer list. Now, my customer list doesn't have a notes field down here, but if you use the mouse scroll wheel, you can scroll up and down. I'm using a little scroll wheel on the mouse.
In case you don't know what a scroll wheel is, it's this little guy right there between your mouse buttons. Hang on. That thing right there, you scroll up and down. And yes, I stole that graphic from my very own Intro to PCs class, where I teach people how to use the keyboard and the mouse. So if you don't know what that is, go watch this video.
All right, but I'm assuming that most of you are watching this video. If you're using Access and you're building Access databases, you know what a scroll wheel on a mouse is. Okay, let's put a notes field down here. Now, I already have a notes field on my customer form. Let's just borrow this guy. It's the same field design view. I'll just copy this guy, copy, Control+C. Go back to my customer list. Go back to design view, click in the footer, and then paste that guy in there. Right? It's the same field. It's bound to the same field in the table. Both of these forms are based on the customer table. So we should be able to use them.
All right, so there's that. Let's save it. Close it. Open it back up again. All right, there we go. If I click on somebody, you can see the notes change. This guy down here, if it's in the header or the footer and it's a bound field, meaning it's bound to a field in your table, it's going to be whatever record you're on up here.
Okay, so if I click on James Kirk, I can come down here now. Here's the problem we're having. If you click in the notes field and you scroll, look what happens. It's also scrolling the records. Yeah, I hate that too. It's an irritant of mine.
Now, I have scoured the web. I've looked for all kinds of source code. I've tried a bunch of stuff I found online. None of it works. There are Windows API calls you can try. There's advanced programming stuff. There is an event in here dealing with the mouse wheel. It's in the form properties. But yeah, I can't get it to work.
If anyone out there has a solution just involving VBA, I'm all ears. Post a comment down below. I will give you a free membership if you come up with a solution that doesn't involve ActiveX controls or anything outside of Access. But I did come up with a solution because I used this in my own database. And it requires no programming. That's why this is just an expert class instead of a developer class.
You want to know what it is? Can you guess? The solution is to use a subform here. To use a subform bound to the same record. And it just has the notes field in it. Watch this.
Delete that. Let's make a customer form based on my single form here that just has the notes field in it. So I'm going to copy and paste my single form copy-paste. Let's call it CustomerNotesF. We'll design this guy. The only thing I want in here is that notes field. And let's go back and steal it from the customer form. Copy. And then paste it in here. And then that's all you want. And we'll even grab the corner. Go like that. Save it. And let's make sure this is bound to the customer table. So the notes field actually can get data. Save it. Let's close it and open it back up again. Just to make sure we got some data in here. There's some records. There's the notes.
Now we're going to take that and put it as a subform in here. You might be saying, "Rick, wait a minute. You can't have a subform inside a continuous form." Yeah, you can. I got a whole separate video on that. Here's that video. I'll put a link to it down below. But essentially, when you try doing this, Access will actually yell at you, and then let you do it anyway.
So let's take the Customer Notes form, drop it down here. Access says, "Oh, a form with a subform object can't have its default view properties set to continuous forms." Yeah, okay, whatever. Go back to this form's properties and then just set it back. So go to where are you. Go to single form and just set it back to continuous forms and it will let you do it. This is actually on my list of things for the Access team to change that dumb behavior. Get rid of that prompt.
Okay, get rid of the label that comes with it. Now we're just going to move this up a little bit and maybe resize it just a hair. And let's see what happens. Save it. Close it. Open it. Okay, we got some formatting and some prettiness to do. But let's make sure it works.
Okay, if I'm up here and I scroll up and down, we're good. Okay, click on Will Riker. Now if I come down here, click and drag. Oh, look at that. It's just scrolling in the subform. Isn't that nice? And you can still make changes. Will Riker, because when you move from up top to down to bottom, it changes. See the little thing that goes from dirty. Right? If you click up here, it refreshes and saves records. So you don't have to do anything. Just make sure that these things are linked.
If you look at the properties for the subform, make sure your link master and child fields are customer ID. And that's it. That's all you got to do is put a subform down here. You can turn some of this stuff off. You can turn off the record selectors, the navigation bars. That's just going into here. Right? And go into this guy's properties. And then where are you? See navigation buttons off, record selectors off. You can turn off scroll bars because that's the form scroll bars. Just look at the scroll bars inside the text box. And then that should look a little better.
Okay. Yeah. And then just resize this so it fits. Right? And then it's just kind of, it's just trial and error really. Right? Just come in here and get this to look exactly like you want it. Save changes, yes. You'll spend an hour trying to get this exactly right to get it to fit that box. Actually, that would make a great extended cut.
We can do that with a little VBA code. I can make it so that when this form opens up it resizes this guy inside the subform to be exactly as wide as this box is. In fact, I'm going to go do that right now. There we go. That's perfect. Look at that. Fits in there perfectly. Look at glove. And watch. If you come in here and make design changes later, if you make this bigger and taller like that and then save it, close it, open it. Oh, I resize it too. Isn't that nice?
I did that with two lines of VBA code and I will cover that in the extended cut for the members. Silver members and up get access to all of my extended cut videos. Not just this one, all of them and everybody gets free classes every month. So check it out. I'll put a link down below.
But there you go. There is your TechHelp video for today. Like I said, I tried at least five or six different programming solutions that I found online. The people were posting in forums. They were like, "Try this. This might work." One of them kind of worked, but it was so choppy and it just didn't look good. It worked, but it was like everything was jittery on the screen.
And I try not to use those Windows API calls unless I really have to. This is a nice easy Access solution. It's smooth. It works great. Just a little bit of extra work to put that subform in there. But if you can find a solution that works and doesn't use any outside components, then I want to know about it. I even asked ChatGPT, and of course, it gave me code that didn't work at all.
But yeah, that'll do it. There's a working solution. That's your TechHelp video for today. Hope you learned something. Live long and prosper, my friends. I'll see you next time, and members, I'll see you in the extended cut.
TOPICS:
Scroll wheel issues in continuous forms
Adding a notes field to the footer
Copying fields between forms
Binding fields to the same table
Using a subform to isolate notes field
Access form properties for subforms
Setting form default view properties
Linking master and child fields in subforms
Disabling navigation buttons and record selectors
Resizing subforms with VBA code
COMMERCIAL:
In today's video, I'll show you how to stop your mouse scroll wheel from moving records up and down in continuous forms' notes fields. We'll take a common customer list, add a notes section in the footer, and address the irritative issue of unwanted scrolling. Instead of complex VBA or Windows API calls, I'll demonstrate a simple solution using a subform bound to the same record, ensuring scrolls are confined within the notes field. It's smooth, easy, and effective. You'll find the complete video on my YouTube channel and on my website at the link shown. Live long and prosper, my friends.
Quiz
Q1. What problem does Lindsay from Maplewood, Minnesota describe in her question?
A. Her mouse scroll wheel does not work at all.
B. The scroll wheel moves records in the continuous form while scrolling in the notes field.
C. The notes field is not displaying any text.
D. Her mouse scroll wheel scrolls too fast.
Q2. What is a simple, non-programming solution to prevent the scroll wheel from moving records in the continuous form?
A. Use ActiveX controls.
B. Modify the Windows API.
C. Use a subform for the notes field.
D. Disable the mouse scroll wheel.
Q3. In the tutorial, what does the instructor use as a subform?
A. A form with a drop-down menu.
B. A form with only the notes field.
C. A form with customer names and addresses.
D. A form with advanced programming code.
Q4. What must be checked in the subform's properties to ensure it works correctly with the notes field?
A. That the default view property is set to datasheet view.
B. That record selectors are enabled.
C. That the link master and child fields are set to customer ID.
D. That the navigation buttons are turned on.
Q5. According to the video, why does putting the notes field in a subform solve the issue with the scroll wheel?
A. It disables mouse scrolling altogether.
B. It separates the notes field from the continuous form, so scrolling only affects the notes.
C. It changes the way the mouse interacts with the main form.
D. It enables the use of a different mouse.
Q6. After adding a subform, what other UI elements might you turn off in the subform's properties to improve the appearance?
A. Navigation buttons, record selectors, and form scroll bars.
B. Title bars, minimize buttons, and maximize buttons.
C. Font styles, text colors, and background images.
D. Form borders, control boxes, and shortcuts.
Q7. What additional step does the instructor perform in the extended cut for members?
A. Adds a new customer field.
B. Rewrites the entire customer form.
C. Uses VBA code to resize the subform.
D. Deletes all other forms.
Answers: 1-B; 2-C; 3-B; 4-C; 5-B; 6-A; 7-C
DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks.
Summary
Today's TechHelp tutorial from Access Learning Zone addresses a common issue with scroll wheels and continuous forms in Microsoft Access. Specifically, we'll discuss how to prevent the mouse scroll wheel from moving through records while you're in a notes field situated in the form footer.
Lindsay from Maplewood, Minnesota, one of our platinum members, brought up this concern. She has a continuous form for her customer list and added a notes field at the bottom where she can read the notes for each customer. The problem arises when she uses the scroll wheel within the notes field; it scrolls through the records in the continuous form as well. She asked if there's a way to stop this from happening.
To demonstrate, I'm using the TechHelp free template database, available for download on my website, along with a tutorial video explaining its setup. This template includes a customer list, but lacks a notes field in the footer. If you use the mouse scroll wheel, the records scroll up and down. Let me clarify, the scroll wheel is the small rotating mechanism between your mouse buttons, allowing you to scroll vertically.
Now, let's add a notes field to the customer form's footer. We'll copy the notes field from the existing customer form and paste it into the footer of our customer list form. These two forms are both based on the customer table, which ensures they are appropriately bound to the same data.
After placing the notes field in the footer and saving our form, you'll notice that clicking on a record shows the related notes in the footer. The issue emerges with the scroll wheel - scrolling in the notes field affects the record navigation in the continuous form, which is quite annoying.
Despite exhaustive online searches and trying various code snippets, I found no viable VBA solution. Some suggest using Windows API calls or other advanced programming techniques, but they often don't work consistently. There is an event in the form properties for the mouse wheel, but it hasn't resolved the problem.
If anyone can find a purely VBA solution without using ActiveX controls or external components, please share it in the comments. I even consulted ChatGPT, but its provided code was ineffective. As a workaround, I've implemented a solution that involves no programming: using a subform.
To demonstrate, we'll create a new customer form called CustomerNotesF containing only the notes field. Once it's designed, ensure it's bound to the customer table, so the field can display data correctly. After confirming the data appears as expected, we'll incorporate this form as a subform into our original customer list form.
It's essential to note Access will prompt you with a warning when embedding a subform in a continuous form. It's a standard alert which can be bypassed by resetting the form's default view properties back to continuous forms after inserting the subform. Once the subform is in place, remove any unnecessary labels, adjust the formatting, and ensure it's properly linked to the parent form by setting the link master and child fields to customer ID.
This setup ensures that scrolling inside the subform only affects the notes field, not the parent form records. You can further refine the appearance by disabling the subform's record selectors and navigation buttons and adjusting the scroll bars to improve usability.
To make further adjustments, such as automatically resizing the subform to fit perfectly within the main form, you can employ a few lines of VBA code. This enhancement will be covered in the extended cut for members.
So, there you have it - a practical solution to a common issue with continuous forms and scroll wheels in Access. For a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions, visit my website at the link below.
Live long and prosper, my friends.
Topic List
Scroll wheel issues in continuous forms
Adding a notes field to the footer
Copying fields between forms
Binding fields to the same table
Using a subform to isolate notes field
Access form properties for subforms
Setting form default view properties
Linking master and child fields in subforms
Disabling navigation buttons and record selectors
Resizing subforms with VBA code
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