Search for subform record based on text box

carmens 6 Reputation points
2022-12-12T18:31:50.943+00:00

I am trying to bring up a form record based on text entered in a text box.

The form "Furnace + Header Data Form" is a parent form, with 2 subforms called "Header Data Form" and "Surrogate Data Form". This question is in relation to the "Header Data Form" subform.
The parent form is used to enter data on different furnace runs, which is connected to the table "Furnace Run Data". Each furnace run will have several headers in it, and each header has a serial number. I added a subform called "Header Data Form", which will allow the user to enter information specific to each header serial number. Data that is entered into the "Header Data Form" subform adds data to the "Header Data" table and is connected to the furnace data table via the Furnace Run ID. The Furnace Run ID is on both the parent form and as an invisible field on the Header Data subform. All fields on the Header Data Form are connected to the Header Data Table.

As a side note, there is a button within this subform to add a new record. Once the button is clicked, a new record with the furnace data and header data is saved and the header data subform is cleared. When you enter more data into the header data form and click the add button, another line (with the same Furnace Run ID) will be added to the header data table. No data is added to the furnace table. This all works great. There are multiple records in the Header Data table for each Furnace Run ID.

Initially, I was trying to find the record based on a text field named "Header SN Field" on the subform named "Header Data Form". This text field is connected to the "Header SN" Field from the "Header Data" table. Upon clicking the search button (on the Header Data subform), I wanted to use the text typed into the Header SN Field to search for the previous record in the Header Data table that has Header SN (field in Header Data table) = Header SN Field (field in form where user enters text). I could get this to run with no errors, but I kept getting the message saying that no matching record was found, even though there definitely is an existing record with the matching Header SN. My code for this is below.

Private Sub Search_SN_Button_Click()
If ([Header SN Placeholder] & vbNullString) = vbNullString Then Exit Sub
Dim strCriteria As String
Dim rs As DAO.Recordset 

Set rs = Me.RecordsetClone  
  
strCriteria = "[Header SN]='" & Me.[Header SN Field] & "'"  
  
rs.FindFirst strCriteria  
  
If rs.NoMatch Then  
    MsgBox "Sorry, no such record '" & [Header SN Field] & "' was found.", _  
           vbOKOnly + vbInformation  
Else  
    Me.Bookmark = rs.Bookmark  
End If  
rs.Close  
txtGoTo = Null

End Sub

After searching a bit, I thought the solution might be to have a text box and search button on the main form instead. The text box on the main form is called "HeaderSN". I am still getting the message that there is no existing record that matches. My code for this is below.
Private Sub Search_Header_SN_Record_Click()
If (HeaderSN & vbNullString) = vbNullString Then Exit Sub
Dim strCriteria As String
Dim rs As DAO.Recordset 

Set rs = Me.[Header Data Form].Form.RecordsetClone  
  
strCriteria = "Header SN = '" & Me.HeaderSN & "'"  
  
rs.FindFirst strCriteria  
  
If rs.NoMatch Then  
    MsgBox "Sorry, no such record '" & [HeaderSN] & "' was found.", _  
           vbOKOnly + vbInformation  
Else  
    Me.[Header Data Form].Form.Bookmark = rs.Bookmark  
End If  
rs.Close  
txtGoTo = Null

End Sub

Can someone please help me with this? I have tried a million different ways to do this and have been searching for days on different forums but I can't figure it out.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | Development
Developer technologies | Visual Basic for Applications

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31 answers

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  1. Ken Sheridan 3,581 Reputation points
    2022-12-20T13:20:59.673+00:00

    The only obvious problem I can see with your latest code is that there is inconstancy with regard to the data type of the Header SN column. In the command button's Click event procedure it is treated as a text data type and wrapped in single quote characters. In the subform's Current event procedure it is treated as a number data type and not delimited with quote characters:

    .RecordsetClone.FindFirst "[Header SN] = " & Me.[Header SN Placeholder]

    As you are already filtering the subform, however, the code in the Current event procedure is not necessary and can be deleted. In my demo the code in the Current event procedure is used in the example where the subform is not filtered.

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  2. Ken Sheridan 3,581 Reputation points
    2022-12-19T22:20:36.457+00:00

    You'll find the Name property of the subform control on the Other tab of its properties sheet.

    Both examples in my demo use a control on the parent form. The difference is that the second filters the subform as well as the parent form, while the first navigates to the matching record in the subform.

    If you wanted to change it to use an unbound control in the subform then the code would in essence be the same, but each reference to the form in the combo box's After Update event procedure would be changed to a reference to Me.Parent, and in the code in the subform's Current event procedure would be changed to reference to Me. The Me keyword actually returns a reference to the current instance of the class in which the code is executing, but think of it as a shorthand way of refereeing to the current form or subform.

    One other point I'd mention is that trying to use the same control as a bound control and a navigational control, as you mentioned earlier, is not a good idea. For a navigational control use an unbound control. You can synchronize this with the current record in the form's Current event procedure. The first option in my FindRecord demo does this. So you could omit the corresponding bound control(s), but you'd then have to include a mechanism to insert a value when entering a new record in the form.

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  3. Ken Sheridan 3,581 Reputation points
    2022-12-19T21:30:34.157+00:00

    Is Header Data Form the name of the subform control, or of the control's source object? Note that both might or might not have the same name. It should be the name of the subform control in the parent form's Controls collection.

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  4. Ken Sheridan 3,581 Reputation points
    2022-12-19T19:17:02.977+00:00

    To return a reference to the subform in its own module use the Me keyword. To reference the parent form in the subform's module use Me.Parent.

    What do you mean by synchronizing the clone's bookmark with the parent form's bookmark? Can you give an example?

    I already did in one of my earlier replies:

    If Not IsNull(Me.cboLastname) Then
    With Me.fsubContacts.Form
    .RecordsetClone.FindFirst "ContactID = " & Me.cboLastname
    If Not .RecordsetClone.NoMatch Then
    .Bookmark = .RecordsetClone.Bookmark
    End If
    End With
    End If

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  5. Ken Sheridan 3,581 Reputation points
    2022-12-19T18:31:41.963+00:00

    Before you can call the FindFirst method of the subform's recordset clone you need to navigate to the correct record in the parent form. This will reload the subform's recordset with the rows which reference the then current row in the parent form. Until you do that the subform's recordset will be restricted to those rows which match the now current row in the parent form, which is unlikely to be the correct row.

    In my demo the parent form is filtered to the row or rows whose primary key value is the value of the relevant foreign key in the subform's table where the value of the sought column matches that entered in the unbound control in the parent form. This is done by means of the IN operator and a subquery built in the code in the unbound control's AfterUpdate event procedure. Rather than filtering the subform the FindFist method could be called if you are seeking a value which references only one row in the parent form's recordset..

    In my case the FindFirst method is then called in the subform's Current event procedure, but if you wish to call it by means of a button in the subform you can do, but to move the parent form to the relevant record first you'd need to reference the parent form by means of the Parent property of the subform, and find relevant record in that recordset's clone before synchronizing the clone's bookmark with the parent form's bookmark. Then you can call the FindFirst method of the subform's recordset's clone, and synchronize the bookmarks to move to the relevant row in the subform.

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