Adding Tabs to a form

Question

Adding Tabs to a form

Patrick Snyder 5

I got help from Dora-T getting two combo boxes to filter a subform. Below is the VBA to make it work.

Option Compare Database
Private Sub Combo5_AfterUpdate()
    Me.Combo10 = Null
    Me.Combo10.Requery
    RefreshSubform
End Sub
Private Sub Combo10_AfterUpdate()
    RefreshSubform
End Sub
Private Sub btnClear_Click()
    Me.Combo5 = Null
    Me.Combo10 = Null
    Me.Combo10.Requery
    RefreshSubform
End Sub
Private Sub RefreshSubform()
    Dim strSQL As String
    Dim strWhere As String
    strSQL = "SELECT * FROM Data"
    strWhere = ""
    If Not IsNull(Me.Combo5) Then
        strWhere = "[Cty] = '" & Me.Combo5 & "'"
    End If
    If Not IsNull(Me.Combo10) Then
        If strWhere <> "" Then strWhere = strWhere & " AND "
        'strWhere = strWhere & "[RFQ_num] = '" & Me.Combo10 & "'"
        strWhere = strWhere & "[Cust_ind_std] = '" & Me.Combo10 & "'"
    End If
    If strWhere <> "" Then
        strSQL = strSQL & " WHERE " & strWhere
    End If
    With Me.Country.Form
        .RecordSource = strSQL
        .Requery
    End With
End Sub

The combo boxs are located in the header of the form. What I want to do now is add a series of tabs within the form. Each tab will have the same layout, two combos and a subform but each tab will be sorting or filter for a different characteristic.

So, I've created tabs in the form, I've cut/pasted the subform into the 1st tab and the combo boxes are still in the header and everything still works. When I cut/paste the combo boxes from the header into the tab with the subform, this is when the combox boxes stop working.

How do I fix this?

George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-13T00:20:35.52+00:00

Can you be a little more detailed? What does it mean to say , "...the comboboxes stop working."

What does happen instead? An error? Wrong results? No results? Something else?
Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-13T12:21:52.89+00:00

George, nothing happens, no errors, nothing... hence it doesn't work.
George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-13T13:14:21.71+00:00

Thank you. That indicates the code is not being activated. As a confirmation step, please check to make sure that the relocated comboboxes still have their events. I've seen this happen. When you copy/paste a control from one section to another, Access does not necessarily include the VBA. Open the form in design view and check the property sheet. Look at the AfterUpdate events for the combo boxes. Do they still show [Event Procedure] in the property sheet? And can you click the ellipse to enter the VBE for those events?
Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-13T13:24:31.37+00:00

George, that's exactly what the issue was. I kept checking the VBA but neve thought that I had to recheck the event to see if that also copied over.

thanks.
George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-14T13:39:25.3233333+00:00

You might be surprised how many times that little "feature" in Access trips people up.
Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-16T16:26:10.78+00:00

George,

I was hoping to take what I learned from above and copy it to another tab but only change the first combo box but keep everything else the same.

What happens, when in design view, the first tab that works, the layout of the subform is there but on the second tab, the subform is blank, no layout. When I go to Form view, the subform looks correct but doesn't change when I use the combo boxes.

Any clues?
George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-16T17:38:48.58+00:00

From the description I would make sure the subform pasted into the second tab, not onto the underlying form. That is another gotcha when working with tabs and subforms.
Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-16T20:16:18.48+00:00

Yeah, I checked that and as far as I can tell, it does seem to be on the tab. when i switch from tabs, it does seem like it's on the tab.

Is the problem with the VBA coding? I didn't think I could use the same coding as the first tab since the combo boxes have different names. So, I copied/pasted the VBA from the 1st tab and pasted it below the VBA, then I updated the combo box names.
George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-17T21:22:56.2466667+00:00

We would have to have a sample accdb to analyze. Can you provide one?

Patrick Snyder 5

George,

The first VBA code listed below seems to work fine. When I work on the second tab, I just assumed that I can copy/paste the below and just change the names of the combo boxes, subform name and assume that it will work. The second snippet/code block is the VBA code for the second tab.

1st Tab VBA code:

Option Compare Database
Private Sub Combo5_AfterUpdate()
    Me.Combo10 = Null
    Me.Combo10.Requery
    RefreshSubform (Country)
End Sub
Private Sub Combo10_AfterUpdate()
    RefreshSubform (Country)
End Sub
Private Sub btnClear_Click()
    Me.Combo5 = Null
    Me.Combo10 = Null
    Me.Combo10.Requery
    RefreshSubform (Country)
End Sub
Private Sub RefreshSubformcountry()
    Dim strSQL As String
    Dim strWhere As String
    strSQL = "SELECT * FROM Data"
    strWhere = ""
    If Not IsNull(Me.Combo5) Then
        strWhere = "[Cty] = '" & Me.Combo5 & "'"
    End If
    If Not IsNull(Me.Combo10) Then
        If strWhere <> "" Then strWhere = strWhere & " AND "
        'strWhere = strWhere & "[RFQ_num] = '" & Me.Combo10 & "'"
        strWhere = strWhere & "[Cust_ind_std] = '" & Me.Combo10 & "'"
    End If
    If strWhere <> "" Then
        strSQL = strSQL & " WHERE " & strWhere
    End If
    With Me.Country.Form
        .RecordSource = strSQL
        .Requery
    End With
End Sub

2nd Tab VBA code:


Option Compare Database
Private Sub Combo32_AfterUpdate()
    Me.Combo34 = Null
    Me.Combo34.Requery
    RefreshSubform (Country2)
End Sub
Private Sub Combo34_AfterUpdate()
    RefreshSubform (Country2)
End Sub
Private Sub btnClear2_Click()
    Me.Combo32 = Null
    Me.Combo34 = Null
    Me.Combo34.Requery
    RefreshSubform (Country2)
End Sub
Private Sub RefreshSubform()
    Dim strSQL As String
    Dim strWhere As String
    strSQL = "SELECT * FROM Data"
    strWhere = ""
    If Not IsNull(Me.Combo32) Then
        strWhere = "[Cty] = '" & Me.Combo32 & "'"
    End If
    If Not IsNull(Me.Combo34) Then
        If strWhere <> "" Then strWhere = strWhere & " AND "
        'strWhere = strWhere & "[RFQ_num] = '" & Me.Combo34 & "'"
        strWhere = strWhere & "[Cust_ind_std] = '" & Me.Combo34 & "'"
    End If
    If strWhere <> "" Then
        strSQL = strSQL & " WHERE " & strWhere
    End If
    With Me.Country2.Form
        .RecordSource = strSQL
        .Requery
    End With
End Sub

With the above code is when I start running into issue. When i first open the form, I get a windon pop-up asking for me to "Enter Parameter Value. I've tried answer it or leaving blank to get the form to open, either choices doesn't seem to make a differences. When the form does open, if I click on any of the combo boxes, then I get the following error:

User's image

I hit ok, then the VBA highlights the following line in the code.

User's image

At this point when I have the both VBA codes listed, then both to the tabs do not work correctly. If I removed the 1st or 2nd VBA's (listed above) then the corresponding tab will work.

I've been trail and error different things and googling the errors but I'm sure that I am missing something pretty obvious.

Sorry I cannot easily share the file because it has private details that cannot be shared. I can try and remove a lot of the data (change names, numbers, etc.) but that's really time consuming for something that seems so easy.

Thanks,

Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-20T14:54:39.16+00:00

Hello George, or anyone else that has advice,

I got it to work, there was an issue with the VBA between the two different tabs. Not really sure what was causing the issue, just decided to delete all of the VBA code, start over with one tab and then copy over to the second tab. Now both tabs work correctly.

2 answers

Your answer

George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-13T00:20:35.52+00:00

Can you be a little more detailed? What does it mean to say , "...the comboboxes stop working."

What does happen instead? An error? Wrong results? No results? Something else?
Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-13T12:21:52.89+00:00

George, nothing happens, no errors, nothing... hence it doesn't work.
George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-13T13:14:21.71+00:00

Thank you. That indicates the code is not being activated. As a confirmation step, please check to make sure that the relocated comboboxes still have their events. I've seen this happen. When you copy/paste a control from one section to another, Access does not necessarily include the VBA. Open the form in design view and check the property sheet. Look at the AfterUpdate events for the combo boxes. Do they still show [Event Procedure] in the property sheet? And can you click the ellipse to enter the VBE for those events?
Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-13T13:24:31.37+00:00

George, that's exactly what the issue was. I kept checking the VBA but neve thought that I had to recheck the event to see if that also copied over.

thanks.
George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-14T13:39:25.3233333+00:00

You might be surprised how many times that little "feature" in Access trips people up.
Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-16T16:26:10.78+00:00

George,

I was hoping to take what I learned from above and copy it to another tab but only change the first combo box but keep everything else the same.

What happens, when in design view, the first tab that works, the layout of the subform is there but on the second tab, the subform is blank, no layout. When I go to Form view, the subform looks correct but doesn't change when I use the combo boxes.

Any clues?
George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-16T17:38:48.58+00:00

From the description I would make sure the subform pasted into the second tab, not onto the underlying form. That is another gotcha when working with tabs and subforms.
Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-16T20:16:18.48+00:00

Yeah, I checked that and as far as I can tell, it does seem to be on the tab. when i switch from tabs, it does seem like it's on the tab.

Is the problem with the VBA coding? I didn't think I could use the same coding as the first tab since the combo boxes have different names. So, I copied/pasted the VBA from the 1st tab and pasted it below the VBA, then I updated the combo box names.
George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-17T21:22:56.2466667+00:00

We would have to have a sample accdb to analyze. Can you provide one?
Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-20T14:54:39.16+00:00

Hello George, or anyone else that has advice,

I got it to work, there was an issue with the VBA between the two different tabs. Not really sure what was causing the issue, just decided to delete all of the VBA code, start over with one tab and then copy over to the second tab. Now both tabs work correctly.

Answer 1

Anonymous

Hi Patrick Snyder

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A Forum and for sharing your experience.
Before recommending any additional changes, I’d like to take a bit more time to continue testing and validating this behavior, particularly the difference you’re seeing when the combo boxes are moved from the form header into a tab page. This helps ensure that any guidance provided is accurate and avoids unnecessary troubleshooting or confusion.

If possible, could you share a simplified sample database that reproduces the issue with the tab control, combo boxes, and subform? Having a working example will help me better understand how the controls are laid out and continue testing the behavior more precisely.

Because this is a public forum, I recommend not posting files or screenshots that contain personal or organizational information. To help protect your data, please send any supporting documents or screenshots via Private Message instead.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Patrick Snyder 5 Reputation points

2026-02-13T12:27:48.35+00:00

Flora, yeah, I am not able to share the database and it's gotten too large to chop up and only share the part that doesn't work, this is why I provided a copy of the VBA that seems to make the combo boxes work.

I've tried some trial/error yesterday. I can keep the combo boxes in the header and move the subform to the tab and it works. I can change the tab to a different tab and it's blank so I know that I moved the subform to the correct tab. I've moved the combo boxes from the header to the detail section (or the tab) of the form and the combo boxes stop working. It just seems that when I move the combo boxes from the header, they stop working. It baffles me because I cannot see or understand where or how the combo boxes are tied to the header.

Answer 2

When you move the combo boxes from the header of the form to a tab control, you need to ensure that the references to the combo boxes in your VBA code are updated accordingly. Here are some steps to help you fix the issue:

Update References in VBA: When the combo boxes are moved to a tab, they are no longer directly accessible from the form. You need to reference them through the tab control. For example, if your tab control is named TabControl1 and the combo boxes are named Combo5 and Combo10, you would reference them like this:
```
   Me.TabControl1.Controls!Combo5
   Me.TabControl1.Controls!Combo10
```
Update all instances in your VBA code where you reference Combo5 and Combo10 to include the tab control.
Ensure Tab Control is Active: Make sure that the correct tab is active when you are trying to access the combo boxes. If the tab is not active, the controls may not behave as expected.
Requery the Combo Boxes: After moving the combo boxes, ensure that they are requeried properly. You can do this in the AfterUpdate event of the combo boxes to refresh the data based on the selected values.
Test Functionality: After making these changes, test the functionality of the combo boxes to ensure they are filtering the subform as intended.

By following these steps, you should be able to get the combo boxes working correctly within the tab control of your form.

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Adding Tabs to a form

2 answers

Your answer