Putting command button in front of Subform

[Miles R]

I have a Subform which is a Continuous Form on my main application form. This form is for reference purposes and is not interactable with.
I want to put a transparent Command Button in front of it so that I can click on the Command Button rather than the SubForm.
However, the SubForm always seems to be On Top even when I send it to the back. Is this by design that Subforms are always on top?

The problem with the Subform is that I can set a click event on the detail but it only seems to react when I click the top row (i.e. current row) of the form.
I need it to trigger a click event when I click anywhere in the Subform. Might have to use some sort of MouseDown event when inside the perimeter of the Subform.

[Micron]

I want to put a transparent Command Button in front of it

So the button is not on the subform? Pretty sure the subform would be higher in the z order than the button if the button isn't on the subform. Clicking on a subform detail section and not a record works for me though.

[June7]

As far as I can tell, the only control that can set on top of a subform container is another subform container.

Could set form AllowAdditions, AllowDeletions, AllowEdits, AllowFilter properties to No then have button in form header section.

[mike60smart]

What do you want to happen when you click the Command Button?

[Miles R]

I want to open another form.

[mike60smart]

Well all you need to do is create a Command Button in the Header of the Subform

Then in the Onclick event put:-

DoCmd.OpenForm "frmName"

[Miles R]

No, the button is on the Main Form overlaying the Subform - except it is not - it is behind it which is not what I want. You are probably right about the z order, but that does not solve my problem.
I have more or less got round some of it by adding click events to the Subform Header, Detail and labels in the header.
So it more or less works but not to my exacting standards. I want a Hand to appear on the form when hovering over the subform - which I could do with a button, but not on most of the subform click events.
Much as I love Access, I always seem to be having to invent clever work arounds for things that ought to be easy.

[Miles R]

Yes that would work for the header, but can I put a command button covering all of the Detail section - remembering that this is a continuous form?
I'll try that later.
Thanks for the tip.

[Micron]

Put the button on the main form? Use click or double click event on subform detail section (but not sure what "This form is for reference purposes and is not interactable with" means) - so disable form controls if need be?

EDIT - wish this forum would notify us when there are new posts during a response post...

Consider posting a db with your form and just enough to make it work. Who knows what anyone might come up with?

[Miles R]

Mike, just tried putting a command button on the header, but can't get it to respond to a click event. Can't figure out why not.
Strangely, if I put a label covering the entire header, it will respond to a click event.
Not sure what is going on here!

[mike60smart]

Hi

Can you upload a zipped copy of the Database?

[Miles R]

Further info. Just opened the sub-form directly and the command button in the header works perfectly.
However, it does not work when clicking on the command button when it is a sub-form in my main form.
Something must be disabling that function. Probably have to find another work around.

p.s. Saw the Good Reading link, but having spend 20 years as a professional database programmer (Ingres, with C and Unix), I might give that a miss.
Just do hobby Access programming now, to keep my hand in (as well as c# Chess programming).

[Welshgasman]

Put a breakpoint on first line of executable code and step through it.

[Miles R]

Ok, found what was wrong with the Command Button not responding from the main form. I had the sub-form set to Disabled.
What confused me was that Clicks on labels on the sub-form did work even though the sub-form was disabled.

I think I will mark this thread as solved, and thanks to all those who have replied.

It is still a work around though, as what I really wanted was to have one Command Button on the main form overlaying the sub-form, but it seems you cannot overlay a sub-form with a command button (or anything else I think).
Now I have two transparent buttons on the sub-form, one covering the header section and one covering the detail section. So, I can now respond to clicks anywhere on the sub-form.

Searching the internet, I see that someone else had this very same problem back in 2010.

[June7]

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