text box shows time frozen intermitantly

[trevor40]

Hi, I have a text box set to display the current time, hh:mm:ss
this is updated on the timer event for the form every 500ms
for some reason it will stop ticking over, while the rest of the form and all other actions are working fine.
Any ideas ?

Private Sub Form_Open(Cancel As Integer)
DoCmd.Maximize
Application.CommandBars.ActiveMenuBar.Enabled = False
Application.RefreshTitleBar
fActivateControlBox (False)
Forms![main menu]![barcode] = DLookup("[barcode]", "[Employees]", "[first name] = Forms![main menu]![employees at work]![first name]")
Forms![main menu]![pass] = DLookup("[password]", "[Employees]", "[first name] = Forms![main menu]![employees at work]![first name]")
Forms![main menu]![employees at work].Form.Requery
End Sub
Private Sub Form_Timer()
Me.[display time] = Now()
End Sub

[orange]

I think you have to set a timerInterval. I don't see that in your code.

see this M$oft link

[trevor40]

the timer interval is set to 500ms, thats done in the form properties .

FROM ABOVE !
Private Sub Form_Timer()
Me.[display time] = Now()
End Sub

[orange]

I just watched this youtube video, then set up a textbox on a form as suggested, and all is well, time is displaying live.

[trevor40]

yep thats what i have done, i do have a lot of other code that navigates away from the main menu to get employee password form, then update employee details form, after this it returns to the main menu. most of the time it's ok, but about 2-3 times a week it will just stop. very intermitant...

[trevor40]

what i'm going to try is to put more code in the timer event and watch and see what it does if the timer does lock up...

[orange]

Sounds like a plan. Good luck.

Please post a solution or the conditions causing the freeze -I'm sure others will benefit.

[trevor40]

i have added a simple text box to the form, me.Text1234

in the timer event i have added

if me.text1234.backcolor = vbred then
me.text1234.backcolor = vbblue
else
me.text1234.backcolor = vbred
end if

now i'll wait to see if that stops changing color when the time stops, and go from there...

[trevor40]

Well, that didn't work. when the clock stoped so did the little colored text box stoped blinking red/blue. but the pc also has crahsed, so i'll first see if that the cause and then come back to the timer event problem.

[Missinglinq]

...i do have a lot of other code that navigates away from the main menu to get employee password form, then update employee details form, after this it returns to the main menu. most of the time it's ok, but about 2-3 times a week it will just stop...

That, I suspect, is the culprit, here! Having a timer event set on one Form has long been known to cause erratic behavior when moving between Forms, with 'erratic' being the key word! The behavior can be experienced on the Form holding the time display, as you're seeing, or on other open Forms, with the timer event causing problems in code on the other Forms preventing proper execution.

I've used this kind of thing for ages, without every seeing this kind of behavior, but I never go roaming between multiple Forms while it is running.

There's always the possibility that the Textbox Control is corrupted; they can and do become corrupted. The test and fix for this is the same...delete the Control then recreate it.

The only other thought I have would be to 'goose' the Control by use the Form's OnActivate event to re-assign the value to [display time] Control.

Linq ;0)>

[trevor40]

well, resetting the timer value to 0 on lost focus and to 500 on got focus didn't work, my next test will be to disable/enable the timer event, i will also put the timer value on screen to see what happens with it.

If all else fails i will be putting an arrow in place of the timer. it will point to the clock on the wall !

[trevor40]

we now have an arrow pointing to the wall clock. that works!
the only thing i didnt try is to set the timer value before closing the other forms and returning to the main menu.
perhaps another day.