Various ways to change UnBound text in multi-purpose form

[ScubaBart]

After some delays, hurricane related rain is letting me work inside today on the Apiary project.



So, I have a form or two that are multi-purpose. They are used to accomplish different tasks depending on the chosen command. With that, several text elements within the form will change depending on what the specific task is. Some text is simple like the form Title. Others are more specific and may include compounding the table field value in the text. Easy enough.

I have implemented two different approaches to this in other forms but am considering going back and adjusting to using the same method across the board.

One is to make multiple controls and labels and control the visibility of them through the VBA code that opens the form.

Two is to make just one control or label for each requirement and change the Value or Caption as required in the VBA code that opens the form.

I strongly suspect there are additional options that I am not familiar with, and some may be more efficient if I knew what they are.


So, the question is, what is the common method that is used for this condition ? If there is an alternate approach that's not super complicated, I can certainly entertain that but keep in mind, my coding is at a very beginning level.


Curious to see what the preferred approach is.

[June7]

I have used visibility to limit user input to a data control that should not get input until another control first has input.

Otherwise, I have used approach to change Caption of buttons and labels or ControlSource of data controls.

I can't think of other options.

[Micron]

If you need code, it makes more sense to me to have one of each control and use something in the form source or property (e.g.OpenArgs) to set properties such as label captions if that's what you're asking about. It seems that code to control those properties is no harder than code to control visibility; the difference being less design work up front.

[Rickwave]

For changing unbound text in a multi-purpose form, the most common method is to use a single control and dynamically update its value or caption based on user input or selected commands. This approach simplifies your form design and reduces the need for multiple visibility settings, making it easier to maintain as you develop your coding skills.

[ScubaBart]

So primarily going with minimal controls and changing the value or caption as needed. There are a few cases where it makes more sense to control visibility when a given control simply isn't needed but otherwise, I have a general common approach now so am going with that.

Thanks for the input.