Locate Custom Ribbon if it Exists

[isladogs]

Thanks for the answers everyone. I'm a bit confused by what is meant by global variables lose their value on unhandled errors.

I have a Public variable called gRibbon in a module. Does that make it a global variable? Not sure what goes on during unhandled errors, somewhere in application. Are we saying anywhere in the application code that an unhandled error occurs can cause any or all of the public variables to lose their value? Or are we talking about unhandled errors that specifically occur in code mentioning or using my public variable? I'm presuming that using On Error Resume Next does NOT cause an "unhandled error", right?

All this notwithstanding, does anyone have a clue how I can reinstantiate my gRibbon object? Maybe reinstantiate is the wrong word. The custom ribbon is still there, I just have no object variable that points to it (after the unhandled error or whatever occurs). The onRibbonLoad event only occurs once, right? And that is the event that actually knows about the ribbon, right? Any other way to "get" that custom ribbon object? If so, then I can "fix" the problem on-the-fly until I can discover why the variable is losing its value.

Thanks...

Global / public variables are essentially the same thing. These should only be declared in a standard/class module - not a form/report module.



Variables in forms/reports are specific to that object so should be Private. Use Dim to declare these

Agree with Micron's comments regarding On Error Resume Next. I also recommend avoiding its use in your apps.

[Micron]

Global / public variables are essentially the same thing. These should only be declared in a standard/class module - not a form/report module.

Not sure I agree with that statement. A variable declared at the top of the module is visible to the whole module whether you specifically declare it as Public or not. They probably should have kept a distinction between global and public so that a distinction between project and module scope could be better understood. Anyway, some M$ reading on the subject
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/off...ring-variables
wherein it states
Public variables can be used in any procedures in the project.

[DittoBird]

No problem
BTW - I had no problem working out what ISTR meant but CDMA defeated me....
BFN

Sorry, Colin, Comp.Databases.ms-access was (maybe still is?) a very big news group on the usenet system. There were a lot of folks who helped steer me in good directions and came to my rescue when I was asking about inadvisable things. I started using usenet in 1994 and kept up with it until the mid-2000s when web based forums seemed to take over.
--
Tim

[isladogs]

Not sure I agree with that statement. A variable declared at the top of the module is visible to the whole module whether you specifically declare it as Public or not. They probably should have kept a distinction between global and public so that a distinction between project and module scope could be better understood. Anyway, some M$ reading on the subject
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/off...ring-variables
wherein it states

Public variables can be used in any procedures in the project.

Perhaps my reply wasn't as clear as it should have been
I agree that a variable declared at the top of a module has scope for the entire module.
If declared as Public/Global in a standard module the scope is for the whole project.

If you try to define a Global variable in the declarations section of a form/report module, you will get an error:


However, Access won't object if you call it Public rather than Global! No idea why. In that sense, the two aren't 'essentially the same'

[isladogs]

Thanks Tim re meaning of CDMA. I never got into Usenet back in the 90s which may explain my ignorance of that acronym

[davegri]

If you try to define a Global variable in the declarations section of a form/report module, you will get an error:

Probably because the form/report module code is only available when the form/report is loaded, thus can't be 'global'.

[Micron]

@isladogs, that's why I don't agree with those who say global and public mean the same thing. It's only true if you use either word in very specific places. IMO scope is a bit difficult for the newbie.

[isladogs]

This is from an answer at Stackoverflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...0forms%20etc.)

Dim and Private work the same, though the common convention is to use Private at the module level, and Dim at the Sub/Function level. Public and Global are nearly identical in their function, however Global can only be used in standard modules, whereas Public can be used in all contexts (modules, classes, controls, forms etc.) Global comes from older versions of VB and was likely kept for backwards compatibility, but has been wholly superseded by Public.

[RMittelman]

Thanks again for all the answers. The replies clarifying global vs. public objects are interesting, and I've learned from them. However, they don't address how to restore the global/public variable gRibbon when it's been lost. Granted, this is happening during development, so certain errors are going to come up and maybe destroy the variable. This shouldn't happen in production if the application is coded properly.

If this does happen, the best thing is to either close and restart the database, or do a compact/repair, which will reload the ribbon and re-establish the global variable. I have a compact/repair button on my custom ribbon, and can instruct customers to use that. I can change the code snippets to pop a message box if gRibbon is nothing, and tell users to click the compact button.

All that being said, I was able to find this article which demonstrates a technique for saving and restoring the global variable:
https://www.utteraccess.com/topics/2002191

Thanks again...

[Micron]

Testing is when I lost my variable, which was a custom property of the db user. To make sure it never happened, each time I invoked dbUser.EmplId for example, I tested as in
If dbUser.EmplID = "" (or something like that) then I re-ran the Property Let and Property Get statements to reinstantiate it. Perhaps you'll have to do something similar. If you showed any code for this I don't recall seeing it so I don't know if a loaded ribbon is one of your db properties or what, but if if is, you could always test and then reset I suppose.

[shcsbaker]

RMittelman,
Any chance you have info on the utteraccess article?

Thanks,
Kevin

[RMittelman]

Sorry, I don't. Have to search for it. Don't remember details after several years.

[June7]

Utter Access is dead so thread will likely not be available anywhere.

[Welshgasman]

Utter Access is dead so thread will likely not be available anywhere.

If you do want to go searching, this would be a start.

[shcsbaker]

RMittelman - I was hoping you had found a solution to your original question. I did try using the wayback machine, but didn't have any luck. I was thinking about asking Gork or ChatGPT if it's possible to have a self-healing ribbon pointer, but I've learned the "bots" will tell you with certainty how to care for your unicorn, only to tell you 2 hours into the "conversation" unicorns don't exist.

I'm using vbWatchDog, but somewhere, somehow I have a few customers where the ribbon pointer gets reset to Nothing. Having a self-healing ribbon pointer would be very helpful.

Is a self-healing ribbon pointer an Access unicorn???