'LastUpdated' fiedld be automatically updated

[djclntn]

Sorry, my title might be confusing with my question/thread. I believe to have posed this question once before, but was unsuccessful so want to revisit my query. With my Dealership database I have a Table & a Form with ALL of the Vehicle’s information. For now let’s focus on these fields, ‘DatePurchased’ & ‘SaleDate.” I have a field called, “LastUpdated” in which whenever I make any changes in a “Record” I manually tab over to the ‘LastUpdated’ field & change it to the current/today’s date. Is there any way that when I make any changes in any of a Record’s fields the ‘LastUpdated’ field automatically changes to the current/today’s date?
If this involves VBA Coding or using Macros I will need extensive help in writing them.
Thanks in Advance

[jzwp11]

Actually the code is very simple. On your form, add a control that is tied to the LastUpdated field. The name of the control should default to the name of the field. You can set the control's visible property to No so that your users do not see the the last updated date (and thus cannot change it). Now in the form's Before Update event, add the following code:

Me.LastUpdated = Now()

The me. is just a shorthand for the current form. The LastUpdated is the name of the control (which happens to be the same name as the field in the underlying table); of course, you can always give the control a name that is different from the field name.

[djclntn]

jzwp11, Thanks for responding to my thread. I knew that it was too good to be true. I followed your instructions, but the Date doesn't change when either I Click into a new record or hit the Refreash Button. One thing that confuses me, why is it a Before Update event rather than an After Update event?

[djclntn]

Wait, pardon me. you said add a "Control" what type of "Control" do I add?

[jzwp11]

You will want to add a textbox control to your form. That control needs to be tied to your lastupdated field (i.e. the control source must be the lastupdated field). I changed the visible property of that control to No to make it hidden. I played around with the form's after update event but it did not act as I thought it would so I opted for the before update event instead.

For an existing record, you have to change something for the before update event to be triggered, just clicking in a control will not do it. For new records, you have to complete the entry of the record.

[djclntn]

Yea, I added a text box, named it "LastUpdated," put in the Code in the Before Update event. Saved, closed, & opened up the Form, made a change in one of the Records, clicked into another Record & "LastUpdated" date didn't change. No luck...

[jzwp11]

Did you put the code in the before update event of the text box or the before update event of the form? It has to be in the before update event of the form.

[djclntn]

Hey, I got it! Now I need to write down all of the steps for future reference. Thanks a lot!!!!!

[jzwp11]

You're welcome. Glad you got it working.