Automatically Import Modules or Forms into an Access 2016 Database when Running

[RMittelman]

Thanks to everybody who has helped me on this project.



I figured out why I couldn't Dim an object as my class types. They were all declared in the reference DB with Instancing set to Private. For some reason, clsInfo was set to Public Not Creatable.

So I set all classes in the reference DB to Public Not Creatable. I already had a Create function for each class, but instead I changed to a single class factory function:

Public Function CreateClass(className As String) As Object

    Dim myClass As Object
    
    Select Case className
        Case "clsChilkat"
            Set myClass = New clsChilkat
        Case "clsExcel"
            Set myClass = New clsExcel
        Case "clsFileDialog"
            Set myClass = New clsFileDialog
        Case "clsInfo"
            Set myClass = New clsInfo
        Case "clsOutlook"
            Set myClass = New clsOutlook
    End Select
    Set CreateClass = myClass
    Set myClass = Nothing


End Function

I was also having issues with public enumerations in my classes not being "seen" by the client DB. Making the classes Public Not Creatable solved this as well.

Once again, thanks for all of the input. I will keep checking this thread for any comments or updates.

[RMittelman]

Everything is working fine, except for some odd UI issues.

I have a custom MsgBox function which lets me use custom button labels among other things.
It uses a generic pop-up form which is named frmPopup. The form already has all the controls I need for this functionality. They are not displayed correctly at design-time, but part of the code of loading this form moves and resizes controls so that when it's finally displayed everything looks similar to a standard message box.

This form and its code resides in my new AccessCommonCode reference project.

When I use this form, it causes my screen to flicker and switch modes rapidly 3 or 4 times before the form is displayed.
It happens very fast, but if I watch carefully, I can see the ribbon active menu switch back and forth between the normal "Home" menu and the "Form Design" menu. Also I see the properties pane on the right appear and disappear rapidly.

I put Application.Echo False and Application.Echo True around the code that calls this custom MsgBox function. I also tried putting those commands around the actual code inside the reference DB. None of this works.

This never happened before I moved my utility functions into the reference DB.

Now I'm thinking that maybe the Application.Echo command doesn't work in the reference project. Just like I need to switch CurrentDb to CodeDb when I am executing code in the reference project, is there a different object I need to use instead of the Application object inside of my code in the reference DB?

Thanks...

[CJ_London]

try opening the form hidden, move your controls around then make it visible - works for me

but just noticed you say

I can see the ribbon active menu switch back and forth between the normal "Home" menu and the "Form Design" menu

Sounds like you are putting the form into design view to move the controls? There is no need to do that

the other thing you can try instead of application.echo is turn form painting off, rather than the whole application

code is

me.painting=true/false

[RMittelman]

try opening the form hidden, move your controls around then make it visible - works for me

but just noticed you say



Sounds like you are putting the form into design view to move the controls? There is no need to do that

the other thing you can try instead of application.echo is turn form painting off, rather than the whole application

code is

me.painting=true/false

Thanks CJ_London for the reply. I am opening the form as dialog, read-only with arguments in a string. In the form_load event, I size & position the controls. Nowhere do I put it in design mode. It's unclear why this is happening.

[CJ_London]

No idea then -,So did you try the painting property?

[RMittelman]

No idea then -,So did you try the painting property?

So strange. I've been using this enhanced MsgBox for months, with no problems. It must be related to it having been moved to my reference DB.
I use the form, frmPopup, for 2 different purposes. One is the enhanced MsgBox, the other is a simple font picker. In both cases, all the controls are there on the form already. My code simply moves and sizes the controls and makes the required controls visible. I'm getting no issues at all when I open the form as a font picker. Only when opening it as a MsgBox.

Yes, I did try turning off painting, and that didn't do anything. Thanks anyway...

[RMittelman]

For the time being, I'm not using the extended MsgBox functionality on the most flickering usage.

If anybody has any idea why this happens when this particular form is being manipulated, please help. This is not normal flickering, the Access window is flashing and the menu keeps cycling between the normal menu and the Form Design menu.

Now there is a new issue.
I have a utility function which I've moved to the reference database. It is designed to display either a message or progress on the Status Bar. Here is the code:

Public Enum StatusBarTypeEnum
    sbtNone = 0
    sbtClearStatus = 1
    sbtClearProgress = 2
    sbtInitProgress = 3
    sbtShowStatus = 4
    sbtShowProgress = 5
End Enum


Public Enum AcSysCmdAction
    acSysCmdInitMeter = 1
    acSysCmdUpdateMeter = 2
    acSysCmdRemoveMeter = 3
    acSysCmdSetStatus = 4
    acSysCmdClearStatus = 5
End Enum

Public Sub ShowStatusBar(action As StatusBarTypeEnum, Optional Message As String = "", Optional Value As Integer = 0, _
                         Optional pauseSeconds As Single = 0, Optional playBeep As Boolean = False)


    Dim result      As Variant
    
    If playBeep Then Beep
    
    If action = sbtNone Then
        result = SysCmd(acSysCmdRemoveMeter)
        result = SysCmd(acSysCmdClearStatus)
    ElseIf action = sbtClearProgress Then
        result = SysCmd(acSysCmdRemoveMeter)
    ElseIf action = sbtClearStatus Then
        result = SysCmd(acSysCmdClearStatus)
    ElseIf action = sbtInitProgress Then
        result = SysCmd(acSysCmdInitMeter, Message, Value)
    ElseIf action = sbtShowStatus Then
        result = SysCmd(acSysCmdSetStatus, Message)
    ElseIf action = sbtShowProgress Then
        result = SysCmd(acSysCmdUpdateMeter, Value)
    End If
    DoEvents
    If pauseSeconds > 0 Then Pause pauseSeconds

End Sub

Here is how I use this in my code:

        ShowStatusBar sbtInitProgress, "Creating emails...", 100, 2
        recs = rs.RecordCount
        rec = 0

         ' start my code loop here...

        ' do some code in the loop

            rec = rec + 1
            pct = recs \ rec
        ShowStatusBar sbtShowProgress, , pct

        '  Next statement here...

        '  After end of loop, clear the status area
        ShowStatusBar sbtNone

This has always worked for me, but now it's not. I'm wondering why running this code from the reference project is messing this up.
Maybe SysCmd works in the current (main) DB, but not from the reference DB?

Thanks...