ACC2000: How to Distinguish Between Group Filter Controls and Dropdown List Controls on Data Access Pages (202368)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Access 2000
This article was previously published under Q202368
Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

This article applies to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb) and to a Microsoft Access project (.adp).

SUMMARY

When you look at a group filter control and a dropdown list control on a data access page, you cannot tell which control type is which by simply looking at the control. To determine whether a control is a group filter control or a dropdown list control, do one of the following:
  1. Examine the Title property of the control.
  2. Examine the Sorting and Grouping dialog box for the page.
  3. Examine the HTML tag for the control.

MORE INFORMATION

Method 1: Examine the Title Property

To determine whether a control is a group filter control or a dropdown list control, look at the Title property of the control. By default, a dropdown list control almost always has the title of DropDownList(x) when it is created. The only time that this is not true is when a control is originally created as a group filter control. When a second group filter control is added to a section, the original group filter control is "demoted" to a dropdown list box. This "demoted" control will not have a title of DropDownList(x) by default.

Method 2: Examine the Sorting and Grouping Dialog Box

Each section of a data access page can have a single group filter control. In order to determine which control in that section is a group filter control, examine the Sorting and Grouping dialog box. To do so:
  1. On the View menu, click Sorting and Grouping.
  2. Select the Group Record Source or section for which you want to determine the group filter control.

    The name of the control that is specified in the Group Filter Control property is the group filter control for that section.

Method 3: Examine the HTML Tag Attributes

The Select tag that you use to create a dropdown list control and the Select tag that you use to create a group filter control are similar. The only difference is that to create a group filter control, the Select tag uses an OPTION tag.

The following is an example of the HTML source code that creates a group filter control. Note that this code has an OPTION tag. 
<SELECT id=City 
style="HEIGHT: 0.187in; LEFT: 2.708in; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 0.416in; WIDTH: 1in" 
tabIndex=13 title=City><OPTION selected></OPTION></SELECT>
The following is an example of the HTML source code that creates a dropdown list control. Note that this code does not have an OPTION tag. 
<SELECT id="company name" 
style="HEIGHT: 0.208in; LEFT: 3.833in; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 1in; WIDTH: 1in" 
tabIndex=7 title=DropdownList0></SELECT>
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:7/31/2001
Keywords:kbDAP kbhowto KB202368
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