ACC2000: Unexpected Pointer Behavior in Text Box with Input Mask (209075)

Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.

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

SYMPTOMS

When you click in a text box that has a defined InputMask property, the insertion point remains where it was in the text box when you clicked the mouse button instead of moving to the beginning of the text box. This behavior occurs whether there is data in the text box or not.

RESOLUTION

Press F2 to place the insertion point at the beginning of the text box, or use the TAB key to navigate to the text box instead of clicking in the text box.

MORE INFORMATION

An input mask uses predefined placeholders in the text box. If you press TAB or ENTER to move to the text box, the insertion point is placed at the beginning of the input mask. If you enter the text box by clicking in it, the insertion point remains where it was when you clicked the mouse button.

You can make the insertion point move to the beginning of the text box automatically by creating a macro with the following action and calling it from the text box's On Click property:

   Action     Action Arguments
   ----------------------------------------
   SendKeys   Keystrokes: {F2}
              Wait: No

REFERENCES

For more information about macro basics, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type macros: what they are and how they work in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topics returned.