Access Cookbook

Create a Generic, Reusable Status Meter

Problem

Access allows you to control the built-in status meter using the SysCmd function, but you have no control over the location or appearance of this status meter. How do you create a status meter that you can control?

Solution

You can create a status meter based on an Access form and control it using VBA routines. The status meter is composed of a Rectangle control and a Label control. By updating the Width property of the rectangle, you can control the meter’s progress. Additionally, by updating the Caption property of the label, you can insert messages such as “50% complete”. All the internal workings of the control can be encapsulated (hidden) inside the form using Let and Get property procedures and a global wrapper function.

For an example of a programmatically controlled status bar, open and run frmTestStatusMeter from 09-10.MDB (see Figure 9-32). To start the status meter, click the Start button and frmStatusMeter will pop up. If you want the status meter to include a Cancel button, check the Include Cancel button checkbox before clicking the Start button. The status meter will slowly advance to 100% and then close. If you’ve included a Cancel button, you can click on it at any time to immediately close the status meter and notify the calling form (frmTestStatusMeter) that the cancel has been requested.

Figure 9-32. The frmStatusMeter ...