On Sun, 3 Jun 2007 09:42:06 +0100, "Baz"
wrote:

Hang on, you want to use unbound forms and yet you are trying to use
data-bound controls? Sounds like a contradiction to me. Data-bound

I can see why. However, I was/am looking at alternatives to the way I
have been doing things.

controls in Windows forms are indeed clumsy and cumbersome compared to
Access, and if that's what you want stick to Access. The datagrid is
absolutely hopeless when you compare it to what you can do in Access using
linked subforms and continuous forms.


Bound forms (and reports) are the ONLY benefit of Access. In particular,
Access' two most wonderful features are linked subforms and continuous
forms, both of which go out of the window when you use unbound forms. This
is NOT a criticism of Access, on the contrary, I would rarely use anything
but Access for database applications because nothing else even comes close
to it.

However, if I wanted to build something that consisted of all or mostly
unbound forms then I would even use VB.Net in preference to Access. In
order to achieve it's wonderful bound-forms capabilities Access comes with
all sorts of overheads, and if you don't want bound forms then you don't
need the overheads, as simple as that. If you want an analogy, building
lots of unbound forms in Access is like buying a 4x4 (or an SUV, if you
prefer) and never taking it out of the city. It works, but at a cost which
you don't need to incur.

How do unbound forms make validation easier? In a bound form you just stick
all your validation in the form's BeforeUpdate event procedure and you're
done. Undoing an edit? Press the Esc key (or click Undo on the menu).
Reversing the addition of a new record? Delete it. How else would you do

That won't work with subforms, and with multiple subforms the coding
to deal with all the various errors a user could make in any of
multiple fields which will cause the record to save is extremely
difficult, time consuming and gives a less satisfying result than
unbound forms. I do admit to a fondness for unbound forms in general,
as I have found it is easier to create idiot proof forms that way.

it? If you add a record through a bound form or an unbound form you still
need to delete it if it's a mistake. With a bound form you can do these
things without having to write a line of code, with unbound forms you have
to program all of these functions. How is that easier?
You are using unbound subforms? How, exactly?

In Access, local temporary tables. With ADP it can get tricky.
Sometimes SQL temp tables, sometimes permanent tables that simply hold
the subform info on a temporary basis until it gets saved, or a
combination of both.

I appreciate your other comments and thoughts.

Peter