Need Flexgrid Guru

I'm working on an application where FlexGrid might be helpful, but even with
msflxgrd.ocx installed and registered I still get the licensing issues
message. I've asked our IT people to work through that, but in the meantime:

What I need to do if possible is emulate Excel in a form to some extent to
get around the page width limits. The data I need to display in the form
involves, at a minimum, monthly values going out 36 months, plus a couple
additional columns, so there's no way I can squeeze it all into the available
22" of form width. Will a FlexGrid solve this for me by giving me a
horizontal scroll capability? If FlexGrid isn't the solution, is there
another way to do what I need?

I'm also looking at the simple Spreadsheet 11.0 control, where I don't have
any licensing issues. It has the scrolling capability that would solve my
most urgent need, but if there's a way to populate it from a query or table
rather than having to link to an actual Excel workbook, I haven't figured it
out yet.

"LarryP" wrote:

I'm working on an application where FlexGrid might be helpful, but even with
msflxgrd.ocx installed and registered I still get the licensing issues
message. I've asked our IT people to work through that, but in the meantime:

What I need to do if possible is emulate Excel in a form to some extent to
get around the page width limits. The data I need to display in the form
involves, at a minimum, monthly values going out 36 months, plus a couple
additional columns, so there's no way I can squeeze it all into the available
22" of form width. Will a FlexGrid solve this for me by giving me a
horizontal scroll capability? If FlexGrid isn't the solution, is there
another way to do what I need?

Larry,

Yes, you can certainly have horizontal scrolling in a Flex Grid. Have
a look at my demo Flex Grid program at :-
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/f...3b 1d2zcccfb4
for some examples.

Regarding the license issue you have a few options.

1. You could purchase Visual Studio 6 from Microsoft. This includes
Visual Basic 6, Visual C++ 6, Visual Fox Pro 6, Visual J++ 6, etc. The
Flex Grid control comes with this software and you automatically get
the license to use it included. If you intend to use the Flex Grid
control a lot (and I have used it in dozens of projects) then this may
be your best bet. Perhaps you can find a cheap copy on ebay, (you may
be able to get it by just purchasing VB6 but I'm not sure if the Flex
Grid license comes with that version).

2. If money is no object, there are other Flex Grid controls available
from other software houses. They are more comprehensive than the MS
version but they are also fairly expensive. I have not tried them
myself but have a look at the VS Flex Grid Pro control at :-
http://www.componentsource.com/produ...index-gbp.html

3. For a one-off project you can just import one of the forms with a
Flex Grid control from the demo program and then change the properties
and VBA code to suit your project.

4. You can download the free Visual Basic Express edition from
Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/express/vb/
which I believe includes the Flex Grid license (although I have not
confirmed that).

HTH

Peter Hibbs.

On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 08:17:02 -0700, LarryP
wrote:

I'm working on an application where FlexGrid might be helpful, but even with
msflxgrd.ocx installed and registered I still get the licensing issues
message. I've asked our IT people to work through that, but in the meantime:

What I need to do if possible is emulate Excel in a form to some extent to
get around the page width limits. The data I need to display in the form
involves, at a minimum, monthly values going out 36 months, plus a couple
additional columns, so there's no way I can squeeze it all into the available
22" of form width. Will a FlexGrid solve this for me by giving me a
horizontal scroll capability? If FlexGrid isn't the solution, is there
another way to do what I need?

Thanks, Peter. MS Flexgrid is really nifty, lots of cool stuff I've wished
for. The licensing thing, unfortunately, has to be run thru our IT, which
maintains an iron grip on anything to do with software (probably for good
reasons, but it does tend to make things move slowly!). I'll ask them about
the free download thing, maybe that will be palatable to them. Last resort,
I'll plagiarize from the demo as you suggested.

"Peter Hibbs" wrote:

Larry,

Yes, you can certainly have horizontal scrolling in a Flex Grid. Have
a look at my demo Flex Grid program at :-
http://www.rogersaccesslibrary.com/f...3b 1d2zcccfb4
for some examples.

Regarding the license issue you have a few options.

1. You could purchase Visual Studio 6 from Microsoft. This includes
Visual Basic 6, Visual C++ 6, Visual Fox Pro 6, Visual J++ 6, etc. The
Flex Grid control comes with this software and you automatically get
the license to use it included. If you intend to use the Flex Grid
control a lot (and I have used it in dozens of projects) then this may
be your best bet. Perhaps you can find a cheap copy on ebay, (you may
be able to get it by just purchasing VB6 but I'm not sure if the Flex
Grid license comes with that version).

2. If money is no object, there are other Flex Grid controls available
from other software houses. They are more comprehensive than the MS
version but they are also fairly expensive. I have not tried them
myself but have a look at the VS Flex Grid Pro control at :-
http://www.componentsource.com/produ...index-gbp.html

3. For a one-off project you can just import one of the forms with a
Flex Grid control from the demo program and then change the properties
and VBA code to suit your project.

4. You can download the free Visual Basic Express edition from
Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/express/vb/
which I believe includes the Flex Grid license (although I have not
confirmed that).

HTH

Peter Hibbs.

On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 08:17:02 -0700, LarryP
wrote:

I'm working on an application where FlexGrid might be helpful, but even with
msflxgrd.ocx installed and registered I still get the licensing issues
message. I've asked our IT people to work through that, but in the meantime:

What I need to do if possible is emulate Excel in a form to some extent to
get around the page width limits. The data I need to display in the form
involves, at a minimum, monthly values going out 36 months, plus a couple
additional columns, so there's no way I can squeeze it all into the available
22" of form width. Will a FlexGrid solve this for me by giving me a
horizontal scroll capability? If FlexGrid isn't the solution, is there
another way to do what I need?

perhaps you consider a continues form, or a datasheet????

here is some screen shots....
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKal...icles/Grid.htm

The above might give you some ideas. The advantage is you don't have any 3rd
party licensing etc. problems....


--
Albert D. Kallal (Access MVP)
Edmonton, Alberta Canada

Yes, simply including all my 40-odd fields in a form and forcing it to
datasheet view would solve the problem of insufficient screen width. I like
all the extra functionality of FlexGrid, but if IT puts that in the too-hard
pile I'll probably go with your suggestion. Thanks.


"Albert D. Kallal" wrote:

perhaps you consider a continues form, or a datasheet????

here is some screen shots....
http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKal...icles/Grid.htm

The above might give you some ideas. The advantage is you don't have any 3rd
party licensing etc. problems....


--
Albert D. Kallal (Access MVP)
Edmonton, Alberta Canada

=?Utf-8?B?TGFycnlQ?= wrote in
news
I'm working on an application where FlexGrid might be helpful

An Access application? That is, using Access to develop the front
end?

What in the world do you think the Flexgrid provides that you can't
get from a standard Access continuous form? Is it worth the hassle
of working around all the incompatibilities to use a non-native
control when the native control should provide everything you'll
ever need in a database application?

--
David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/
usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/

Yes, an Access (2003) application. As I originally said, my #1 problem is
about showing roughly 40 fields of information horizontally, each needing
roughly 1" of screen width. Since forms can only be 22" wide, there's the
rub. Albert Kallal suggested datasheet view. That does give me the
"Excel-like" capability to scroll through as many fields horizontally as I
like (within standard limits on query design), and some features like
conditional formatting and event-driven actions are possible. Going that
route, though, I lose the ability to, for example, show totals beneath each
column or incorporate other controls, subforms, etc. My hope is that one or
the other of the grid controls will let me have the best of both worlds.
Unfortunately, I've tinkered with the Spreadsheet 11.0 and FlexGrid, but
haven't yet found a good how-to reference (site, book, whatever) on
maniuplating those controls. I can probably figure it out from Peter Hibbs's
sample database eventually, but if you (or anybody) knows of a FlexGrid for
Dummies book or site, by all means point me to it.

"David W. Fenton" wrote:

=?Utf-8?B?TGFycnlQ?= wrote in
news
I'm working on an application where FlexGrid might be helpful

An Access application? That is, using Access to develop the front
end?

What in the world do you think the Flexgrid provides that you can't
get from a standard Access continuous form? Is it worth the hassle
of working around all the incompatibilities to use a non-native
control when the native control should provide everything you'll
ever need in a database application?

--
David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/
usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/

=?Utf-8?B?TGFycnlQ?= wrote in
news
my #1 problem is
about showing roughly 40 fields of information horizontally, each
needing roughly 1" of screen width.

Sounds like you want to torture your users.

I think the problem is with your original goal. There's a good
reason Access limits you to 22" -- in fact, I'd say 22" is actually
an artifact of the commonalities between forms and reports (which
could very logically be printed on paper approximately that wide),
and for forms, I'd say the upper limit is too large by a factor of
at least 2.

You're contemplating implementing a horrid, difficult-to-use
interface for your users. Abandon the original problematic design,
and you'll likely have a much easier time of it.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/
usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/

"LarryP" wrote in message
news
my #1 problem is
about showing roughly 40 fields of information horizontally, each needing
roughly 1" of screen width.

Schema design issues aside, have you considered arranging this data into
logical groups and putting each group on its own page on a tab control on
the sub-form?

Keith.
www.keithwilby.com