by Helen Fedemma

Introduction

Back in 2004, I wrote an Access Archon article (Copying Records and Linked Records) that described a method for copying a record with possible linked data in another table, using an array based on form controls.  This article describes a different approach, based on table fields rather than form controls, and also shows how to deal with creating a new record in another table, linked one-to-one with the main table.

The Copying Technique

In my older article, the fields to be copied were picked up from controls on a form, skipping those with “No Copy” in their Tag properties.  This technique worked well for a form based on a single table, but not so well when the form is based on a query that includes two or more tables.  In the case that inspired this article, a main form was based on a query that included two tables joined one-to-one, and it had a subform based on another table, also linked one-to-one to the main table.

In some cases, the one-to-one table is split off from the main table because the number of fields needed exceeds the limit for an Access table; a one-to-one join might also be needed to make some information confidential.  In either case, when a record in the main table is copied, it is also necessary to make new records in the other table(s), so that is what my code does.

The sample database, Copy Record with Calc ID.accdb, has a table of employees which will be familiar to old Access hands, since it dates from early versions of the sample Northwind database.  I added a table of financial data, linked to tblEmployeesCalcID one-to-one.  The technique used to do the copying in this instance uses a table called tlkpNoCopyFields instead of the Tag property of a control to indicate which fields should not be copied.

The Relationships diagram for the database is shown in Figure A:

Figure A.  The Relationships diagram

And the tabbed form in Figures B and C:

Figure B.  The General Data tab of the Employees form

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Figure C.  The Confidential Data tab of the Employees form

VBA Code

There are several ways that the new ID field can be determined – in this sample database, the new EmployeeID value is simply 1 higher than the highest current ID (the next Access Archon will deal with the case of an AutoNumber ID field).  The calculation could be more complicated, for example creating a Text ID value based on date or time elements, or it could be manually entered using an InputBox.  In any case, once the current and new ID values have been determined, the procedures that do the actual copying can be called.

The first procedure is called from the Copy Record button on frmEmployeesCalcID:

Private Sub cmdCopyRecord_Click()

On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

 

   Dim intReturn As Integer

   Dim lngID As Long

   Dim lngNewID As Long

   Dim strPrompt As String

   Dim strTitle As String

   'Get current ID value

   lngID = Nz(Me![EmployeeID])

   'Get new ID value (can be replaced with another calculation, as needed)

   lngNewID = DMax("[EmployeeID]", "tblEmployeesCalcID") + 1

   Debug.Print "New ID: " & lngNewID

   strTitle = "Question"

   strPrompt = "Copy Employee ID " & lngID & " to a new record?"

   intReturn = MsgBox(prompt:=strPrompt, _

      Buttons:=vbQuestion + vbYesNo, _

      Title:=strTitle)

   If intReturn = vbNo Then

      GoTo ErrorHandlerExit

   End If

   If CopyRecordCalcID(lngID, lngNewID) = True Then

      strPrompt = "Copy of Employee ID " & lngID _

         & " to Employee ID" & lngNewID & " successful"

      Me.Requery

      DoCmd.GoToRecord record:=acLast

   Else

      strPrompt = "Copy of Employee ID " & lngID _

         & " to Project #" & lngNewID & " not successful"

   End If

   MsgBox prompt:=strPrompt, _

      Buttons:=vbInformation + vbOKOnly, _

      Title:=strTitle

ErrorHandlerExit:

   Exit Sub

ErrorHandler:

   MsgBox "Error No: " & Err.Number _

      & " in " & Me.ActiveControl.Name & " procedure; " _

      & "Description: " & Err.Description

   Resume ErrorHandlerExit

End Sub

The two following procedures in the basUtilties module are called in turn to do the copying:

Public Function CopyRecordCalcID(lngID As Long, lngNewID As Long) _

   As Boolean

On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

   If CopyTableCalcID("tblEmployeesCalcID", lngID, lngNewID) _

      = False Then

      CopyRecordCalcID = False

      GoTo ErrorHandlerExit

   End If

   If CopyTableCalcID("tblConfidentalDataCalcID", lngID, lngNewID) _

      = False Then

      CopyRecordCalcID = False

      GoTo ErrorHandlerExit

   End If

   CopyRecordCalcID = True

ErrorHandlerExit:

   Exit Function

ErrorHandler:

   MsgBox "Error No: " & Err.Number _

      & " in CopyRecordCalcID procedure; " _

      & "Description: " & Err.Description

   Resume ErrorHandlerExit

End Function

Public Function CopyTableCalcID(strTable As String, _

   lngID As Long, lngNewID As Long) As Boolean

On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

   Dim intCounter As Integer

   Dim lngFieldCount As Long

   Dim rstNoCopy As DAO.Recordset

   Dim rstSource As DAO.Recordset

   Dim rstTarget As DAO.Recordset

   Dim strField As String

   Dim strNoCopyTable As String

   Dim strSearch As String

   Dim varData As Variant

   CopyTableCalcID = False

   Debug.Print "Creating a new record in " & strTable

   strNoCopyTable = "tlkpNoCopyFields"

   Set rstSource = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset(strTable, dbOpenDynaset)

   Set rstTarget = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset(strTable, dbOpenDynaset)

   Set rstNoCopy = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset(strNoCopyTable, dbOpenDynaset)

   lngFieldCount = rstSource.Fields.Count

   Debug.Print lngFieldCount & " fields in " & strTable

   strSearch = "[EmployeeID] = " & lngID

   Debug.Print "Search string: " & strSearch

   rstSource.FindFirst strSearch

   'Iterate through table fields, copying values from each

   'one that has data to a new record (except for fields that

   'should not be copied)

   rstTarget.AddNew

   For intCounter = 0 To lngFieldCount - 1

      strField = rstSource.Fields(intCounter).Name

      'Debug.Print "Field name: " & strField _

         & " (Field No. " & intCounter & ")"

      'Search for field name in No Copy table

      strSearch = "[FieldName] = " & Chr(39) & strField & Chr(39)

      'Debug.Print "Search string: " & strSearch

      rstNoCopy.MoveFirst

      rstNoCopy.FindFirst strSearch

      If strField = "EmployeeID" Then

         rstTarget.Fields(intCounter) = lngNewID

      ElseIf rstNoCopy.NoMatch = True Then

         varData = rstSource.Fields(intCounter)

         'Debug.Print "Field data: " & varData

         If IsNull(varData) = False And varData <> "" Then

            rstTarget.Fields(intCounter) = varData

            Debug.Print strField & " in " & strTable & " copied"

         End If

      Else

         'Field should not be copied

         Debug.Print strField & " in " & strTable & " not copied"

      End If

NextField:

   Next intCounter

   rstTarget.Update

   CopyTableCalcID = True

ErrorHandlerExit:

   Exit Function

ErrorHandler:

   MsgBox "Error No: " & Err.Number _

      & " in CopyTableWithExceptions procedure; " _

      & "Description: " & Err.Description
     Resume ErrorHandlerExit

End Function

References

The code in the sample database needs the following references (in addition to the default references):

Microsoft Word 14.0 Object Library (for SortDeclarations procedure only)

Microsoft Forms 2.0 Object Library (for SortDeclarations procedure only)

If you import code or objects into a database of your own, you may need to set one or more of these references.  The version number may differ, depending on your Office version; check the version you have.  References are set in the References dialog, opened from the VBA window.  For more information on working with references, see Access Archon #107, Working with References.

Supporting Files

The zip file containing this article, in Word 2007-2010 format, plus the supporting file(s), may be downloaded from the Access Archon page of my Web site, as accarch249.zip, which is the last entry in the table of Access Archon columns for Access Watch.

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