Divorcing labels and their controls

[John]

Using the Access 2007 Form Wizard to create a form from a table would
be a great convenience, except for one thing. The label-control pairs
it generates appear to be inseparably welded together. For example,
if I want to replace a text box control with a combo box, I can't just
delete the text box and leave the label--the label gets deleted too.
Similarly, I can't move the label and leave the corresponding control
here it is, label and control move together. To make it worse, when I
try to reposition the generated label-control pairs they move as a
block with the other labels-controls.

In Access 97 I could "divorce" the Wizard generated label-control
combinations by deleting them then pasting them back--this served to
break the ties that bind and I could manipulate label and textbox
independently. This doesn't work in 2007. Has anybody found another
way to bring about a label-control "divorce"?

John

 

[tina]

well, i don't know about 2007, but in A97 you don't need to separate labels
and controls to manipulate them independently. to move a label but not its'
parent control, or vice versa, just select it and "grab" the upper left
handle to drag it by itself. you can also set a label's Visible property to
False, without affecting the parent control. and in A97, you can't "just
delete the text box and leave the label", though you "can* delete a label
and leave the parent control. and in A97, to replace a textbox control with
a combobox control, you can simply change the format by selecting the
textbox, and on the menu bar select Format | Change To | Combo Box. the
textbox changes to a combobox, and the label is unaffected.

hth

 

[UpRider]

John, the wizard really throws a curve. Here's how to hit the ball over the
fence.
In form design mode, select the target textboxes.
Form Design Tools, select the Arrange tab.
In the Control Layout group, click REMOVE.
All the dashed lines should disappear and your controls and labels should
become independent.

HTH, UpRider

 

[Maurice]

John,

When you hover the mouse over the controls you will see a cross at the upper
left side of the controls. Click on the cross once and then goto the
"Arrange" tab and click teh remove button. This should divorce your controls.

hth

 

[AccessVandal via AccessMonster.com]

Hi John,

John wrote:
For example,
if I want to replace a text box control with a combo box, I can't just
delete the text box and leave the label--the label gets deleted too.

Right click on the TextBox - Change To - select the "Combo Box" this will
change it, you don't have to delete it away just to insert a combo box.

 

[John]

Thanks Vandal and Uprider for some great solutions.

Cheers.

John

 

[Patrick]

I've tried some of these suggestions but have yet to seperate the label from
it's text box.

The reason I need to do this is when I want to hide the text box but leave
it's label. In A2007, if you set the text box visible property to No, it
also hides the associated label - very frustrating. I don't remember having
this problem in earlier versions.

Any other ideas would be helpful and greatly appreciated!

Thanks...

 

[tina]

well, yes, from at least A97 - A2003, hiding the parent control also hides
the child label. AFAIK, there is no way around this; you'll have to use an
unattached label if you want to see it when the textbox control is hidden.
depending on what you're doing, you may need code in more than one place to
manipulate the unattached label, hiding/showing it when you want.

hth

 

[Patrick]

Tine,

I agree that hiding the control also hid the label but it was also easy to
"divorce" them from each other in those versions. But the question here is
that in A2007, that ease has disappeared - or at least has become very
elusive.

 

[DRMOB]

I'm using Access 02 and to attach a label to a new control or field all you
need to do is copy the label you want, delete the field or control along with
the label, add the control you want (a label will be attched and you will
want to delete it), click on the newly added control and paste. Now the
label you copied is attached to the new control. Hope this helps.