Thanks Tim, not sure I see the diff between that and
setting the field to Med time and using the input mask
property along with it.
What am I not getting?
The Input Mask has no effect on the data stored or how it is displayed:
it's only a method of restricting the user's keystrokes. The facts that
it's counter-intuitive, different from every other data entry control in
the Windows universe, and generally confuses and irritates the users are
additional reasons why it's a Bad Thing. My hypothesis is that the Access
team put it in as a sop to old Paradox users who found it difficult to
orient themselves in a real database platform.
Setting the Format to Medium Time still leaves the format vulnerable to
whatever is set in the Control Panel. This can be a good thing or a bad
thing, but seems to be explicitly not wanted by the original poster.
Using the Format property "properly" is the only way to make sure the data
are presented as required by the developer. Sometimes this is according to
the user preferences (so Med Time, General, etc. would be correct), and
sometimes it has to be completely explicit.
HTH
Tim F
