ACC2000: How to Programmatically Add Controls to a Tab Control

In Microsoft Access, you can use a tab control to group sets of controls together on different pages. When you select a tab, you see only the controls embedded on that page. Microsoft Access also provides the CreateControl function, which enables you to programmatically create controls on a Microsoft Access form. This article shows you how to use the CreateControl function to programmatically create and embed a text box control on a specific page of a tab control.

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. When you use the CreateControl function to create a control on a specific page of a tab control, you must specify the name of the page that will contain the control as the Parent argument. To create a text box control on the second page of a tab control, follow these steps:

1. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb or the sample Access project NorthwindCS.adp.
2. Create a module and type the following line in the Declarations section if it is not already there:

   Option Explicit
   					

3. Type the following procedure:

   Sub CreateControlOnPage()
   
      Dim frm As Form, ctl As Control
   
      ' Create a new blank form.
      Set frm = CreateForm()
   
      ' Create a tab control on the new form.
      Set ctl = CreateControl(frm.Name, acTabCtl, acDetail)
   
      ' Create a text box on the form, and specify that Page2 is
      ' the parent of the text box.
      Set ctl = CreateControl(frm.Name, acTextBox, acDetail, "Page2")
      ctl.Top = 0.5 * 1440
      DoCmd.SelectObject acForm, frm.Name
      DoCmd.Restore
   
   End Sub
   					

4. To test this procedure, type the following line in the Immediate window, and then press ENTER:

   CreateControlOnPage
   						

   Note that a new form that contains a tab control is created.
5. On the File menu, click Close and Return to Microsoft Access, and then click Page 2 of the tab control.
   
   Note that it contains an unbound text box control.

For more information about the CreateContol method, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type CreateControl, CreateReportControl method in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

For more information about the tab control, click Microsoft Access Help on the Help menu, type what is a tab control in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.