Popup Form Control in Microsoft Access

Access database popup forms are great when you need to show the user additional supplemental information and a data form. Often this data isn't necessary and would clutter up a form if the additional information was a constant on the form.

Using a popup form allows the user to view additional details when the want to.  One of the challenges with a popup form is controlling the popup from the main form - especially when the users leaves the popup displayed and moves from record to record.  One solution would be to set the popup form as modal.  The modal setting forces the user to first close the popup before gaining access to the underlying form.  This technique can be annoying to the user since it limits the functionality of the user interface.

Our downloadable Access database example demonstrates the techniques required to manage the popup form and to coordinate the data displayed with the underlying main form.  In the example you see a few techniques in particular:

1) Making a form button that serves two purposes - Opening and closing the popup form.

2) Setting properties of a popup form.  In this case we modify the form caption property.

3) We coordinate the forms by applying a form filter from the main form to the popup.

4) We use direct form references which is much easier than referring to nested forms.

5) Lastly the Access database download demonstrates calling a subroutine on a different form.

Here's a snapshot of the popup form control demonstration database:

Use this link to download the Access popup form control database download.

We have found this popup control technique very useful for adding items to a dropdown list when the item requires more than one data field to define it.  The popup loads the newly created entry and make for a seamless user interface for the user.