Understanding OpenArgs . .

[Evagrius Ponticus]

Hi everyone,

I am trying to learn how to use OpenArgs . . I googled the property but I am a bit confused. What is the difference between the OpenArgs and just using a where condition or filter when opening a form . . .I am sure this is a stupid question but I suppose I have to learn . .

Thank you for any help . .

 

[xenou]

It's a good question ... I *think* that if the only reason for the OpenArg value was to set a filter, then using the WHERE parameter when opening is probably better.

On the other hand, you can pass almost any kind of information in an openargs variable - so its quite a bit more flexible. In fact, if you delimit your string variable, you could actually pass quite a lot of information (if you really want to).

I'd be curious to here of any common uses that others apply, but I don't actually use it a *lot* these days. Here's one possible reason borrowed from Denis' site:
http://www.datawright.com.au/access_resources/access_docmd.openform_arguments.htm

[The OpenArgs] setting can then be used by code in a form module , such as the Open event procedure . The OpenArgs property can also be referred to in macros and expressions . For example, suppose that the form you open is a continuous-form list of clients. If you want the focus to move to a specific client record when the form opens, you can specify the client name with the openargs argument, and then use the FindRecord method to move the focus to the record for the client with the specified name.

The difference here would be that the form is not filtered, but does open to a specific record.

Other thoughts that come to mind: putting a form in data entry mode, or setting it to read-only mode, depending on the circumstances under which it is opened.

Another thought that comes to mind: if you use an OpenArgs value to set the record source of the second form, it can't be "unfiltered", which would be a way to protect data.

 

[Evagrius Ponticus]

Thank you Xenou - that is an excellent reply . . non of the points you referenced had occured to me!