Print option dissappears from custom menu (97)

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Hi all,
i have a database where i only want to show a custom menu bar (for printing, etc.) i have a button for printing, but when i select a report to display from my main menu, the print button dissappears from the menu. it is visible when i am in form view, but not for reports, which is where i need it. when i am modifying the database, the print button is there for a preview of a report. this leads me to believe that it might be something with permissions or something. please help!

thanks in advance

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I’m not sure I understand. What do you mean the print button is not visible for reports but is there for a preview? Do you have the menubar attached to the reports you’re previewing? Is the print button on the default menu for your app? And what does disappearing mean in this context? It greys out, it leaves an empty hole, or you’re actually seeing a different menubar?

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charlotte,
sorry for not being very clear… here is exactly what happens: i have a custom toolbar that is the only toolbar to be shown when the db is running. it includes Print Preview, Print Setup, Page Setup, Zoom, Help, and Close. if i open the db without the startup options (holding shift while opening), i can go to the reports i have created and preview them. All of these options on the menubar are available. if i open the db normally, all of the options are visible while i am on the main menu, as well as on any other forms. i can click on the main menu option to bring up the same reports as before, however once the report is loaded, the print icon just dissappears from the menubar (the menu actually shrinks because of the missing icon). here’s the funny thing… if i hold shift while selecting the report from the main menu, the print button will still be visible for the report until i release the shift key. once i release, it dissappears. this only works this way on my machine. i have not set up any permissions (that i know of). On the main menu, i use a call to find out the user on the system and display menu options depending on who is logged in.

hopefully this cleared some things up. thanks for your help and please let me know if you can figure out what in the world is going on )

thanks

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Does the report have a toolbar or menubar bound to it? That’s the only reason I can think of to see a change like that unless your code checking the user is getting confused at that point. If the menu looks different (i.e., not the same controls), then it *is* different unless you’re running code to manipulate the toolbar itself. Also check the code in the report and see if you have any commands in there to show a toolbar. I’m still not sure what you mean by “when the report is loaded” though. How is that different from previewed?

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sorry, no different then previewed.. that’s what i meant to say. i actually came to the realization that i want the menubar for use ONLY with the report. you said something about binding a menubar to a report… how might i go about doing that? i think that is exactly what i would like to do. i did not put any code in the report to manipulate any toolbars. the only setting i changed was in the startup option to show a default menubar.

thanks in advance

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Forms and reports have a MenuBar property and a ToolBar property. By selecting the name of a custom menubar/toolbar, you “bind” it to the form/report. This means that it will be displayed automatically when the form/report is opened, and that the standard Access menubar/toolbar will be *not* be shown.

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aarrgghh!!
thanks for that input – that was what i was wanting to do, however i still can’t figure out the printing problem. i even added the “file” drop down menu with the options for Print, Page Setup, and Print Preview. (see attached file) when i am previewing a report, there are no options in this menu (comes up with a little gray dropdown with nothing in it at all). when i go back to a form, all the options are available again. there are 2 different print buttons available: one that automatically prints the whole report and one that lets you change settings (number of copies, page x to x, etc.). That is the one that i would like, so the users can change print settings. The funny thing is that only the first one stays visible for the reports. i can’t figure out what in the world is happening. Any more help would be greatly appreciated.

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I’m stumped (but that user name is already taken ).

Perhaps you can post a stripped-down version of your database? Just the necessary tables, queries and report. There need to be just a few records; you can take out or modify any sensitive information.

Regards,
Hans

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i have the stripped down file, but it is too big to attach. If anyone would like to have a try at it, let me know and i will email it to you.

Thanks

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Can you create a small database with a report based on a Northwind table and import your menubar into it? Do you get the same behavior? I’m assuming you used NewMenu to add the File menu to your menubar, right?

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hi charlotte
i think i imported it from a different db i worked on… however, i just tried to create a new one and it did not help. i am going to try with the northwind database, but i am out of time at the moment. i will let you know what i find out

thanks for your continuing help

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I don’t know if it will help, but I’m attaching a quick demo I slapped up with several kinds of custom menus attached to forms and a report. I had no problems, so if the demo misbehaves for you, maybe we can isolate the difficulty.

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charlotte,
thanks for taking the time to do that… i just now checked it out and things were ok. however, the print options you supplied automatically print the document. we need to be able to change settings like quantity, etc. the “Print” option in the normal “File” menu does what we want, but the “Print” button in the other toolbars automatically prints. I tried adding the desired print option (actually i added the default “file” menu to your toolbar) and the option was available. if you could do me a favor and take a look at the db i am attaching. try adding a new menu (with the non-auto print option) and see if it gives you any problems. your help would be appreciated.

thanks

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Hi Andy,

Your remark “I added the default file menu” is the giveaway.

You have set the startup options of your database to not allow full menus. So the default “file” menu won’t work correctly. You will need to create your own “file” menu from scratch.

You can also use the Menu Builder Wizard. You can download it here.

Regards
Hans

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Here is an even more stripped down version of your database with a small “File” menu. It’s displayed only when the report is open.

The Print… button is not the standard button; it is a custom button that calls a user-defined function RunPrintDialog.

Regards,
Hans

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looks like that will work. Thank you everyone for all your help!

Thanks again

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