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Trigger Visual Impact: Transform MS Form Buttons with This VBScript Hack

 
Creating a responsive button interface in MS Access has never been easier. With a simple VBScript function, you can automatically highlight the clicked button, reset the rest, and update a label—all in real time. It adds a polished user experience by giving immediate visual feedback and guiding the user's next step. Think of it as turning your form into an interactive dashboard with just a few lines of code.

🔘 What Does SetBt() Do in MS Access?

This function is designed to highlight the active button in a form-based interface and update a few related controls based on which button is clicked.

🧠 Step-by-Step Breakdown:

  • Detect which button was clicked The function captures the name of the active control (the button the user just clicked) and extracts its last digit to figure out which button number it is—like B1, B2, ..., B7.

  • Safety checks It first checks if the user actually clicked something (i.e., ActiveControl isn't empty) and that the extracted number is between 1 and 7.

  • Reset all buttons' appearance It loops through all 7 buttons named B1 to B7 and sets their background color to match a neutral color box called Box0. This effectively removes the highlight from all buttons.

  • Highlight the clicked button It sets the background color of the active button to match Box1, which serves as a highlight color.

  • Set focus and caption update Then it moves the focus to a corresponding control named P1 to P7, and updates a label (LB0) to display the caption of the button that was clicked.

✅ Key Takeaways

  • Dynamic Highlighting: Only the button that was clicked gets visually highlighted, improving user experience.

  • Clean State Management: All buttons are reset to a neutral background before highlighting the selected one.

  • Smart Focus Handling: After interaction, focus shifts to a related control (P1–P7) to streamline the user's next action.

  • Real-Time Feedback: The label (LB0) updates instantly to reflect the selected button’s caption, providing clarity.

  • Error-Resistant Logic: Built-in checks prevent errors if no control is active or if the button name doesn’t follow expected rules.













Private Function SetBt()                        
    
    Dim Ax As Integer  ' Use Integer instead of Single for indexing
    Dim i As Integer
    
        ' Ensure ActiveControl is not null before proceeding
    If Not Me.ActiveControl Is Nothing Then
        Ax = Val(Right(Me.ActiveControl.Name, 1)) ' Use .Name instead of direct reference
        
                ' Ensure Ax is within valid bounds
         If  Ax >= 1 And Ax <= 7 Then
               ' Loop through buttons and reset their BackColor
             For i = 1 To 7
                  Me.Controls("B" & i).BackColor = Me.Box0.BackColor
             Next
            
            ' Update ActiveControl properties safely
            Me.ActiveControl.BackColor = Me.Box1.BackColor
            Me.Controls("P" & Ax).SetFocus
            Me.LB0.Caption = Me.Controls("B" & Ax).Caption            
            
        End If
    End If                      
                        
End Function





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