How can I precisely place text boxes on a form?

J

Jerry Crosby

With snap to grid turned OFF, why can't I precisely set the top (or left,
right, etc) location of a text box?

I have one that I want placed at 2.3333", but Access insists on changing it
to 2.3326". I've had this problem for some time and it's finally bothered
me enough to submit it.

Maybe a difference of .0007" isn't significant, but when you're trying to
set the tops of text boxes in .25" increments it gets frustrating.

Thanks.

Jerry
 
K

Ken Snell [MVP]

Oops... ignore my reply re: grid properties.... that doesn't affect the
precision of the control placement..my error.
 
K

Ken Snell [MVP]

By the way, you can "trick" ACCESS into the number you seek. Enter 2.3336
for the location, and ACCESS will "change' it to 2.3333.
 
A

Arvin Meyer [MVP]

Jerry Crosby said:
With snap to grid turned OFF, why can't I precisely set the top (or left,
right, etc) location of a text box?

I have one that I want placed at 2.3333", but Access insists on changing it
to 2.3326". I've had this problem for some time and it's finally bothered
me enough to submit it.

Maybe a difference of .0007" isn't significant, but when you're trying to
set the tops of text boxes in .25" increments it gets frustrating.
Click to expand...

Only because computers can't properly use a floating point unless the
denominator is a power of 2 and the datatype allows a float of more than the
number of places in the result. Ken's reason of division by a twip is an
example. While it is close to .0007, the exact division is 1/1440 (a twip is
a 1440th of an inch ... there are 72 points to the inch and 20 twips to the
point). That allows for an error of up to 7 ten thousanths of an inch. (The
human eye cannot resolve a difference anywhere near that)

You can't count on Ken's example *always* holding true because of the
rounding algorithm built into Intel chips.

If your first textbox top is set a power of 2, you can set the rest at
precise .25 intervals because .25 is a denominator of the power of 2 (1/4 or
360 twips)
--
Arvin Meyer, MCP, MVP
Microsoft Access
Free Access downloads:
http://www.datastrat.com
http://www.mvps.org/access
 
F

Fred Boer

Maybe Arvin's answer was better.. but you still outnumber him 4 to 1!
<g,d&r>

Cheers!
Fred Boer
 
J

Jerry Crosby

Thanks for all your help, guys. Looks like I may just put it into the
"don't fret the small stuff" category!

Jerry
 
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