Too Many Dropdowns???

R

Rick

Hi,

I've created a 8 page multipage control with a total of 15
dropdowns on one form to utilize a database that I've
created. It is working OK at this point, but now when I
add more controls it will not recognize them.

To further explain.... After you create the additional
dropdown on the multipage control, you double click this
dropdown (in the design mode) and it will not start a sub-
endsub for you in the code module. Also when I try to add
items to this dropdown control with some other code (when
I show the form), it says that the dropdown cannot be
located ("Method or data member not found.").

I'm using WinXP and Office2000. Is it a physical
limitation of Excel? It is a memory problem? I have
512mb of RAM with a P4 processor. I also experimented by
adding another command button on the multipage control
with the same result - Excel will not recognize it.

Again, everything is working OK until I add more
controls. I appreciate your response with this.

Thanks, Rick
 
H

Harald Staff

Hi Rick

Sometimes it happens. Often it helps to close -reopen Excel and the file in
question. And sometimes not. In those cases you've reached the limit and
hasta la vista project.

The limit is afaik not carved in stone, but I believe it's average around
250 controls, maybe depending on how memory hungry each one is.

(My first userform was "the Ultimate Excel Toolbox", everything potentially
useful collected on a single form, multipages inside multipages, ... I did
struggle with problems identical to yours a lot before giving up... :)

Best wishes Harald
 
R

Rick

Harald,

Thanks for the reply.

To further add dropdowns or other controls, I have found
this afternoon that I have to delete other controls on the
form. This allows me to do what I need to do, to continue
with my efforts using this database with different
dropdowns. So I started with the obvious. I deleted two
of the multipage pages, after consolidating some of the
other dropdown boxes together with others.

I'll try this on a computer at home too, and see if that
makes a difference. Plus I'll see what will happen if I
place all of this on VB6, and run the Excel program from
there. I was planning to do that anyway on VB6, once I
finished with my prototype programming design using Excel
VBA.

I had never just ran into this type of a limitation.
There seems to always be something....

Thanks, Rick
 
H

Harald Staff

Hi Rick

VB6 has a very distinct limitation of 255 (256 ?) controls on each form.
With workarounds like control arrays and user controls, but there are no
multipages (you can not redistribute MSforms and even referencing it is not
recommended from Microsoft).

But really; which user interaction would require more than 30 intelligent
controls simoultaneously ? I urge you to think this through one more time.
Think for example "wizard" with Back / Next buttons, and also that this will
be operated by people like [insert name or position of ignorant member of
family here] most of the time.

Best wishes Harald
 
R

Rick

Thanks Harald,

I think so far I have only about 50 of these controls on
my form. For some reason, at home this Saturday morning
with a PIII processor and 786mb of RAM, I don't have the
same limitation that I have at work with the Excel/VBA
program (with a faster processor and less memory). It
must be some unknown software/hardware issue.

I'm in the process of transferring it all to VB6 this
morning, and all seems to be working well, after working
out some of the Excel VBA and VB6 differences. Thanks for
the information about the 256 control limitations with
VB6, but hopefully that won't be an issue.

You are right in that if in one way it doesn't work, then
it's time to think of another way...with back or next
buttons etc. There are creative ways to reduce the number
of these controls...things we think about after we finish
writing the "first-time" program.

I'm not sure what you meant by saying "...but there are no
multipages (you can not redistribute MSforms and even
referencing it is not recommended from Microsoft."
I did have initial troubles with the VB6 multipage
control, so I'm using the Microsoft Tabbed Dialog Control
6.0 that you can find under the Project Components. After
I get it all to work, then I'll look more at what possibly
when wrong with the VB6 multipage control.

Thanks, Rick
-----Original Message-----
Hi Rick

VB6 has a very distinct limitation of 255 (256 ?) controls on each form.
With workarounds like control arrays and user controls, but there are no
multipages (you can not redistribute MSforms and even referencing it is not
recommended from Microsoft).

But really; which user interaction would require more than 30 intelligent
controls simoultaneously ? I urge you to think this through one more time.
Think for example "wizard" with Back / Next buttons, and also that this will
be operated by people like [insert name or position of ignorant member of
family here] most of the time.

Best wishes Harald

"Rick" <[email protected]> skrev i melding
Harald,

Thanks for the reply.

To further add dropdowns or other controls, I have found
this afternoon that I have to delete other controls on the
form. This allows me to do what I need to do, to continue
with my efforts using this database with different
dropdowns. So I started with the obvious. I deleted two
of the multipage pages, after consolidating some of the
other dropdown boxes together with others.

I'll try this on a computer at home too, and see if that
makes a difference. Plus I'll see what will happen if I
place all of this on VB6, and run the Excel program from
there. I was planning to do that anyway on VB6, once I
finished with my prototype programming design using Excel
VBA.

I had never just ran into this type of a limitation.
There seems to always be something....

Thanks, Rick
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
 
P

Peter T

Hi Rick,

Just curiosity, apart from the controls do you have a lot
of code in your Form module. There are reports in this NG
of potential problems with over 64Kb.

Regards,
Peter
 
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