Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.

This article shows you how to use Visual Basic for Applications to open multiple instances of a form. Being able to open multiple instances of a form enables you to work on more than one record at once. For example, in an Order Entry application, you can start taking an order, pause and take a second order, and then return to the first order, without losing any data.

NOTE: This article explains a technique demonstrated in the sample files, FrmSampl.exe (for Microsoft Access for Windows 95 version 7.0) and FrmSmp97.exe (for Microsoft Access 97). For information about how to obtain these sample files, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: This article assumes that you are familiar with Visual Basic for Applications and with creating Microsoft Access applications using the programming tools provided with Microsoft Access. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications, please refer to your version of the "Building Applications with Microsoft Access" manual.

The syntax for opening multiple instances of a form includes a Set statement, the keyword "New" (without the quotation marks), and a form reference, as in the following example: When you open multiple instances of a form, the original instance is the only form object that is stored permanently in the database. The other instances are temporary and are removed from memory when you close them.

NOTE: When you close the original instance of a form, all other instances of the form are closed as well.

To open multiple instances of a form, follow these steps.

CAUTION: Following the steps in this example will modify the sample database Northwind.mdb. You may want to back up the Northwind.mdb file and perform these steps on a copy of the database.

1. Open the sample database Northwind.mdb.
2. Open the Customers form in Design view.
3. On the View menu, click Code.
4. Type the following text in the module's Declarations section:

         Option Compare Database
         Option Explicit
         Dim x as Form
   					

5. Close the Module window.
6. Add a command button to the Customers form and set the following properties:
   Name: OpenNewCust
   Caption: Open Customers
   OnClick: [Event Procedure]
7. Set the OnClick property of the command button to the following event procedure:

         Private Sub OpenNewCust_Click()
         Set x = New Form_Customers
         x.setfocus
         End Sub
   					

8. Close and save the Customers form.
9. View the Customers form in Form view and click the command button. Note that a second instance of the Customers form opens.

For more information about using the keyword "New" with a Set statement, search for "Set," and then "Set Statement" using the Microsoft Access 97 Help Index.