Load Event [Access 2003 VBA Language Reference]

The Load event occurs when a form is opened and its records are displayed.

Private Sub Form_Load()

Remarks

To run a macro or event procedure when these events occur, set the OnLoad property to the name of the macro or to [Event Procedure].

The Load event is caused by user actions such as:

  • Starting an application.
  • Opening a form by clicking Open in the Database window.
  • Running the OpenForm action in a macro.

By running a macro or an event procedure when a form's Load event occurs, you can specify default settings for controls, or display calculated data that depends on the data in the form's records.

By running a macro or an event procedure when a form's Unload event occurs, you can verify that the form should be unloaded or specify actions that should take place when the form is unloaded. You can also open another form or display a dialog box requesting the user's name to make a log entry indicating who used the form.

When you first open a form, the following events occur in this order:

Open → Load → Resize → Activate → Current

If you're trying to decide whether to use the Open or Load event for your macro or event procedure, one significant difference is that the Open event can be canceled, but the Load event can't. For example, if you're dynamically building a record source for a form in an event procedure for the form's Open event, you can cancel opening the form if there are no records to display.

When you close a form, the following events occur in this order:

Unload → Deactivate → Close

The Unload event occurs before the Close event. The Unload event can be canceled, but the Close event can't.

Note  When you create macros or event procedures for events related to the Load event, such as Activate and GotFocus , be sure that they don't conflict (for example, make sure you don't cause something to happen in one macro or procedure that is canceled in another) and that they don't cause cascading events.

Macro

You can use a Load macro to carry out actions for the controls or records on a form after the form opens. For example, you can specify default settings for controls.

You can't use the CancelEvent action in a Load macro.

You can use the CancelEvent action in an Unload macro to cancel unloading of the records. This also cancels closing of the form.

If a form's Unload macro carries out a CancelEvent action, you won't be able to close the form. You must either correct the condition that caused the CancelEvent action to be carried out or open the macro and delete the CancelEvent action. If the form is modal, you won't be able to open the macro or work in any other windows in the application.

Example

The following example displays the current date in the form's caption when the form is loaded.

To try the example, add the following event procedure to a form:

Private Sub Form_Load()
    Me.Caption = Date
End Sub

Applies to | Form Object

See Also | OnLoad Property | OnUnload Property | Unload Event